The case pertains to a March 29 incident in which Sherman’s dogs allegedly attacked and killed a small Bichon Frise dog belonging to the Mauro family at their Acoma Lane home.

Leaphart told the Court he was representing the town of Los Alamos and not any party in the case. He said his office was asked to look at the case and the first thing they found was that the Court did not have jurisdiction. Appearing as a Friend of the Court, Leaphart referred to a bill he said struck the jurisdiction from the Magistrate Court and replaced it with “competent jurisdiction”. Boland told Judge Casados he was in agreement with Leaphart.

Judge Casados said it had been brought to her attention that the case was not part of her jurisdiction. She said she had investigated and gone back to the original Dangerous Dog Act and did not believe it was the intent of the State Legislature when they did their amendment from the floor to take it out of Magistrate Court jurisdiction.

“In looking at this and in talking to the attorney for the Administrative Office of the Court, he agrees with me. I have jurisdiction and I will try this case,” Judge Casados said.

She said she also had looked into whether or not Public Safety Aide Robert Aragon and Deputy Police Chief Jason Wardlow Herrera could prosecute the case.

“They can,” she said. “Officers prosecute for the State of New Mexico as police officers at all times.”

When Casados asked if the State was ready to proceed with trial, Wardlow Herrera said the State was not because they had been told by Leaphart that they were unable to prosecute the case. Boland said he felt it would be cleaner considering how “messy” the case had become for him to file an opinion. Judge Casados agreed. Boland said the Court could then just deny it.

Boland asked the Court in light of the “messiness” of the case to consider adopting the District Court rules for civil cases saying again that the case had gotten so messy he was not sure what rules applied. He said he had made several attempts to talk to the other side in this case and that it is “difficult to litigate against them”. He asked Judge Casados to adopt rules or scheduling and asked for six months to prepare for trial due to the complexity of the case.

Boland also asked Judge Casados for clarification on who was prosecuting the case for the State, saying when he calls Aragon, Aragon tells him everything has to go through Wardlow Herrera. Judge Casados clarified that Aragon will be prosecuting the case and suggested that Aragon take some responsibility and ensure that Boland doesn’t have to wait while he talks to Wardlow Herrera.

Boland agreed to confer with Aragon on the case schedule and submit a proposed schedule by Sept. 5 to the Court.