Santa Fe attorney John Eastman surrenders on charges in Trump's Georgia 2020 election subversion case - By Kate Brumback Associated Press
John Eastman, the conservative attorney based in Santa Fe who pushed a plan to keep Donald Trump in power, turned himself in to authorities Tuesday on charges in the Georgia case alleging an illegal plot to overturn the former president's 2020 election loss.
Eastman was booked at the Fulton County jail and is expected to have an arraignment in the coming weeks in the sprawling racketeering case.
He was indicted last week alongside Trump and 17 others, who are accused by District Attorney Fani Willis of scheming to subvert the will of Georgia voters in a desperate bid to keep Joe Biden out of the White House. It was the fourth criminal case brought against the Republican former president.
Trump, whose bond was set Monday at $200,000, has said he will surrender to authorities in Fulton County on Thursday. His bond conditions prohibit him from intimidating co-defendants, witnesses or victims in the case, including on social media. He has a history of assailing the prosecutors leading the cases against him, including Willis.
Eastman said in a statement provided by his lawyers that he was surrendering Tuesday "to an indictment that should never have been brought." He criticized the indictment for targeting "attorneys for their zealous advocacy on behalf of their clients" and said each of the 19 defendants was entitled to rely on the advice of lawyers and past legal precedent to challenge the results of the election.
A former dean of Chapman University Law School in Southern California, Eastman was a close adviser to Trump in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by the president's supporters intent on halting the certification of Biden's electoral victory. He wrote a memo laying out steps Vice President Mike Pence could take to stop the counting of electoral votes while presiding over Congress' joint session on Jan. 6 in order to keep Trump in office.
After the 2020 election, Eastman and others pushed to put in place a slate of "alternate" electors falsely certifying that Trump won and tried to pressure Pence to reject or delay the counting of legitimate electoral votes for Biden, a Democrat.
Bail bondsman Scott Hall, who was accused of participating in a breach of election equipment in rural Coffee County, Georgia, also turned himself in to the Fulton County Jail on Tuesday.
Two other defendants, former Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey Clark and former Georgia Republican Party chair David Shafer, have filed paperwork aiming to transfer the case to federal court. Willis has filed paperwork in Fulton County Superior Court, where the indictment was filed, seeking a March 4 trial date. Legal maneuvering, such as the attempts to move the case to federal court, could make it difficult to start a trial that soon.
Lawyers for Clark argued in their court filing Monday that he was a high-ranking Justice Department official and the actions described in the indictment "relate directly to his work at the Justice Department as well as with the former President of the United States." Shafer's attorneys argued that his conduct "stems directly from his service as a Presidential Elector nominee," actions they say were "at the direction of the President and other federal officers."
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows last week made similar arguments in a federal court filing, saying his actions were taken in service to his White House role. A judge has scheduled a hearing for Monday in that case.
Attorneys for Meadows and Clark both filed motions seeking to keep their clients from having to turn themselves in at the Fulton County Jail by the deadline at noon Friday.
Clark's motion sought to stay any proceedings in Fulton County Superior Court while Meadows' motion asks the judge to immediately rule that his case can be moved to federal court or to issue an order prohibiting Willis from arresting him before Monday's hearing. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones gave Willis' office until 3 p.m. Wednesday to respond to both motions.
Meadows' motion says that before turning to the court his lawyers asked Willis for an extension, but she rejected that request, saying in an email Tuesday that at 12:30 p.m. Friday she would "file warrants in the system."
Clark was a staunch supporter of Trump's false claims of election fraud and in December 2020 presented colleagues with a draft letter pushing Georgia officials to convene a special legislative session on the election results, according to testimony before the U.S. House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Clark wanted the letter sent, but Justice Department superiors refused.
Shafer was one of 16 Georgia Republicans who signed a certificate declaring falsely that Trump had won the 2020 presidential election in the state and declaring themselves the "duly elected and qualified" electors even though Biden had won the state and a slate of Democratic electors was certified.
Shafer was one of several defendants whose lawyers negotiated bond amounts with the district attorney's office on Tuesday. His bond was set at $75,000.
Bond was set at $100,000 for Jenna Ellis, an attorney who prosecutors say was involved in efforts to convince state lawmakers to unlawfully appoint presidential electors. Bond was set at $50,000 for Michael Roman, a former White House aide who served as a director of Trump's Election Day operations and was involved in efforts to put forth a set of fake electors after the 2020 election. Robert Cheeley, a lawyer accused of helping organize the fake electors meeting at the state Capitol in December 2020 and then lying about what he knew to a special grand jury, had a bond set at $14,000.
