Gov. Susana Martinez is holding a news conference this afternoon about the arrest in Mexico of a Clovis murder suspect.
According to a news release from Martinez's office, suspect Noe Torres:
... has been charged with the murder of Carlos Perez and the attempted murder of his brother Ruben Perez. Torres and his accomplices originally targeted Ruben when they went to the Perez residence on September 15, 2005 and shot nine rounds into Carlos and Ruben’s bedroom window. Carlos Perez was killed by a bullet that struck him in the head. While Torres was never apprehended and fled to Mexico, his accomplices were all tried and convicted for their roles in Carlos’s murder.
But here's the twist.
Torres, according to the news release had been taunting Clovis law enforcement officials through phone calls and letters. And on Jan. 18 Martinez herself received a letter from Torres. It's not clear what he had to say to the gov, but the next day she gave it to Chihuahua Governor Cesar Duarte, along with a packet of information on the case.
"Six days later, Torres was arrested by Mexican authorities and is now in the process of being extradited to the United States to stand trial," the news release said.
I'll update if there's more information out of the news conference.
UPDATE: 4:55 pm Here's the letter that Noe Toress sent to the governor. (Some of it's faded. Use Full Screen feature.)
Gov. Susana Martinez's nomination of Gregg Marcantel to be secretary of Corrections apparently has hit a roadblock.
Senate Rules Committee Chairwoman Linda Lopez said in a news release that "Secretary Designate Marcantel background investigation and questionnaire have identified issues that cannot be ignored."
Court records sent with the news release indicate that Marcantel as a Bernalillo County police detective had been one of two detectives in charge of a confidential informant with a record of convictions for rape and kidnapping in Socorro and Albuquerque. According to a civil lawsuit filed in 1997, the informant, at the time he was under the watch of Marcantel and his partner, raped two children.
A court deposition also shows that Marcantel, while working as a corrections officer in Louisiana, had been suspended twice. In a letter to Marcantel, Lopez said these facts were not disclosed on Marcantel's background questionairre.
Lopez has asked Marcantel to testify at a closed-door executive sesseion of the Rules Committee on Wednesday.
However, a spokesman for Martinez calls Lopez's allegations against Marcantel a "smear job."
“The case Senator Lopez is using to smear Gregg Marcantel is the same case in which he was given the nation’s “Top Cop' award by the National Association of Police Organizations. In fact, Marcantel’s actions were deemed so exemplary that he was invited to the White House as a result of the award by President Bill Clinton. Furthermore, Secretary-designate Marcantel does not believe this should be discussed in `executive session,' but rather in a public committee meeting and looks forward to defending his integrity against these political attacks. Secretary-designate Marcantel is making great strides in professionalizing the Corrections Department and holding those accountable who were allowed to take advantage of taxpayers during the previous administration. He has protected and served the public with great distinction throughout his law enforcement career.”
Darnell also supplied a quote from Jim and Rita McGrane, the parents of slain Bernalillo County Sheriff's Deputy James McGrane, Jr.
“Gregg Marcantel is a man of impeccable integrity who has dedicated his life to protecting our community. When our son was murdered in the line of duty, then Lt. Marcantel spearheaded the murder investigation and personally went to Mexico to take custody of Michael Paul Astorga. We know Gregg’s character and are sad to learn that someone would personally attack him.”
Marcentel is one of several Martinez cabinet appointees waiting to be confirmed by the Senate. The Rules Committee this morning recommended confirmation of Retta Ward as secretary of Aging & Long-Term Services.
There's another Republican who wants to challenge incumbent Congressman Ben Ray Lujan.
Jefferson L. Byrd
Jefferson Byrd, a Quay County rancher and engineer, announced today that he'll seek the GOP nomination.
In an email, Byrd wrote:
“After much prayer and counsel with my wife Suzanne, and with growing grassroots support across the district, I believe that my strong conservative background is best to take on Ben Ray Lujan’s socialist policies. In order to effectively compete for this seat, we need a true conservative who is from the district and has actually lived through the tough times that the Obama/Lujan agenda has created.”
Rick Newton of Taos announced late last year that he's seeking the Republican nomination for Congress in this district. Both Byrd and Newton are political newcomers.
The Third District is considered a safe Democratic district. Not only is there a near 2-to-1 voter registration advantage for Dems, in recent elections the national GOP has basically ignored the Republican nominee in CD 3.
Lujan also has Democratic primary opposition. Former Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya recently announced he'll run against Lujan. Artist Sean Closson also is running as a Democrat.
UPDATE: 5:52 pm The original version of this gave an incorrect name for Harry Montoya (who I've know for years.) Sorry Harry, and thanks to Chris for pointing it out.
