Latest news with #NewMexicoSupremeCourt
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
Retrial date set for Portales daycare owners charged with child's death
PORTALES, N.M. (KRQE) – A retrial date has been set for two Portales daycare owners who were charged with a child's hot car death. Mary and Sandi Taylor were initially convicted of reckless child abuse in 2019 after leaving the two children in a hot car for nearly three hours in 2017. As a result, one of those children died, and the other suffered severe brain damage as a result. 'Rust' armorer convicted in cinematographer's death released from prison The Taylors later appealed their conviction and March 2024, the New Mexico Supreme Court ordered a new trial for the pair. The trial is now scheduled for Sept. 30, 2025. Both women are out of custody while they await their retrial. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NM Supreme Court rules alleged crime victims don't need to disclose visa applications
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Nov. 20, 2023 in Santa Fe. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM) The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday ruled unanimously that criminal defendants are not entitled to visa applications from their alleged victims who are seeking protections from deportations as part of their testimonies. So-called U and T visas allow non-citizen crime victims to report crimes and testify against perpetrators without fear of being deported. Approved visas allow victims temporary stays in the United States and also a potential avenue to lawful permanent resident status. Last year, the court ordered judges in San Juan and Bernalillo counties to return or destroy victim visa application material that prosecutors had previously provided to defense teams. The court's new ruling in an opinion issued today provides the legal reasoning for that order. Local DA says immigrant crime victims are going silent amid deportation fears, letting abusers free A rule requiring prosecutors to provide applications to defense teams could have a 'chilling effect' on 'immigrants' willingness to report crimes,' the court's opinion, written by Justice Shannon Bacon, said. First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies recently told Source New Mexico that some immigrant crime victims have stopped answering her phone calls, potentially out of fear of being deported despite qualifying for U visas. About 25 alleged crime victims applied for the visa in her judicial district in the first two months of 2025. One woman who stopped participating in the criminal justice process accused her partner, a United States citizen, of abusing her and two kids, both under age 11 and citizens themselves, Carmack-Altwies said in February. While the court rules that visa applications are now confidential and protected against disclosure during discovery, there are instances when information in an application must be turned over. For example, if the prosecution knows that a victim has applied for a U visa, they should turn that over to the defense team, 'because the fact of a U/T-Visa application is relevant impeachment material,' the court wrote. A crime victim's credibility could reasonably be called into question, according to the court, because the benefits of a U or T visa are 'significant and could provide ulterior motives.' The court explained that 'the defense may impeach the victim's credibility by cross-examining the victim about the potential benefits that a U/T-Visa offers to a victim, acknowledging these benefits are significant and could provide ulterior motives.' When the U/T-visa application is relevant to the victim's motive, the court wrote, a defendant can: Cross-examine witnesses, including victims, regarding their knowledge and participation in the U/T-Visa application process and their reasons for involvement; impeach a witness who has made 'prior inconsistent statements on the topic'; educate the jury about what U/T visa is and their benefits by cross-examining the state's witnesses or direct examination of defense witnesses'; and make related closing arguments Also, if prosecutors have a copy of the visa application and material within it bears on the defendant's guilt, then the information — 'not the application' itself — must be disclosed, according to the court opinion. If the prosecution and defense disagree on whether information in the application is material, a judge may have to review it in private.