Bond was set at $10,000 for Shawn Still, another of the fake electors who was elected to the Georgia state Senate in November 2022 and represents a district in Atlanta's suburbs. Cathy Latham, another fake elector who also is accused of participating in a breach of election equipment in Coffee County, had a bond set at $75,000. Stephen Cliffgard Lee, a pastor who prosecutors say worked with others to pressure a Fulton County election worker, had a bond set at $75,000.
Asylum seekers are being set up for rejection at a New Mexico detention facility, rights groups say - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
A coalition of human rights groups on Tuesday leveled new criticism at a privately operated migrant detention facility in New Mexico, where they say fast-track asylum screenings routinely take place without legal counsel or adequate privacy during sensitive testimony.
The rights groups say the broken screening system at the Torrance County Detention Facility means that migrants with strong, viable claims to asylum — who can't go back to their country because of persecution or the threat of torture — are instead being screened out inappropriately for deportation as the Biden administration seeks to impose severe limitations on migrants hoping for asylum at the border.
The 187-page complaint and findings were made by the American Civil Liberties Union and three advocacy groups that provide legal services to asylum seekers. They're urging the U.S. government to end its contract with the private company that runs the facility, which is overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The report also catalogued complaints of retaliation against migrants who raise objections to asylum procedures and living conditions.
The report arrives roughly a year after Brazilian migrant Kesley Vial killed himself during detention at the Torrance County facility. The 23-year-old was scheduled for removal when he took his own life.
Most initial interviews at the facility are being conducted without access to a crucial legal orientation, and other key legal requirements are routinely ignored, the groups say. As migrants appeal their initial rejection to an immigration judge, many are denied access to files in their own cases, leaving them to challenge "secret decisions they have never seen," according to the report.
The Torrance County facility was repurposed in January to conduct expedited asylum screenings as immigration officials started to unwind coronavirus restrictions on asylum that allowed the U.S. to quickly turn back migrants, the report says. The complaint outlines how ICE has fast-tracked hundreds of asylum screenings at the facility in Estancia, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of the U.S. border with Mexico.
Advocacy groups estimate about 30% of detainees at the facility have passed asylum screenings since December 2022, far below the national average of 73% for the December-July period. That national average slid to 56% in the July 16-31 period.
Those who pass initial asylum screenings — to determine whether there is a "credible fear" of persecution or torture — are generally freed into the U.S. to pursue their asylum cases in court. Those who fail are supposed to be deported.
"The credible fear process at Torrance County Detention Facility is particularly flawed, pass rates are unusually low and many individuals detained … are deprived of due process," says the report, signed by the New Mexico Immigration Law Center, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and Innovation Law Lab.
The administrative complaint was filed directly to U.S. immigration authorities at the Department of Homeland Security, urging the agency to terminate the contract at Torrance County with private detention company CoreCivic.
Representatives of CoreCivic did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. Media representatives for Homeland Security had no immediate response to the report.
It's unclear whether screening arrangements by ICE at Torrance County are replicated elsewhere — the advocacy groups didn't survey facilities in other states for the purposes of the complaint.
The report also describes situations where initial screening interviews by telephone with asylum officers are easily overheard by other migrants, citing testimonials from migrants who express alarm at the lack of privacy and fear of recounting past persecution abroad, including conflicts with organized crime and sexual assault. Those initial interviews with asylum officers take place in cubicles separated by thin partitions that don't reach the ceiling and white-noise machines that reportedly don't do enough to drown out conversations.
Alberto Mendez, a 33-year-old Salvadoran national, said his asylum screening at the Torrance County Detention Facility took place in unison with 15 other migrants, without prior legal advice, and ended in rejection.
"The cubicles don't have a roof, they just have dividers. So we all hear what everyone is saying. Everything," said Mendez, a father of three who worked as a cook and Uber driver on the outskirts of San Salvador until he fled threats and relentless recruitment campaigns by gangs.
"My fear was that what you were saying would be divulged in your own country," he said. "And that could bring reprisals and even bigger consequences."
Aside from the procedural issues, a federal watchdog in early 2022 detailed unsafe and unsanitary conditions at the Torrance County facility during an unannounced inspection — recommending that everyone be transferred elsewhere. Those findings from the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General were disputed by CoreCivic and ICE officials.