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican Jan. 29, 2012
It took eight years for Teri Johnson and Laura Bowman, two Albuquerque sisters, to find out what really happened to their brother, Michael Snyder. The two found out last week that it also might take a long time to convince the Legislature to take action to change a law they say created an injustice for their family.
Snyder, a mechanic who suffered from multiple sclerosis, had been missing since 2002. In 2010, thanks mainly to a tip from an informant, his body was found buried next to the house he had built for his family in Albuquerque. His wife, Ellen Snyder, was accused of killing him, burying the body and lying to police, claiming that Michael Snyder left his family after an argument.
However, prosecutors thought charging her with first-degree murder would be too risky, and the statute of limitations for second-degree murder is only six years. So, in a plea deal -- opposed by Johnson, Bowman and other family members -- Snyder pleaded last year to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. She waived the statute of limitations on that charge. The sentence also includes time for lesser charges such as tampering with evidence and tax fraud.
Sen. Bill Payne, R-Albuquerque, is sponsoring a bill (Senate Bill 37) to eliminate the statute of limitations for any homicide. Rep. Bill Rehm, R-Albuquerque, is sponsoring the similar House Bill 31. Gov. Susana Martinez endorsed the legislation in her State of the State address.
Currently, there is no time limit in New Mexico for prosecuting first-degree murder cases. But that's not the case for homicide charges.
But Payne's bill ran into trouble Thursday with the Senate Public Affairs Committee, which added amendments that Payne said waters it down.
The sisters expressed disappointment immediately following the hearing. "We don't want to send the message that if you're a clever enough criminal, you'll get away," Bowman said.
"It's disappointing to see opposition to something I thought was a no-brainer," Johnson said.
The bill was opposed by the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Civil Liberties Union and the New Mexico Women's Justice Project. Sheila Lewis of the latter group said eliminating statutes of limitations gives families of homicide victims false hopes and does not allow them to get "closure."
The sisters disagreed.
But following the meeting, they didn't seem to have much false hope about the prospects of the bill.
The main hang-up by some committee members was the fact that the statute of limitations would be lifted for homicides, including assisted suicide.
The committee adopted an amendment by Sen. Eric Griego, D-Albuquerque, to eliminate the statute of limitations on second-degree murder. But for the lesser crimes, manslaughter, vehicular homicide and assisted suicide, the statute of limitations would be raised from five years to 10 years.
Then the committee voted to pass an amendment by Sen. Tim Eichenberg, D-Albuquerque, to drop assisted suicides completely from the bill. The amended bill goes on to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The trouble with that, Payne said, is that in murder cases like Snyder's, when evidence comes in years later, defense lawyers will try to plea it down to some of the lesser crimes -- such as assisted suicide.
Payne said the statute of limitations could become an issue if the West Mesa murders ever go to court. Nobody has been charged in the killings of 11 women found in a mass grave on Albuquerque's West Mesa in 2009.
Most prosecutors, Payne argued, wouldn't attempt to try cases with weak evidence anyway. But in cases where the evidence is good, time shouldn't be a barrier, he said.
Though disappointed, the two sisters aren't giving up. "This affects everyone who walks the streets of New Mexico," Johnson said.
Monday night at a League of Women Voters event, I ran into Public Regulation Commissioner Doug Howe, who told me that he was running for the position this year as a Democrat.
Shortly after talking to him, I blogged about it and wrote a brief for Tuesday's New Mexican.
Then, late last night, I read this in today's paper:
"I don't know how to be a politician. I'm not one. I might be able to learn. But I need a lot more than two months to do it. I finally came to the conclusion that it is an insurmountable task."
I'm not sure what happened between Monday night and yesterday. But I guess that makes this card a collector's item.
The protest of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) dinner at the Eldorado apparently turned violent last night after a small group of Occupy Santa Fe protesters went inside the hotel and disrupted the dinner.
According to several legislators who were there, a female guest of Rep. Bill Rehm, R-Albuquerque, was struck in the eye by a piece of cardboard -- actually a satirical dinner menu and program created by the protesters. According to legislators, her cornea was scratched.
Rehm declined comment, but a spokeswoman for House Republicans who talked to him said Rehm's guest's eye is being monitoring and is improving today.
The incident was denounced by members of both political parties, including some who have expressed agreement with Occupy's positions on issues. Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe said the incident made the protesters look like their opponents' caricature of the Occupy Movement.
