Carlsbad father's conviction upheld by NM Supreme Court in death of 8-year-old girl

Juan Lerma’s conviction in the death of his 8-year-old daughter was upheld by the New Mexico Supreme Court, maintaining his life sentence in prison for child abuse.

Lerma was convicted Nov. 18, 2022 after a jury trial in Fifth Judicial District Court on a single count of intentional child abuse resulting in death of a child younger than 12. He was arrested in 2020 and charged in the death of his daughter Samantha Rubino who police said was found dead and wrapped in plastic bags and hidden in a trashcan outside Lerma’s Carlsbad home.

Medical examiners determined Rubino died of blunt force trauma to the head.

Her father was sentenced to life in prison in December 2022 by Fifth Judicial District Judge Jane Shuler-Gray, and filed an appeal in January 2023 which was denied by the New Mexico Court of Appeals a month later.

The case was then moved to the New Mexico Supreme Court which ruled May 6 to deny the appeal and uphold Lerma’s conviction and sentence.

In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Lerma argued misconduct on the part of prosecutors with the Fifth Judicial District Attorney’s Office and by Shuler-Gray.

Lerma contested the jury instructions, which he said in the appeal “conflated” intentional child abuse with reckless disregard resulting in the death of a child, while also contending the court “unduly restricted” cross examination of key witnesses by the defense.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court found the jury instructions were properly given and did not result in any error, noting jurors received separate instructions for intentional child abuse and reckless child abuse, clearly defining the differences between the two charges.

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“A reasonable juror would not have been confused or misdirected as the jury was instructed on an accurate statement of the law,” read the verdict signed by Chief Justice David Thomson. The other four justices signed the verdict in concurrence.

Justices also found the court did not restrict cross examination of witnesses after the prosecution objected several times to the defense’s line of questioning of Lerma’s son and the mother of the boy and Rubino. The boy testified at trial that Lerma frequently beat him and his sister leading up to her death.

A separate lawsuit filed by Joleen Youngers, court-appointed personal representative of the wrongful death estate of Rubino, and Sara Crecca, a court-appointed guardian to Rubino’s 11-year-old brother who was also in Lerma's care and allegedly suffered abuse blamed the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) for leaving the children in Lerma’s care despite evidence of abuse.

Lerma did confess to the mother to putting Rubino’s body in trash bags, records show but denied being responsible for her death.

The Supreme Court also ruled there was no prosecutorial misconduct after Lerma contended a statement was made by a prosecuting attorney during the testimony of Lerma’s son the defendant said unfairly appealed to emotion.

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The statement in question during the prosecution’s closing argument was “What makes sense is what’s in front of you, is that you had a boy who was trying to be the voice of his little sister because she had none, because her voice was taken away from her by her father. He was trying to be the voice for all the children in Eddy County.”

Lerma argued this statement was misleading because it implied a conviction would “protect all children of Eddy County.”

The Supreme Court found that that part of the state's argument was objectionable but not grounds for reversing the conviction. Justices contended such a statement was “improper” but was isolated and made during a closing argument not during testimony at trial and that the jury was instructed to not decide based on emotion.

“This kind of pandering to the jury to decide the case on other than the particular guilt or innocence of the defendant is unprofessional, but it is not grounds for reversal,” read the verdict.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Carlsbad father's conviction in death of 8-year-old upheld