CoreCivic has said the detention center is monitored closely by ICE and is required to undergo regular reviews and audits to ensure an appropriate standard of living for all detainees and adherence agency's strict standards and policies.
Support for the facility among elected officials has wavered. Six U.S. senators including New Mexico's Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján last year urged ICE to end its contract at Torrance County.
A panel of state legislators met Tuesday to revisit a failed bill to restriction immigrant detention in New Mexico. The state Senate in March voted down the initiative, which would've prohibited local government agencies from contracting with ICE to detain migrants as they seek asylum.
States including California, Illinois and New Jersey have enacted legislation in recent years aimed at reining in migrant detention centers in their territory.
Santa Fe hospitals see uptick in COVID patients - Santa Fe Reporter, KUNM News
Two of Santa Fe’s largest hospitals are reporting treating more patients for COVID-19 over the last week.
According to the Santa Fe Reporter, Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center has seven patients. While Presbyterian Santa Fe Medical Center has only two at the moment, the hospital reported a slight uptick in its emergency room last week and in overall hospitalizations this month.
Presbyterian Santa Fe Chief Executive John Adams told the Reporter the situation is concerning and urged vaccination, testing and isolation for those with symptoms.
Hospitalizations for the virus are up nationwide and New Mexico has seen cases trending upward as of late, though not nearly what they’ve been in years past. According to an Aug. 14 report, cases are up 140% compared to the count reported in July.
Deputy Secretary of Health Dr. Laura Parajón says the department is preparing for spread to increase as the weather gets colder by relaunching its situational awareness team.
She recommends older or immune-compromised New Mexicans take extra precautions right now to prevent catching the virus.
Lawmakers request feds and state officials find third party in chromium plume fight - By Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
New Mexico environment officials and the federal officials charged with overseeing the treatment of contaminated groundwater below Los Alamos told lawmakers Monday that cleanup has stopped and remains at an impasse.
“At this date, we do not have a path forward,” said Michael Mikolanis, who heads the Office of Environmental Management in Los Alamos, said during a Radioactive and Hazardous Waste Materials interim committee meeting.
THE PLUME BELOW THE CANYONS
The hexavalent chromium plume was discovered in 2005. Chromium was used to line pipes to prevent rusting in the cooling towers for a power plant. Between 1956 and 1972, Los Alamos National Laboratory periodically flushed water down Sandia Canyon. It eventually seeped into the groundwater. The plume extends south of East Jemez Road toward San Ildefonso Pueblo.
NMED’s groundwater standard for chromium limits contamination to 50 parts per billion. Levels on the eastern edge of the plume showed concentrations at nearly 200 parts per billion, nearly four times the limit. Levels before treatment in the same area were at 300 parts per billion.
Hexavalent chromium – also called chromium-6 – can cause cancer if inhaled, but federal officials have not determined if it is classified as a carcinogen if ingested. A 2015 review by the National Institutes of Health noted there were “limited studies,” on the impacts of ingesting chromium-6 but linked to studies in China, noting higher rates of stomach cancer mortality in areas with higher chromium levels in aquifers.
State and federal officials agreed to the current method of treating the plume in 2015, after a year of disputes. The work plan included a series of wells to suck up the water, treat the water, and then pump treated water back into the aquifer. A similar plan was put forward in September last year.
An escalating disagreement over whether the data collected by the DOE on that treatment plan was sufficient, and concerns from state officials that the plan is further contaminating water brought cleanup to a halt in April, with no progress since.
Mikolanis said the changes to the plan are too extensive for an interim plan, and circumvent public approval requirements. NMED’s response is that the current plan may be worsening the plume, and the interim plan should change, while seeking a full remedy.
The cleanup stoppage on the chromium plume has meant the contamination has backslid, and potentially threatens drinking water for San Ildefonso Pueblo. San Ildefonso Pueblo officials did not respond to emailed requests for comment Monday.
TECHNICAL ISSUES AT THE CORE OF THE DISPUTE
The New Mexico Environment Department and the Department of Energy are currently in settlement discussions regarding the cleanup efforts but said they couldn’t provide any insight into those discussions or offer a timeline for resolution. Both said they thought the other was “acting in good faith,” and hoped lawsuits were unnecessary.
Rick Shean, the director at the Environment Protection Division at NMED, disagreed with Mikolanis’ assessment, telling lawmakers that reinjecting clean water at the current sites may be pushing chromium plume beyond detection areas.
“It will turn clean water — particularly under San Ildefonso — into contaminated water, because the plume will slip past the measures already in place to extract and clean it,” Shean said.
