A. Unlawful taking of a vehicle or motor vehicle consists of a person taking any vehicle or motor vehicle as defined by the Motor Vehicle Code [Chapter 66, Articles 1 to 8 NMSA 1978] intentionally and without consent of the owner. Whoever commits unlawful taking of a vehicle or motor vehicle is guilty of a:

(1) fourth degree felony for a first offense;

(2) third degree felony for a second offense; and

(3) second degree felony for a third or subsequent offense.

B. The consent of the owner of the vehicle or motor vehicle to its taking shall not in any case be presumed or implied because of the owner's consent on a previous occasion to the taking of the vehicle or motor vehicle by the same or a different person.

C. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the holder of a lien duly recorded with the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department from taking possession of a vehicle to which possession the lienholder is legally entitled under the provisions of the instrument evidencing the lien. A holder of a duly recorded lien who takes possession of a vehicle without the knowledge of the owner of the vehicle shall immediately notify the local police authority of the fact that the holder has taken possession of the vehicle.

History: 1953 Comp., § 64-3-504, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 35, § 91; 1998, ch. 67, § 2; § 66-3-504 NMSA 1978 recompiled and amended as § 30-16D-1 by Laws 2009, ch. 253, § 1 and Laws 2009, ch. 261, § 1.

Recompilations. — Laws 2009, ch. 253, § 1 and Laws 2009, ch. 261, § 1 recompiled and amended former 66-3-504 NMSA 1978, relating to unlawful taking of a vehicle or motor vehicle, as 30-16D-1 NMSA 1978, effective July 1, 2009.

The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2009, in Subsection A, at the beginning of the sentence, deleted "Any person who" and added the language up to "any vehicle"; after "motor vehicle", added "as defined by the Motor Vehicle Code" and added the language at the beginning of the sentence up to "is", in Paragraph (8) of Subsection A, after "fourth degree felony", deleted "if the vehicle or motor vehicle has a value of less than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500)" and added "for a first offense"; in Paragraph (2) of Subsection, after "felony", deleted "if the vehicle or motor vehicle has a value of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) or more"; and added "for a second offense"; added Paragraph (3) of Subsection A; deleted former Subsection C, which provided that district courts have exclusive jurisdiction over offenses prescribed in this section; and in Subsection C, changed "division" to "motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department".

Laws 2009, ch. 253, § 1 enacted identical amendments to this section. The section was set out as amended by Laws 2009, ch. 261, § 1. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.

Specification of "anything of value" resulted in double jeopardy. — Where the child was charged with armed robbery for taking both an automobile and the keys to the automobile in violation of Section 30-16-2 NMSA 1978 and for the unlawful taking of a motor vehicle in violation of Section 30-16D-1 NMSA 1978, the child's conduct underlying both crimes was unitary; and both convictions required the same proof of the theft of the automobile, the unlawful taking of a motor vehicle conviction was subsumed by the robbery conviction and the child's conviction for both resulted in double jeopardy. State v. Gutierrez, 2011-NMSC-024, 150 N.M. 232, 258 P.3d 1024.