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1 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO
2 STATE OF NEW MEXICO,
3 Plaintiff-Appellant,
4 v. No. 33,319
5 DARRYL PAUL,
6 Defendant-Appellee.
7 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF MCKINLEY COUNTY
8 Robert A. Aragon, District Judge
9 Hector H. Balderas, Attorney General
10 Santa Fe, NM
11 M. Anne Kelly, Assistant Attorney General
12 Albuquerque, NM
13 for Appellant
14 Law Works LLC
15 John A. McCall
16 Albuquerque, NM
17 for Appellee
18 MEMORANDUM OPINION
19 FRY, Judge.
1 {1} This case is before us on remand from our Supreme Court. We previously filed
2 an opinion in this case affirming the district court’s dismissal of Defendant’s vehicular
3 homicide charge for lack of jurisdiction. State v. Paul, No. 33,319, mem. op. (N.M.
4 Ct. App. Mar. 26, 2015). The Supreme Court granted the State’s petition for writ of
5 certiorari and remanded the case for reconsideration of our decision in light of State
6 v. Steven B. (Steven B. II), 2015-NMSC-020, 352 P.3d 1181.
7 {2} Because this is a memorandum opinion and because we summarized the facts
8 in our prior opinion, we do not reiterate the factual summary here. It suffices to say
9 that we affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the charges against Defendant by
10 relying on our own precedent, State v. Steven B. (Steven B. I), 2013-NMCA-078, 306
11 P.3d 509, and State v. Dick, 1999-NMCA-062, 127 N.M. 382, 981 P.2d 796. In those
12 cases, we held that the area where the accident in the present case occurred—Parcel
13 Three of the former Fort Wingate Military Reservation—was a dependent Indian
14 community over which the State did not have jurisdiction. See Steven B. I, 2013-
15 NMCA-078, ¶¶ 15-16; Dick, 1999-NMCA-062, ¶¶ 3-4. Our Supreme Court reversed
16 the holding in Steven B. I and overruled the holding in Dick in Steven B. II. 2015-
17 NMSC-020, ¶¶ 3, 36. The Court held that Parcel Three is not a dependent Indian
18 community. Steven B. II, 2015-NMSC-020, ¶ 50.
19 {3} Because we are bound by Supreme Court precedent, see Alexander v. Delgado,
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1 1973-NMSC-030, ¶ 9, 84 N.M. 717, 507 P.2d 778, we now conclude that the district
2 court erred in dismissing the charge against Defendant. We reverse the district court’s
3 judgment and remand for proceedings consistent with this Opinion.
4 {4} IT IS SO ORDERED.
5 __________________________________
6 CYNTHIA A. FRY, Judge
7 WE CONCUR:
8 _________________________________
9 MICHAEL D. BUSTAMANTE, Judge
10 _________________________________
11 LINDA M. VANZI, Judge
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