Mikolanis told Source NM his models do not support NMED’s conclusion.
“They have a hypothesis it’s pushing the plume down, there’s no evidence to show that we’re pushing the plume down, our model shows we’re containing it,” he said.
Shean told Source NM NMED doesn’t see evidence that the plume is being contained.
“It’s our interpretation of the data. We can sit in the same room and look at the same data and come to different conclusions,” Shean said.
Currently, Department of Energy officials said the plume does not threaten Los Alamos’ drinking water supplies. However, Los Alamos County shut down its highest producing groundwater well earlier this year because of its proximity to the plume, said Linda Matteson, the deputy county manager.
Mikolanis disputed that decision was solely made based on the plume’s proximity.
After a two-hour, often tense hearing, lawmakers agreed to direct the New Mexico Environment Department and the Department of Energy to contract with a third party to examine the DOE’s data and resolve the technical issues.
Mikolanis said the Department of Energy will make the funding available for hiring a third-party consultant. To ensure independence, he said the grant will be given to NMED to put out for bid.
Sen. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park) said she was dissatisfied with Mikolanis’ answers about the stoppage, saying that “that’s not a good answer to any of this stuff.” She asked if the DOE would restart water treatment within a year.
“I should hope by this time next year, we’ll resume the interim measure operation,” Mikolanis responded.
Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos) said the conversation was always “in the weeds,” and had been since the discovery of the plume.
“Our conversation seems to just be constantly, just constantly disputes about where we should be drilling, what the appropriate corrective action is, et cetera,” she said.
Chandler asked Mikolanis in an exchange to define success, without going into the weeds.
“Tell me what real success is,” she asked.
“Real success is getting a remedy in place that’s going to get approval,” Mikolanis responded.
“And what outcome are we looking for?” Chandler prompted.
“We’re looking for clean water,” he said.
New Mexico State preaches anti-hazing message as student-athletes return for fall season — Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
Top administrators at New Mexico State University wanted to find just the right wording to announce that they were pulling the plug on the men's basketball season following reports of alleged hazing involving team members.
It was a busy afternoon in February — Super Bowl Sunday, in fact — as university officials traded emails and made suggestions before dropping the bombshell that the season was finished. They wanted the message to address the safety of students as well as the integrity of the university. And time was of the essence.
"We don't want our student athletes to hear this via media," wrote Ann Goodman, the dean of students.
A review of hundreds of emails obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request provides insight into the damage control undertaken by New Mexico State University after news broke about the hazing allegations. It capped an already difficult season that had been marred by a deadly shooting on a rival campus after an Aggies basketball player was ambushed in retaliation for a brawl that broke out in the stands at a football game weeks earlier.
More than 2,400 pages of documents released by the university also show the disappointment and anger of fans and alumni over what many referred to as a "black eye" for the school. They also reveal the flurry of requests from reporters seeking interviews and the pitches from experts to hold training sessions for student athletes on preventing hazing, sexual assault and other misconduct. School staff also discussed creating a seminar for students, similar to one offered at Colorado State University.
The emails include reports from a media consulting group that tracked mentions of the battered school as administrators shared posts about other universities that were dealing with their own scandals, including Harvard's women's hockey team, though they preceded the more recent hazing scandal at Northwestern University.
Advocacy groups have been pushing for federal legislation for years, saying hazing is a nationwide problem, but it has been difficult for them to cite data since there are no national reporting requirements.
At NMSU, law firms were hired to conduct independent investigations into the shooting and hazing allegations, and to take an in-depth look into the athletics department.
The discussions among NMSU administrators also provided an acknowledgement that they needed to do more to educate students on where they could report potential violations and misbehavior. They hired a noted expert to present a hazing prevention symposium this fall for "a deeply discounted rate of $5,700," updated the student handbook and put up posters in team locker rooms, with the names and phone numbers of officials who can be contacted, including Athletics Director Mario Moccia's.
Moccia, who inked a contract extension that included a raise two months after the hazing allegations surfaced, outlined steps the school is taking to bombard students with more information this fall.
In his first interview since the allegations were made public, Moccia told The Associated Press that he hopes the efforts work.
"But ultimately, it's up to the individual how much they will consume," he said. "Just like homework, you can't do the reading for them."
The university also created an anti-hazing working group and is making its way through a list of 20 action items to address the concerns of state higher education officials.
Alumni and fans emailed Moccia and other school officials after the news broke, suggesting that the problems needed to be fixed quickly. In one email, Moccia summarized the reviews that were underway, saying none had yielded "any smoking guns."