Jeff Haas, a spokesman for the protesters, said in an email to The New Mexican, "While Occupy believes that confrontation and civil disobedience are often effective as demonstrated by Dr. King and Rosa Parks, we regret that anyone was injured last night by either flying paper or rough treatment by hotel security or ALEC members. Fortunately the injuries were minor compared to the devastation to people and the environment caused by ALEC legislation"
But Sen. Eric Griego, an Albuquerque Democrat who has been sympathetic to the Occupy movement, said on the Senate floor, this kind of incident "undermines Martin Luther King and Caesar Chavez. I stand with my colleagues who say we can't tolerate this behavior."
Haas said photographer Lisa Law, who was with the protesters was "roughed up by hotel security and ALEC members who sought to grab her camera."
Law said in a Youtube posting that she was "attacked from the back" and "ended up with a bloody hand and a very stiff and sore neck, arm and back." She said she made a police report on her injury.
Rep. Paul Bandy, R-Farmington, who is a state co-chair of ALEC, told reporters that he arrived early to the dinner so he could talk with protesters outside of the hotel. He said the discussion was cordial.
After the main protest outside dispersed some protesters came inside to the hotel bar, Bandy said.
About the time the ALEC guests were eating their salads in the Old House restaurant inside the hotel, a small group of protesters entered, Bandy said. Estimates on the number ranged from three to seven. "At least three of them really carrying on," Bandy said.
A female protester began flinging the cardboard menus. Rep. Dennis Kintigh, R-Roswell, said they were about the size of a large Christmas card.
Sen. Clint Harden, R-Clovis said protesters were "hurling the cards like karate stars."
Kintigh, a retired FBI agent, said Rehm stood up to confront the protester when his guest was struck by the envelope. "That's when yours truly stood up." He said he placed his hands on the woman and escorted her out of the door.
In a Santa Fe police report on the incident, no suspects were named.
Several legislators in the House and the Senate blasted the protesters.
Senate Republican Whip Bill Payne, the other ALEC state co-chair, said the incident was the worst thing he's ever seen in Santa Fe. Besides the protesters, Payne also criticized the hotel security, Santa Fe Police and "the tenor of the press" in Santa Fe. He specifically mentioned recent articles of mine about ALEC and lobbyist expenses.
Sen. John Ryan, R-Albuquerque, said many groups engage in responsible, peaceful protests, but when any group resorts to violence, "it's our responsibility to call them out."
Egolf, who was quoted in my article criticizing ALEC, agreed with other legislators about the Eldorado incident. "When folks start crossing the line, getting in people's faces and throwing things, it's deplorable," he said.
"And it's extremely counterproductive. Now you can't have a conversation on issues like economic disparity and leveling the playing field." Instead, he said, the issue is personal safety at legislative functions and the behavior of the protesters.
Without naming him, some House Republicans criticized statements about ALEC made by Egolf in Monday's story.
"I believe in free speech and individual liberty," Bandy told reporters. But public officials, he said, "need to be awful careful about inciting people to violence."
Egolf said in the article that ALEC "is the truest embodiment of all the things that people who care about keeping corporate money out of politics, preserving our democracy and keeping our air, land and water clean fear most."
On Thursday Egolf said, "Everything I said about about the organization and issues. ... I didn't make any comment about any members."
Here's a video of the incident by Lisa Law of 40 seconds
As I do periodically during a session, I checked the first batch of lobbyist reports yesterday to see who is throwing parties, hosting dinners and paying for meals for legislators during the session.
Just a few have come in so far. My story about that is HERE.
There's one thing this year that's more difficult in looking up these reports in the past. The Secretary of State's Office has changed systems. In the old days (up to the 2011 regular session) you could just go over to the office and go through a stack of paper reports.
But now it's all automated. No more paper. The good news is there will be no more errors based on lobbyist penmanship. The bad news is, while all the reports are now online at the Secretary of State's Campaign Finance site , there's no quick way to search for the 48-hour reports (the reports lobbyists have to file during a session within two days of making an expenditure more than $500.)
Thus, unearthing the information requires the help of SOS staff. I was able to find a few of the reports on my own Tuesday (including the golf passes given to legislators), but the SOS staff yesterday located a couple more that I'd missed.
I'm hoping that they update the website -- which is very helpful with finding campaign finance reports and other stuff -- so that you can go directly to the 48-hour reports.
Public Regulation Commission Doug Howe, who was appointed late last year by Gov. Susana Martinez to fill out the term of Jerome Block, Jr., said Monday he will run this year for a full term on the regulatory body.
Howe, who has worked for several energy companies and as a consultant to regulatory bodies such as the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was an independent when appointed to the body in November.
However, he said Monday that he intends to run as a Democrat. He joins an already crowded field in the Democratic primary.
Block resigned last year after pleading guilty to multiple felony counts in Santa Fe District Court.
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