Judge: District attorney can't be co-counsel in Baldwin case — Morgan Lee, Associated Press
A New Mexico judge said Santa Fe's district attorney shouldn't serve as co-counsel in the manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin and a weapons supervisor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer during a 2021 movie rehearsal. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer on Monday said the district attorney should either lead the case on her own or turn it over entirely to another prosecutor.
Baldwin and movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed have pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 18-months in prison and fines.
Hutchins died shortly after being wounded Oct. 21, 2021, during rehearsals at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza, on the set of the Western movie "Rust."
District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies is regrouping after the resignation of special prosecutor Andrea Reeb in the wake of missteps in the filing of initial charges against Baldwin and objections that Reeb's role as a state legislator created conflicting responsibilities.
Carmack-Altwies has been preparing to appoint a new special prosecutor and also guide the complex case as co-counsel. But a defense attorney for Gutierrez-Reed objected to the arrangement, arguing it would be illegal under New Mexico law and fundamentally unfair to a 25-year-old defendant with limited financial resources.
Marlowe Sommer, the judge, said Monday during a court hearing by videoconference that the district attorney had misread key provisions of state law in assembling a team to prosecute the case.
"Basically, what I'm ruling, Ms. Carmack-Altwies, is that you are going to use (the law) in the way I've interpreted it, which means that you may not co-counsel, or you stay the course and not use a special prosecutor and prosecute it on your own," Marlowe Sommer said.
Baldwin's attorneys did not intervene in Monday's arguments. A weekslong preliminary hearing in May will decide whether evidence against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed is sufficient to proceed to trial.
Carmack-Altwies said her agency is contending with a shortage of staff attorneys and that a new special prosecutor will need her help in getting up to speed on the case quickly. The district attorney also said her continued involvement as co-counsel would provide an extra measure of accountability as an an elected prosecutor to political constituents.
Defense Attorney Jason Bowles said the district attorney was unfairly exceeding her authority.
"We are representing Hannah Gutierrez-Reed — she is a 25-year-old female who does not have all of those resources and does not have a war chest," Bowles said. "And the state is essentially saying we get to put all this money together, a special taxpayer appropriation, to go after not only Mr. Baldwin, but also Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. That's not what the statute was designed to do."
NMSU coach says 'They made a statement by hiring a guy like me' - Associated Press
New Mexico State's new coach said Sunday his focus is on rebuilding the culture of a program that was shut down in midseason after back-to-back scandals.
"I think they made a statement when they hired a guy like me," said Jason Hooten, who came from Sam Houston State and was introduced in a pep rally setting at the Aggies' arena.
Flanked by athletic director Mario Moccia and chancellor Dan Arvizu, Hooten said the decision to leave Sam Houston after 13 years and 261 wins was a difficult one. It was certainly made more challenging given the situation he inherits. The Aggies are expected to lose up to half a roster from a team that was 9-15 when Arvizu shut things down after hazing allegations came on the heels of a fatal shooting of a University of New Mexico student by an Aggies player during a road trip to Albuquerque.
The school is conducting an investigation into a player's accusation in February that three teammates ganged up on him multiple times in hazing episodes.
"No matter when you take over, or what the situation is, you have an opportunity to build a culture," Hooten said. "This is a culture time. A new culture needs to be built, and a new start and a new beginning."
Hooten is slated to make $425,000 his first season and $475,000 by his fourth year. Among the incentives in the contract are $2,500 for regular-season wins over rival New Mexico and $10,000 for winning a first-round game at the NCAA Tournament.
Among those in attendance to see Hooten become the school's 28th basketball coach was Mary Henson. Her late husband, Lou Henson, took the Aggies to their lone Final Four in 1970 and won 308 games over two long stints in Las Cruces.
The program, which is moving from the Western Athletic Conference to Conference USA next season, has been to 10 NCAA Tournaments since 2007. The new coach said he was hoping to restore the Aggies to that level.
Moccia was asked a handful of questions about the turmoil his athletic program is in. He said he hoped to be part of a task force that was recommended by an outside law firm that looked into circumstances surrounding forward Mike Peake. Peake has not been charged in the fatal shooting of UNM student Brandon Travis because Peake appeared to be acting in self-defense when he pulled a gun after being confronted by Travis at a dorm complex in Albuquerque.
"Whatever the task force is made (of), and what comes out of that, we will certainly actively follow," Moccia said. "We can always get better."
He also defended the athletic department's record of producing hundreds of players with 3.0 or better grade-point averages and who logged more than 6,000 hours of community service per year before the pandemic.
With Second Chances signed into law, advocates want better programming on the inside - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
As the Second Chance bill was making its way through the New Mexico Legislature, community members were already thinking ahead to how they could try to also improve the conditions on the inside of New Mexico’s juvenile and adult prison systems.
Prison is not an environment conducive to the type of development and change children need, said Eric Alexander, senior advocate with the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, during an informal panel in January at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.
“There was nothing placed inside of the prison environment that encouraged me to change,” he said. “Maturity helped me to understand what I needed within myself.”
