State v. Ochoa
Supreme Court of New Mexico
72 P.2d 609 (N.M. 1937)
A sheriff escorting a prisoner was confronted by an angry crowd, including Velarde, Avitia, and Ochoa (defendants), who wanted the prisoner released; a melee broke out in which a deputy was knocked unconscious by a thrown tear-gas bomb and his gun fell to the ground, after which shots rang out and the sheriff was fatally struck by a bullet from the deputy's own recovered gun, though it was never determined who actually fired it. Avitia and Ochoa continued beating the unconscious deputy even after shots were being fired, while there was no evidence Velarde participated in violence after the shooting started. All three were convicted of second-degree murder and appealed.
Whether an individual may be held liable as an accomplice to murder even if, at the outset of an altercation, he did not personally intend for a killing to occur.