"The university did the most drastic thing that was possible," Moccia said, referring to the cancellation of the season and the hiring of a new coaching staff.
Former head coach Greg Heiar and his lawyers have said he was made the scapegoat for hazing and other problems that Moccia and other administrators chose to ignore. The school disputed those claims in filings in an arbitration case.
The documents released by the university did not include any emails sent or received by Heiar regarding the team's problems, bolstering the coach's claims that he was kept out of the loop.
The New Mexico attorney general's office continues to investigate, and records show that the university paid $8 million to settle the lawsuit involving two basketball players who said they were sexually assaulted by teammates.
New Mexico is one the few states without an anti-hazing law. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham plans to ask lawmakers during the 2024 legislative session to consider making hazing a crime.
Los Angeles-based attorney James DeSimone said there's often a cone of silence that surrounds hazing due to shame or embarrassment felt by victims or even denial among perpetrators or bystanders. Another challenge, he said, is that such behavior is allowed to happen over time, creating a cycle of abuse.
"Instead of a culture where abuse is tolerated and condoned, you know, you really have to create a culture where people have respect for each other," said DeSimone, noting that it starts with coaches setting expectations for players.
DeSimone's firm is working on a case involving a University of California, Riverside student who died in 2018 while pledging for a fraternity. He said all universities should have liaisons who are trained to spot abuse and report it.
Having played baseball for the Aggies for two years and then in the minor leagues for the Detroit Tigers, Moccia said he never witnessed behavior in the locker room like what the former NMSU players described to law enforcement.
"Never in my life," he said. "So yes, it was kind of like an atomic bomb, you know, when these allegations came to light. And I understand, it's unbelievably disturbing. We certainly feel tremendously for the individuals that were involved."
Still, Moccia is confident following the review of an out-of-state law firm that interviewed dozens of student-athletes, coaches and faculty. He recited the findings word for word, saying the misconduct was limited to the men's basketball team and was "a significant departure from the norm" for student athletes and coaches at the university.
A separate review by a New Mexico law firm included several recommendations.
The changes are a work in progress, Moccia said.
"I think in this world you could always do something more," he said. "However, I think we're doing about everything we can humanly possibly think of to educate our student athletes on where to go on a myriad of issues that might crop up."
Manager with Colorado cannabis business is tapped to lead New Mexico's team of marijuana regulators — Associated Press
A manager with one of Colorado's largest cannabis companies will serve as the next director of New Mexico's Cannabis Control Division.
New Mexico announced the hiring of Todd Stevens on Monday, saying he has years of experience working in Colorado's marijuana industry. He most recently served as the manager of training and development at Native Roots Cannabis Co.
Stevens' appointment follows a year of turnover at the division and comes as regulators try to ramp up enforcement against non-compliant businesses. Most recently, a state district judge granted the division's request to halt operations at an Albuquerque business that regulators claimed was unlawfully selling out-of-state cannabis products and manufacturing extracts without a proper license or permit.
Stevens said in a statement that he wanted to help the industry become an economic driver while protecting consumer safety.
"In the past year, New Mexico has established a thriving new industry, licensed more than 2,000 cannabis businesses, and held those businesses to the high standard that comes with an adult-use cannabis market," he said.
During his time in Colorado, Stevens was part of the design and development of training and recertification for more than 200 retail employees and oversaw operations at five dispensaries.
Campaigners hope for expansion of nuclear compensation soon - Alice Fordham, KUNM News
Campaigners for New Mexicans who developed cancer and other illnesses in the wake of the Trinity test in 1945 are hoping for victory soon.
At a meeting of the state Radioactive & Hazardous Materials Committee in Los Alamos Monday, campaigner Tina Cordova gave an update on progress on legislation to provide compensation.
She said the communities near the test have long known the impact
“We recorded oral histories from people who were alive at the time and who experienced the fallout for days,” she said.
Recently a study used new modeling techniques and historical weather data and confirmed that.
“Now we have a fallout deposition map, based on today's technology, recreating the fallout that shows that all of New Mexico over a 10-day period received significant levels of fallout,” Cordova said.
The Washington Post reported that the levels in most of New Mexico were higher than required under the federal compensation program known as RECA, passed in 1990.
The people known as Downwinders were never entitled to compensation under that Act - but last month the Senate passed an amendment as part of a national defense bill expanding the program.