Even though society has placed children in prison to die, they muster the wherewithal to do it themselves, and “found a way out of no way,” said Alexander, who himself faced an extreme sentence in prison as a child.
“They’re coming home as totally changed, new individuals,” he said. “They changed there, with no incentive at all.”
Clifton White, a father and activist in Albuquerque, joined impacted families and organizers in the audience at the panel. Together, they strategized about how to get Senate Bill 64 written into New Mexico law.
“This bill is very important, because it addresses the issue in our state that we haven’t done nothing for at all, period,” said White, who was first sentenced to 25 years in prison at age 19.
Part of the problem, he said, is that people serving life in New Mexico prisons have no incentive to change because of state law prohibiting 30-year sentences from being reduced through good time.
Programming in prisons is “actually very slim picking here in New Mexico,” said Carissa McGee, a formerly incarcerated woman from Albuquerque. Providing more and better programming to children and adults is something she hopes can also be addressed.
During the 2023 session, some state lawmakers told Abby Long they are also interested in prevention and programming for people both in the adult and juvenile criminal legal system. She wants to turn her attention to those issues now that the Second Chance bill is signed.
“I feel like I’m over having these conversations and having to work so hard to convince people that children shouldn’t be thrown away,” she said.
Whether the child inflicted violence, or it was inflicted upon them, or both, like in Seven’s case, the juvenile system unfortunately doesn’t have appropriate ways for them to heal while they are inside, Abby said.
“A lot of them, I think, would benefit greatly from doing that kind of work while they’re there,” she said.
Seven wants to help fellow young people not end up where he is. A child who may be right now experiencing similar problems with people trying to lure them into a gang, Abby said, could be helped by hearing from a credible, slightly older person.
“I think it’d be cool, honestly, if they had peer support training in these facilities,” she said. “That’s a dream of mine.”
Abby gets teary-eyed just thinking about the day her son Seven Long will get out.
“That’s going to be such a huge day for me,” she said.
She has also been speaking with lawmakers and other social workers about the need for a grassroots support network for folks coming out of prisons. She thinks without such a support network, people may be getting set up to fail once they get out.
“That would definitely weigh heavy on my heart,” she said. “That’s not what we’re going to do.”
Navajo Tech 1st among tribal universities to offer PhD - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
A university on the largest Native American reservation in the U.S. launched its accredited doctoral program, becoming the first among more than 30 accredited tribal colleges and universities across the country to offer such a high level degree.
The program at Navajo Technical University will be dedicated to sustaining Diné culture and language. Diné is the Navajo word meaning "the people" and is commonly what tribal members call themselves.
A celebration is planned on the Crownpoint campus in western New Mexico in April, and the school already started accepting applications for the fall semester.
The offering marks a milestone for the university, which already has more than 30 degree and certificate programs spanning science, technology, engineering, business and liberal arts, Navajo Tech President Elmer Guy said.
Guy told The Associated Press on Friday that he believes the program in which students will receive a Ph.D. in Diné Culture and Language Sustainability will have a profound impact on the future of the tribe's language and culture. He said he's excited to see how students shape their dissertations.
The idea was to create a program that would lead to employment opportunities and effect change for Navajo communities on the reservation that stretches into New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.
"I thought it would be important to make that connection," Guy said, explaining that it's a step beyond the call by tribal leaders for their people to learn the language and stay engaged with their culture. "Individuals will get a degree and they'll be professionals. You have to make it applicable. By making it more meaningful, people will have an interest in it."
The effort is paying off. About 20 students have applied so far and will be vying for five coveted spots in the inaugural class, said Wafa Hozien, an administrator who helped with the program's creation.
A collaboration with other academic institutions and community partners, the doctoral program was developed with the help of tribal elders, university professors and linguistic experts. Community-based research and internships will be part of the curriculum so students gain practical experience they can apply in the real world.
Guy said he's hopeful this inspires other tribal colleges and universities to create their own programs.
Hozien said Navajo Tech's program represents a paradigm shift in that learning through a Diné lens — with culture and language — creates leaders who can advocate for their people in the judicial system, education, land management, business, technology and health care, for example.
Guy said the work done by the university to train court reporters to document Navajo testimony and translators to help with reading ballots during election season already has addressed some of the pressing needs within communities.
The possibilities will be even greater as students earn doctoral degrees, he said.
"They will be part of solving problems," Guy said. "These students have energy and creativity, and our job is to give them the tools."
Suspect still sought in fatal shooting at a Farmington mall - Associated Press
Authorities continue to search Sunday for a suspect in a shooting outside a Farmington mall that left one person dead and another wounded.
Police said the shooting occurred around 11:30 a.m. Thursday in the parking lot at the Animas Valley Mall.
What led to the shooting remains under investigation, but police said detectives believe it wasn't a random event and the victims were targeted.
Authorities said they're still trying to notify the family of the victim whose name, age and hometown haven't been released yet.
Police were withholding the identity of the wounded person who remained hospitalized in stable condition.