Joe Anderson, who won a retrial from New Mexico Court of Appeals based on the failure to get “stand-your-ground” instructions to a jury, was convicted again Friday in his second round stemming from the fatal incident, but this time of lesser charges.
A jury in 2nd Judicial District Court convicted Anderson of voluntary manslaughter in the 2010 shooting of Vicente Sanchez, under which he faces up to seven years, less credit for time already served, according to Assistant District Attorney Tim Callaway, who tried the case.
Anderson was convicted of second-degree murder in his previous trial.
A standard jury instruction under New Mexico law says that a person “who is threatened with an attack need not retreat. In the exercise of his right of self-defense, he may stand his ground and defend himself.”
The appeals court reversed Anderson’s conviction and sent the case back to the District Court after finding that there was a fundamental error to have left out that guidance for the jury.
Sanchez and Anderson had argued at a house party and, as Sanchez’s girlfriend tried to intervene, Anderson moved her out of the way. Sanchez then punched Anderson and Anderson fell backward into the next room.
In the ensuing brawl, Sanchez’s girlfriend took a handgun from his pocket and briefly stopped the melee before Anderson, hiding behind the doorway, drew his own handgun and fired six shots 2 to 4 feet away. Four shots hit Sanchez, who died of the wounds.
Sentencing on the new conviction is expected in about a week.