The Senate, led by Democrats, and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, must now agree on the final version of the bill. Cordova urged people to contact Republican members of the House to press them to pass the expansion.
Trial scheduled in 2024 for movie armorer in fatal shooting of cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin — Associated Press
A New Mexico judge has set a 2024 starting date for the trial of movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal on the set of a Western film.
State district court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer on Monday scheduled the trial to run from Feb. 21 through March 6 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The first day begins with jury selection.
Gutierrez-Reed has pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the set of "Rust" on Oct. 21, 2021.
An attorney for Gutierrez-Reed has described the fatal shooting as a tragic accident and says the film's armorer committed no crime. Gutierrez-Reed is currently the sole criminal defendant.
Prosecutors are weighing whether to refile a charge against Baldwin after receiving a new analysis of the gun fired at Hutchins. Special prosecutors dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin in April, saying they were informed the gun might have been modified before the shooting and malfunctioned.
Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the gun fired, fatally wounding Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
In March, "Rust" assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to a conviction for unsafe handling of a firearm and received a suspended sentence of six months of probation. He agreed to cooperate in the investigation of the shooting.
Defense attorneys said they plan to present evidence that Gutierrez-Reed asked Halls to call her back into rehearsal if Baldwin planned to use the gun. They say that didn't happen before Hutchins was shot.
The filming of "Rust" resumed this year in Montana, under an agreement with the cinematographer's widower, Matthew Hutchins, that made him an executive producer.
2 teens arrested, 2 sought in a drive-by shooting that mistakenly killed a 5-year-old girl — Associated Press
Four teenagers have been charged in a drive-by shooting that mistakenly killed a 5-year-old girl as she slept inside a trailer home in southwest Albuquerque last week, authorities said Monday.
City police said the girl wasn't targeted and a teenage boy living in the trailer with his grandmother had a feud since middle school with one of the charged teens and the dispute had escalated.
"We do not believe that this shooting was random," said Cecily Barker, a deputy chief for the police department's investigative bureau. "We determined early on that a teenager who lived at that residence was the target of the shooting."
Two boys, ages 15 and 16, are in custody while two brothers, ages 15 and 17, still are being sought in the murder case, police said at a news conference.
The Associated Press is not naming the four teens because they are juveniles.
Police said the teens were in two stolen vehicles that entered a mobile home park around 6 a.m. on Aug. 13.
They say several gunshots were fired from at least one of the vehicles toward a trailer where Galilea Samaniego was sleeping with her two sisters.
Police said Samaniego was struck in the head by a bullet and later died at a hospital.
Barker said police were able to "tie cases to several incidents that involve the same juveniles."
The four suspects have been charged with an open count of murder, conspiracy, shooting at a dwelling or occupied building, shooting at or from a motor vehicle, and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, according to police.
Authorities said a fundraiser has been arranged for Samaniego's burial services.
Tribal courts across the country are expanding holistic alternatives to the criminal justice system — Hallie Golden, Associated Press
Inside a jail cell at Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico, Albertyn Pino's only plan was to finish the six-month sentence for public intoxication, along with other charges, and to return to her abusive boyfriend.
That's when she was offered a lifeline: An invitation to the tribe's Healing to Wellness Court. She would be released early if she agreed to attend alcohol treatment and counseling sessions, secure a bed at a shelter, get a job, undergo drug testing and regularly check in with a judge.
Pino, now 53, ultimately completed the requirements and, after about a year and a half, the charges were dropped. She looks back at that time, 15 years ago, and is grateful that people envisioned a better future for her when she struggled to see one for herself.
"It helped me start learning more about myself, about what made me tick, because I didn't know who I was," said Pino, who is now a case manager and certified peer support worker. "I didn't know what to do."
The concept of treating people in the criminal justice system holistically is not new in Indian Country, but there are new programs coming on board as well as expanded approaches. About one-third of the roughly 320 tribal court systems across the country have aspects of this healing and wellness approach, according to the National American Indian Court Judges Association.
Some tribes are incorporating these aspects into more specialized juvenile and family courts, said Kristina Pacheco, Tribal Healing to Wellness Court specialist for the California-based Tribal Law and Policy Institute. The court judges association is also working on pilot projects for holistic defense — which combine legal advocacy and support — with tribes in Alaska, Nevada and Oklahoma, modeled after a successful initiative at the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana.
"The thought and the concept will be different from tribe to tribe," said Pacheco. "But ultimately, we all want our tribal people ... to not hurt, not suffer."
