Courts

Judiciary Cuts Mileage Payments To Address State’s Budget Shortfall

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NMSC News:
 
SANTA FE ― The New Mexico Judiciary will reduce spending by about a half million dollars a year by lowering the mileage reimbursement rate for travel by judges, staff, jurors, interpreters and court-ordered witnesses.
 
The Supreme Court ordered the reduction to address a state budget shortfall for the 2017 fiscal year, which started in July.
 
Effective Oct. 1, the payment rate will be reduced from 46 cents to 29 cents a mile for employees using a privately owned vehicle for travel on court-related business. The reimbursement of 46 cents a mile followed
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Stephanie Lopez Released From Prison

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Convicted criminals in the Baby Brianna torture, rape and murder case are Andrew Walters, Steven Lopez and Stephanie Lopez. Courtesy/NMCD
 
NMCD News:
 
GRANTS — Stephanie Lopez was released from the New Mexico Corrections Department this week after serving nearly 13 years in prison. Lopez was convicted
of child abuse resulting in death in 2003.
 
“This case sent shockwaves through the entire community. Baby Brianna was horrifically tortured, raped and murdered, and we all want the monsters who took part in this brutal crime to face justice,” Secretary
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Letter To The Editor: To Reiterate – The Importance Of Voting In Judicial Elections

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By KHAL SPENCER
Los Alamos

I can’t do enough to second Bethany Tierney’s letter “Important To Vote For Judges” published Thursday in the Los Alamos Daily Post.

Recall that several years ago, a judge working in our judicial district was seen as particularly soft on a high profile crime that occurred up here in Los Alamos*. Although the former Judge, the Honorable Sheri Raphaelson, did not win approval from the state Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission**, most of our judicial district voted to retain her. She barely missed the minimum retention voting percentage, entirely due to the overwhelming Read More

Sheriff’s Office Announces New Registered Sex Offender Todd Frederick App In Los Alamos County

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Todd Frederick App

PUBLIC SAFETY News:

Los Alamos County Sheriff Marco Lucero is advising the community of a newly registered sex offender.

Todd Frederick App registered with the local sheriff’s office today. He was convicted July, 14, 1993 in the Superior Court of Pinal County, State of Arizona of 1 count of “Aggravated Sexual Assault, 1st Degree (Child Under 15).”  He also was convicted of 1 count of “Attempted Kidnapping, 2nd Degree”.

App is residing at 143 Monte Rey South in White Rock.

For further information regarding registered convicted sex offenders, review the Los Alamos County Read More

FBI: Navajo Man Sentenced To 10 Years For Discharging A Firearm During A Crime Of Violence

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FBI News:
 
ALBUQUERQUE ― Eli Hunt, 37, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Newcomb, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque to 120 months in prison for discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. Hunt will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.
 
Hunt was arrested in December 2015 on a criminal complaint charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and burglary. 
 
The complaint alleged that he committed the crimes Dec.
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Attorney General Balderas Sues Bristol-Myers Squibb For False & Deceptive Marketing

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AG News:
 
ALBUQUERQUE ― Thursday, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that he filed a lawsuit against the pharmaceutical manufacturer Bristol-Meyers Squibb for false and deceptive marketing of the prescription drug Plavix.
 
The complaint alleges that the drug company knew that its drug was ineffective in a percentage of the population and may have increased a patient’s risk of internal bleeding, but the company failed to disclose that to prescribing doctors and the public.
 
“My office will continue to protect vulnerable New Mexican families
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AG Secures 10 Year Sentence For Con Artist

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Convicted conman John Darren Meister gets 10 year sentence. Courtesy/AG

From the Office of the Attorney General:

Albuquerque – In Second Judicial District Court Thursday, Judge Alisa Hadfield sentenced defendant John Darren Meister to 10 years in the Department of Corrections for violating probation, followed by two and a half years of supervised probation.

During this probationary period, following his release from prison, Meister must continue to make restitution payments to the two victims. In June 2015, Meister pled guilty to felony racketeering, fraud and money laundering. These Read More

New Mexico Supreme Court Hears School Elections Case At 9 a.m. Wednesday

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LWVNM News:

At 9 a.m. Wednesday, the New Mexico Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the League of Women Voters vs. the Advisory Committee to the New Mexico Compilation Commission case, known as “the school elections case.” 

The Writ of Mandamus that the League filed in 2015 argues that the electorate actually did approve Constitutional Amendments in 2008 and in 2014 allowing school elections to be held at the same time as other non-partisan elections. The League contends that only a simple majority was required rather than a super-majority since no voting rights would be restricted Read More

Judge Sentences Former Los Alamos Pastor Paul Cunningham To Serve 12 Months In County Jail

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Former Los Alamos Pastor Paul Cunningham

Staff Report

Citing the lack of a prior criminal history, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sentenced former Los Alamos pastor Paul Cunningham to 12 months in jail followed by two years of supervised probation.

Cunningham, 54, was facing 4.5 years in jail for his crimes, but after he pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography and one count of distributing it, the District Attorney’s Office recommended the lighter sentence and the judge agreed. According to court reports, Cunningham will serve his sentence in the Los Alamos County Jail at 2500 Read More

DOE Whistleblower Case Finally Wins A Hearing

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Anthony Rivera, top left, was photographed in 2013 with the team that won a 2013 R&D 100 award for developing a ‘Laser SHIELD’ that identifies potential harmful pulses in real time. Courtesy/LLNL
 

By ROGER SNODGRASS
Los Alamos Daily Post

On the same day that senior engineer Anthony T. Rivera was escorted out of his workplace at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory “with intent to dismiss,” Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz wrote a memorandum to his staff asking for a personal and professional commitment to a culture of safety. “Federal, laboratory, and contractor workers.” Read More