A. A crime is a felony if it is so designated by law or if upon conviction thereof a sentence of death or of imprisonment for a term of one year or more is authorized.

B. A crime is a misdemeanor if it is so designated by law or if upon conviction thereof a sentence of imprisonment in excess of six months but less than one year is authorized.

C. A crime is a petty misdemeanor if it is so designated by law or if upon conviction thereof a sentence of imprisonment for six months or less is authorized.

History: 1953 Comp., § 40A-1-6, enacted by Laws 1963, ch. 303, § 1-6.

Police officer may make warrantless arrest for misdemeanor if he has probable cause to believe the offense occurred in his presence. Tanberg v. Shlotis, 401 F.3d 1151 (10th Cir. 2005).

Special statute controls over general. — This section and Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978 refer generally to the sentence for misdemeanors; former 64-10-1, 1953 Comp., relating to fraudulent applications in motor vehicle registration and the like, provides a specific sentence for that misdemeanor. If the general statute, standing alone, would include the same matter as the special statute and thus conflict with the special statute, the special statute controls since it is considered an exception to the general statute. State v. Sawyers, 1968-NMCA-051, 79 N.M. 557, 445 P.2d 978.

Classification of criminal contempt in discretion of courts. — Where the sole punishment of the criminal contemnor is a fine the New Mexico courts are free to make their own determination as to what is a "petty" and what is a "serious" offense, guided by the standards of District of Columbia v. Clawans, 300 U.S. 617, 57 S. Ct. 660, 81 L. Ed. 843 (1937) and other federal cases. Seven Rivers Farm, Inc. v. Reynolds, 1973-NMSC-039, 84 N.M. 789, 508 P.2d 1276.

Penalty imposed as indication of nature of offense. — Under the rule in Cheff v. Schnackenberg, 384 U.S. 373, 86 S.Ct. 1523, 16 L. Ed. 2d 629 (1966), when the legislature has not expressed a judgment as to the seriousness of an offense by fixing a maximum penalty which may be imposed, the court is to look to the penalty actually imposed as the best evidence of the seriousness of the offense. Seven Rivers Farm, Inc. v. Reynolds, 1973-NMSC-039, 84 N.M. 789, 508 P.2d 1276; In re D'Angelo, 1986-NMSC-052, 105 N.M. 391, 733 P.2d 360.

Falsely obtaining unemployment benefits is petty misdemeanor. — When Subsection C is read together with Section 51-1-38 NMSA 1978, it is clear that the crime of falsely obtaining unemployment benefits is a petty misdemeanor, for which the statute of limitations is one year under Section 30-1-8F NMSA 1978. Robinson v. Short, 1979-NMSC-099, 93 N.M. 610, 603 P.2d 720 (decided under prior law, now Section 30-1-8 NMSA 1978).

Violation of municipal ordinance constitutes petty misdemeanor because imprisonment may not exceed 90 days. State v. Luna, 1980-NMSC-009, 93 N.M. 773, 606 P.2d 183 (decided under prior law, now Section 3-17-11 NMSA 1978).

Effect of altering classification of crime. — Statute under which the placing of poison in food for dogs would be a misdemeanor (Laws 1912, ch. 38, § 2, 40-4-1, 1953 Comp.) was impliedly repealed by subsequent statute (Laws 1919, ch. 82, § 1, 40-4-2, 1953 Comp.) making such offense a felony, under rule that if the same offense, identified by name or otherwise, is altered in degree or incidents, or if a felony is changed to a misdemeanor, or vice versa, the statute making such changes has the effect of repealing the former act. State v. Anderson, 1936-NMSC-016, 40 N.M. 173, 56 P.2d 1134.

Federal right to jury trial for contempt. — So long as the fine for criminal contempt which is, or may be, imposed is not more than $1000, there is no federal constitutional right to jury trial as the crime is a petty offense, nor need prosecution be by information. Seven Rivers Farm, Inc. v. Reynolds, 1973-NMSC-039, 84 N.M. 789, 508 P.2d 1276.

Jury trial of misdemeanor. — Those misdemeanors triable in district court do not provide for a trial by jury unless such crime was of the type which enjoyed and permitted trial by jury at the time of the adoption of N.M. Const., art. II, § 12. 1964 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 64-37.

Jury trial of misdemeanor. — Persons charged with offenses classified as misdemeanors under the Motor Vehicle Code may under Rule 23, N.M.R. Crim. P. (Magis. Cts.) (now see Rule 6-602) demand a jury trial but are not afforded one as a matter of right. 1979 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 79-17.

Law reviews. — For annual survey of New Mexico criminal procedure, see 16 N.M.L. Rev. 25 (1986).

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 21 Am. Jur. 2d Criminal Law §§ 19, 28 to 30.

Determination of character of former crime as a felony, so as to warrant punishment of an accused as a second offender, 19 A.L.R.2d 227.

22 C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 9 to 12.