Courts

First Judicial District Attorney’s Office Hires Elizabeth (Liz) Counce As Prosecutor For Los Alamos County

by

Elizabeth (Liz) Counce

After more than two years of searching, the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office has hired prosecutor Elizabeth (Liz) Counce for Los Alamos County.

“We have tried for two years to get someone in the position that both lived in and understood the community and we are so pleased to have found her!” District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said.

Counce is a native of Saint Paul, Minn. She received her law degree in 2004 from the University of Saint Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minn., and soon after moved to New Mexico to practice law. She practiced as an Assistant Read More

FBI: Jose Trujillo, Solomon Peña, Demetrio Trujillo Face Up To Life If Convicted Of Shooting Homes Of Elected Officials

by

FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE — Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, have announced that Jose Louise Trujillo was arraigned on an indictment charging him with:

          • conspiracy;
          • four counts of interference with federally protected activities;
          • four counts of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence;
          • possession with intent to distribute 40 grams and more of fentanyl; and
          • using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

Trujillo, Read More

New Mexico State Police Officer Arrested For Sexual Assault

by

NMSP News:

LAS VEGAS — A female victim reported May 8, 2023 to New Mexico State Police (NMSP) officers in Gallup that she had been the victim of a sexual assault by a man who was now a NMSP officer.

The NMSP Investigations Bureau was requested to take charge of the investigation.

Agents learned that in July of 2022, the 20-year-old female victim had been on a two-week New Mexico National Guard deployment in Las Vegas, N.M. She identified Isaiah Cheromiah, 30, of Laguna, N.M. as a fellow soldier, and at the time of the incident an officer with the Grants Police Department.

The victim said that she, Cheromiah, Read More

New Mexico Supreme Court Opinion Provides Guidance In Deciding Pretrial Detention Requests From Prosecutors

by

Post file photo

New Mexico Supreme Court News:

SANTA FE — The New Mexico Supreme Court has issued an opinion providing guidance to district courts in deciding pretrial detention requests from prosecutors.

In a unanimous opinion, the justices clarified the analysis that courts should follow in determining whether legal requirements have been met for a person charged with a felony to be held in jail while awaiting trial.

Under state law, a felony defendant may be detained if prosecutors file a written motion and prove to a district court that the charged person is dangerous and that “no release Read More

FBI: Navajo Man Charged With Assault, Firearms Offenses

by

FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE — Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced Thursday that Tyrell Willie was ordered detained after he appeared at a preliminary and detention hearing before a U.S. Magistrate Judge on a criminal complaint charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and the use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Willie, 37, is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation.

According to the criminal complaint, Read More

New Mexico Supreme Court Vacates Felony Murder Convictions But Affirms Willful & Deliberate Murder Convictions In A Triple Homicide Case

by

Justice Michael E. Vigil

New Mexico Supreme Court News:

SANTA FE — The New Mexico Supreme Court has upheld the first-degree willful and deliberate murder convictions of a northern New Mexico man for the 2018 killings of three people in a home near the community of Dixon in Rio Arriba County.

However, the Court vacated three felony murder convictions that a jury returned against Roger Gage for the same three deaths. The justices concluded that Gage’s convictions of three counts each of first-degree willful and deliberate murder and three counts of felony murder violated constitutional protections Read More

FBI: Albuquerque Man Gets 7 Years For Armed Robberies

by

FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced today that Justin Bryant Koch was sentenced to 84 months in prison.

Koch, 34, of Albuquerque, pleaded guilty on Feb. 1, 2023, to one count of armed robbery and one count of attempted armed robbery. Upon his release from prison, Koch will be subject to 3 years of supervised release.

According to the plea agreement and other court records, at 5 p.m. on April 7, 2020, Koch entered the Oasis Convenience Store Read More

NMSP: Shooting By Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs In Red River

by

Jacob David Castillo of Rio Rancho
Charged with an Open Count of Murder

NMSP News: 

RED RIVER –The New Mexico State Police (NMSP) Investigations Bureau was called Saturday, May 27, to investigate a shooting in Red River that occurred during the 2023 Red River Memorial Day Motorcycle Rally. 

NMSP agents learned that at around 5 p.m., May 27, gunshots were reported to have been fired in the area of east Main Street in Red River. Officers arrived to find two deceased individuals and six injured individuals.

Five of the injured individuals were transported to local hospitals, where one was later pronounced Read More

New Mexico Environment Cabinet Secretary Kenney On U.S. Supreme Court’s ‘Appalling Decision’ On Clean Water Act

by

Secretary James Kenney

NMED News:

SANTA FE — New Mexico Environment Cabinet Secretary James Kenney issued a statement following the U.S. Supreme Court’s “appalling decision” in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, which dramatically limits the EPA’s authority to protect water systems. 

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision amounts to cultural appropriation for New Mexico’s residents and tribal members, stripping us of our connections to our most precious natural resource. This comes at a time when climate change demands even greater protections of ephemeral streams, wetlands Read More

Heinrich Slams Supreme Court’s Ruling Undermining EPA’s Authority To Enforce Clean Water Act

by

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, which undercuts the EPA’s authority to address pollution in New Mexico’s waterways:

“The Supreme Court’s radical conservative majority has once again rolled back precedent, disregarded science, and put the health and well-being of New Mexicans at risk. This time, they’ve done it by taking aim Read More