Epoch Times
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
US Attorney General Releases Details on New Mexico Judge's Arrest
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday provided more details about a former New Mexico judge's arrest the previous day for allegedly allowing an illegal immigrant and suspected Tren de Aragua gang member to live at his residence. Former New Mexico Magistrate Judge Joel Cano and his wife, who were 'This is the last person we want in our country, nor will we ever tolerate a judge or anyone else harboring them,' Bondi said of the suspected gang member and Cano. Court papers In Friday's interview, the attorney general said that Cano took the Tren de Aragua member's cell phones and 'beat it with a hammer, destroyed it, and then [took] the pieces to a city dumpster to dispose of it to protect him.' Bondi added that Ortega-Lopez showed signs of being in a gang or affiliated with criminal activity, including a necklace that said 'kill' and that said 'something about death.' He also had pictures on his cellphone of 'two decapitated victims' and was 'sending them out' to other individuals, the attorney general added. Related Stories 4/25/2025 4/25/2025 Cano's wife, Nancy Cano, is also charged with destroying evidence, Bondi said, adding that the Canos 'gave [Ortega-Lopez] assault rifles that belonged to their daughter.' Ortega-Lopez and other known Tren de Aragua members then went to a shooting range with suppressors and were shooting, she said. The Canos 'were allegedly giving him assault rifles, AK-47s, AR-15s with a suppresser, a known [Tren de Aragua] member, letting him go to a shooting range to refine and perfect his shooting skills,' Bondi said elsewhere in the interview. 'What has happened to our judiciary is beyond me.' In a Court documents filed in April said that Ortega-Lopez was hired by Nancy Cano to 'install a glass door for her' and that he 'continued to do a few jobs' for her after being evicted from an apartment in April 2024, at which point she offered him a place to stay at the back of the residence she shared with her husband. The New Mexico Supreme Court, meanwhile, In March, Cano While speaking to a local media outlet on Thursday, Cano defended his decision to allow the illegal immigrant to stay in his home. He also said he would never put his family at risk if he thought there would be any danger. 'Their papers stated in the upper right-hand corner, 'This Person is Not Subject to Removal.' They each had a specific court date regarding their asylum hearing,' Cano Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and Mexican drug cartels were declared terrorist organizations by the government in February. The Epoch Times has contacted an email account that appears to be associated with Cano for comment. Katabella Roberts contributed to this report.
Newsweek
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Joel Cano, Democratic Judge, Arrested Over Link to Venezuelan Gang Members
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Federal agents detained former Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano and his wife, Nancy Cano, in a raid on their Las Cruces home on Thursday over alleged links to a Venezuelan gang. The couple is facing charges of evidence tampering and hosting three people with alleged links to Tren de Aragua, including a man named Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, who was detained for being in the U.S. illegally, FOX14 reported. The New Mexico Supreme Court permanently barred Cano, a Democratic judge, from serving on the bench after he resigned in March following the arrest of Ortega-Lopez at his home, KRQE Albuquerque reported. According to a Justice Department press release, investigators discovered social media posts showing Ortega-Lopez posing with multiple firearms. Some of the weapons were allegedly provided by April Cano, the judge's daughter, who "allowed him to hold and sometimes shoot various firearms," the agency stated. This is a developing article and more information will be added soon.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Yahoo
New Mexico Supreme Court: Catron County judge abused her power in lawsuit
CATRON COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that a Catron County magistrate judge abused her power but will not be removed from the bench. The justices ruled that Judge Susan Griffin used her judicial login credentials to give herself an advantage in a pending lawsuit involving her effort to evict someone from one of her properties. Story continues below Community: NM Dancewear closes its doors for good, leaving hole in dance community Food: Los Ranchos restaurant named best spot for brunch in the state by Yelp Crime: ABQ woman frustrated, two vehicles stolen from hospital parking lot days apart Film: Do you recognize these 'El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie' filming locations? The judicial standards commission found she created a fraudulent document instead of creating a civil one that wouldn't be used in an eviction case. Judge Griffin claimed it was all a mistake, as she was only 5 months into her first term as judge. 'As a matter of law, there were not sufficient findings with the term fraudulently, and concludes, therefore, the commission's conclusions as to count one are vacated,' said New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice David K. Thomson. During a pretrial hearing in her lawsuit, a judge asked her about the document and if she created it. Judge Griffin denied creating the document, despite the fact that her name was auto-populated on the document when she created it, and blamed court clerks. 'Respondent further eroded the credibility of the judicial system by concealing the truth from another judge and officer of the court,' Thomson added. The New Mexico Supreme Court decided not to remove Judge Griffin from the did suspend her without pay for 90 days, not including her previous suspension in this case. She will also have to go through additional training on the court systems, be appointed a mentor by the New Mexico Supreme Court, and have to write an apology letter to all of the clerks she falsely accused. This eviction case involved Griffin's son, former Otero County Commissioner Couy was mentioned in the lawsuit by the defendant. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