People in the program typically are facing nonviolent misdemeanors, such as a DUI, public intoxication or burglary, she said. Some courts, like in the case of Pino, drop the charges once participants complete the program.
A program at the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe in Washington state applies restorative principles, and assigns wellness coaches to serve Native Americans and non-Natives in the local county jail, a report released earlier this year by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation outlined. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Oklahoma has a reintegration program that includes financial support and housing services, as well as cultural programming, career development and legal counsel. In Alaska, the Kenaitze Indian Tribe's wellness court helps adults in tribal and state court who are battling substance abuse and incorporates elements of their tribe's culture.
"There's a lot of shame and guilt when you're arrested," said Mary Rodriguez, staff attorney for the court judges association. "You don't reach out to those resources, you feel that you aren't entitled to those resources, that those are for somebody who isn't in trouble with the law."
"The idea of holistic defense is opening that up and reclaiming you are our community member, we understand there are issues," Rodriguez said. "You are better than the worst thing you've done."
The MacArthur Foundation report outlined a series of inequities, including a complicated jurisdictional maze in Indian Country that can result in multiple courts charging Native Americans for the same offense. The report also listed historical trauma and a lack of access to free, legal counsel within tribes as factors that contribute to disproportionate representation of Native Americans in federal and state prisons.
Advocates of tribal healing to wellness initiatives see the approaches as a way to shift the narrative of someone's life and address the underlying causes of criminal activity.
There isn't clear data that shows how holistic alternatives to harsh penalization have influenced incarceration rates. Narrative outcomes might be a better measure of success, including regaining custody of one's children and maintaining a driver's license, said Johanna Farmer, an enrolled citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota and a program attorney for the court judges association.
Some tribes have incorporated specific cultural and community elements into healing, such as requiring participants to interview their own family members to establish a sense of rootedness and belonging.
"You have the narratives, the stories, the qualitative data showing that healing to wellness court, the holistic defense practices are more in line with a lot of traditional tribal community practices," Farmer said. "And when your justice systems align with your traditional values or the values you have in your community, the more likely you're going to see better results."
While not all of these tribal healing to wellness programs have received federal funding, some have.
Between 2020 and 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice distributed more than a dozen awards that totaled about $9.4 million for tribal healing to wellness courts.
This year, the Quapaw Nation in Oklahoma started working on a holistic defense program after seeing a sharp increase in cases following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said a large area of eastern Oklahoma remains a Native American reservation.
So far this year, about 70 cases have been filed, up from nearly a dozen in all of 2020, said Corissa Millard, tribal court administrator.
"When we look at holistic approaches, we think, what's going to better help the community in long term?" she said. "Is sending someone away for a three-year punishment going to be it? Will they reoffend once they get out? Or do you want to try to fix the problem before it escalates?"
For Pino, the journey through Laguna Pueblo's wellness court wasn't smooth. She struggled through relapses and a brief stint on the run before she found a job and an apartment to live in with her son nearby in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her daughters live close by.
She largely credits the wellness court staff for her ability to turnaround her life, she said.
"They were the ones that stood by me, regardless of what I was choosing to do; that was the part that brought me a lot of hope," she said. "And now where I'm at, just to see them happy, it gets emotional, because they never let go. They never gave up on me." ___
Associated Press writer Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona, contributed.
Tenor Freddie de Tommaso, a young British sensation, makes US opera debut — Mike Silverman, Associated Press
"British Tenor Saves Night at Opera," proclaimed the Daily Mail.
The opera was Puccini's "Tosca," and the tenor was then-28-year-old Freddie de Tommaso, jumping in at London's Royal Opera House when the scheduled singer withdrew after Act 1 because of illness.
That was nearly two years ago. Now de Tommaso has just made his U.S. debut at the Santa Fe Opera in the same role, appearing to enthusiastic applause on Aug. 12, five days after a bout of laryngitis forced him to cancel his first performance. His final performance is Saturday.
And he'll return in the 2024-25 season for another debut, this time at the Metropolitan Opera, where he'll again be Tosca's lover, Mario Cavaradossi.
In an interview at the opera house here, de Tommaso reflected on his career so far and the "star is born" moment in London that first brought him headlines.
"So many people thought I was like an understudy or somebody they found walking down the street whistling 'Tosca,' and that wasn't the case," he recalled. In fact, he had been part of the second cast and was already scheduled to perform the role three nights later.
"But it was incredibly exciting," he said, his animated tone reflecting his exuberant personality. "From the moment I put my costume on until I took my bow two hours later, it felt like about 90 seconds."
De Tommaso's exposure to opera began while he was growing up in Tunbridge Wells, where he sang in his school choir. His mother took him to performances and his Italian-born father, who ran a restaurant, serenaded diners with Luciano Pavarotti recordings.
Once he decided to study singing seriously, he applied to the Royal Academy of Music. Mark Wildman, who became his teacher, remembers hearing him audition.
"My first impression of his voice was that it was a robust but rough-hewn diamond of a baritone voice with a surprisingly easy top for one so young," Wildman said. "He looked like a singer: big broad shoulders, barrel-chested, together with a very strong physique and a voice that matched."
That easy top got easier and higher as de Tommaso's studies progressed, and Wildman eventually suggested his pupil might actually be a tenor.
"I well remember his face lighting up as if he'd just received his most desired present on Christmas Day! And there was no holding him back," Wildman said.
De Tommaso immersed himself in recordings of great tenors and borrowed what he could: Franco Corelli ("so virile"); Mario del Monaco ("The dramatic aspect"); Carlo Bergonzi ("I don't think you'll hear any more elegant singing"); Giacomo Lauri-Volpi ("His high C was literally huge.")
"So I kind of made a trifle of singers," de Tommaso said, a joking reference to the traditional English dessert in which a chef embellishes sponge cake with whatever ingredients he likes, from fruit to jelly to custard to cream.
DeTommaso's breakthrough came at age 23 when — on a lark, to hear him tell it — he entered the 2018 Tenor Viñas International Singing Competition in Barcelona. He ended up winning three awards— the first prize, the Verdi Prize and the Domingo Prize.
The response was immediate. "It was mental, actually," de Tommaso said. "I remember afterwards being in the hotel in Spain and getting all these emails and Facebook messages from agents. Who are these people, I thought naively."
Among those listening in Barcelona was Peter Katona, casting director for the Royal Opera.
"I was quite startled when I heard him," Katona said. "It was immediately clear that he was above everybody else in terms of vocal quality. Often with young singers, there's something that is not quite there. With him, you could just lean back and enjoy his singing."
Now at 30, he's in demand at all the major European houses.
"It's almost a little frightening that everything has been going so well for him," Katona said. "With such a special talent one is always wary that he can pick the wrong role, overstretch. So far he hasn't put a foot wrong."
For the coming season he has two new roles: Pollione in Bellini's "Norma" at Milan's La Scala and Gabriele Adorno in Verdi's "Simon Boccanegra" in Vienna.
And after his Met debut, he'll be a frequent return visitor to the New York house. Peter Gelb, the company's general manager, called him "part of a new wave of powerhouse tenors ... that we hope will become Met mainstays of the future."
At times de Tommaso finds it painful to turn down offers of new roles because they aren't suited to his voice in its current stage. "I feel like a horse that's ready to run, and when you're called back, it can be a bit frustrating," he said.
"One of the most important words I've had to learn to say is '"No,'" de Tommaso said, as he did when a German theater asked him to sing Radames in Verdi's "Aida." He told them simply: "It's too early."
Too early as well is the pinnacle of the Verdi tenor repertory, the title role in "Otello." It's his dream to tackle it in "maybe five to 10 years."
But sparingly. "These little bits of flesh, they can only take so much punishment for so long," he said pointing to his vocal cords. "And if you're singing the most dramatic parts like Otello, you can't keep it up forever. I would quite like to sing until I'm 55 or 60."
With all the pressures of a blooming international career, de Tommaso still marvels at the opportunities coming his way.
"What a job I have!" he said. "Just going around the world to places like Santa Fe, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been." He rattled off the list of other spots where he's performed this summer: Verona, Italy; Verbier, Switzerland; Peralada, Spain.
In Santa Fe, de Tommaso has been spending much of his time between rehearsals and performances playing golf.
"I'm not very good, but the reason I like it is my life is so hectic, and when you play golf you can't think about anything else but hitting that ball," he said. "Everything else takes a back seat just for the three hours."
With such a crowded schedule, de Tommaso said his manager has to remind him that he needs to take the occasional vacation. "After five or six days I get itchy feet," he said.
Still he has managed to carve out time for his wedding next month to soprano Alexandra Oomens, who was a fellow student at the Royal Academy.
They're flying to Mauritius for their honeymoon, but even that has been tweaked to accommodate his career.
"We were originally going to go for two weeks," he said. "But then I got a job, so we're only going for 10 days."