Federal judge decries discrimination against conservative group that publishes voters' information - By Morgan Lee, Associated Press
A federal judge says New Mexico election regulators and prosecutors discriminated against a Republican-backed group in refusing access to voter registration rolls.
The Friday ruling bars the state from refusing to turn over voter data to Voter Reference Foundation, bolstering the group's efforts to expand a free database of registered voters so that groups and individuals can take it upon themselves to try to find potential irregularities or fraud.
State prosecutors plan to appeal the ruling, said Lauren Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Justice.
The VoteRef.com website recently restored New Mexico listings to its searchable database of registered voters — including street addresses, party affiliations and whether voters participated in recent elections.
Election officials in several states and privacy advocates have raised alarms about a push by several conservative groups to gain access to state voter rolls. They say the lists could find their way into the hands of malicious actors and that voters could be disenfranchised through intimidation, possibly by canceling their registrations to avoid public disclosure of their home addresses and party affiliation.
But Albuquerque-based U.S. District Court Judge James Browning ruled that state election regulators engaged in viewpoint-based discrimination and free speech violations in denying the Voter Reference Foundation access to voter data and by referring the matter to state prosecutors.
The foundation's VoteRef.com database includes voter information spanning more than 32 states and the District of Columbia. It is run by Gina Swoboda, chair of the Arizona Republican Party and organizer of former President Donald Trump's 2020 reelection campaign in Arizona.
Browning previously ruled that New Mexico authorities violated public disclosure provisions of the National Voter Registration Act by refusing to provide voter rolls to the same foundation, overriding a provision of a state law that restricts the use of voter registration data.
The VoteRef.com site doesn't list whom people voted for. It preserves confidentiality under a program that shields victims of domestic violence or stalking.
Addresses also remain confidential for more than 100 publicly elected or appointed officials in New Mexico, including Democrats and Republicans, enrolled in a separate safety program enacted in the aftermath of drive-by shootings on the homes of local lawmakers in Albuquerque in December 2022 and January 2023.
Prosecutor asks for a charge to be reinstated against Alec Baldwin in the 'Rust' case - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
A prosecutor asked a New Mexico judge to reconsider the decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie, according to a court filing made public Wednesday.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said there were insufficient facts to support the July ruling and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case halfway through a trial based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
In the request to reconsider, Morrissey argued again that the undisclosed ammunition was not relevant to the case against Baldwin, which hinged on his responsibility to handle a gun safely under familiar industry guidelines.
"No one on the prosecution team ... ever intentionally kept evidence from the defendant, it simply didn't occur to the prosecution that the rounds were relevant to the case even if they were the same or similar to the live rounds found on the set of 'Rust,'" Morrissey wrote.
She asserted that defense attorneys knew about the rounds but canceled an opportunity to view them prior to trial.
"This is a smoke screen created by the defense and was intended to sway and confuse the court ... and it was successful," Morrissey wrote.
Baldwin attorney Luke Nikas said a response will be filed with the court, without further comment.
Movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is serving an 18-month sentence on a conviction for involuntary manslaughter. She was accused of flouting standard safety protocols and missing multiple opportunities to detect forbidden live ammunition on set. Assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to the negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation. A no contest plea isn't an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.
It hasn't been officially determined who brought the live rounds that killed Hutchins to the set, though prosecutors allege that Gutierrez-Reed was responsible.
The ammunition that skuttled the case was handed over to a Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office crime scene technician who filed the evidence under an unrelated case number. Three of those rounds resembled live rounds that were collected from the "Rust" set after the fatal shooting.
The mysterious ammunition was dropped off at the sheriff's office by Troy Teske, of Bullhead City, Arizona, who routinely stored weapons and ammunition for his friend and longtime movie-gun coach Thell Reed — Gutierrez-Reed's stepfather and mentor as a film-set armorer.
Morrissey asked the judge to order defense attorneys to show when and how they learned of the ammunition provided by Teske, calling the defense motion to dismiss the case "all a ruse."
Attorneys for Baldwin have said he was unaware that live ammunition had been brought to the film set and that prosecutors hid evidence while trying to establish a link between the live ammo on set and Gutierrez-Reed. They said prosecutors wanted to drive home the argument that Baldwin should have recognized the armorer's blundering youth and inexperience.
Gutierrez-Reed is seeking the dismissal of her involuntary manslaughter conviction based on the allegations of suppressed evidence that emerged at Baldwin's trial.
Separately, Gutierrez-Reed has requested a hearing on a proposal to change her plea to guilty in exchange for a deferred sentence on a felony firearms charge pertaining to accusations that she took a gun into a Santa Fe bar weeks before "Rust" began filming.
Under the agreement with prosecutors, Gutierrez-Reed would serve 18 months under supervised probation with the potential for incarceration for probation violations. Terms of probation agreement, if approved, would forbid possession of firearms and the consumption of drugs or alcohol and would require registration in a criminal justice DNA database.
Trump still owes Albuquerque $200K - Elizabeth McCall, City Desk ABQ
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign still owes Albuquerque more than $200,000 in security costs and paid time off for city employees tied to his 2019 campaign rally in Rio Rancho, according to Mayor Tim Keller’s office.
Following unsuccessful efforts to collect the $211,175, the city sent a bill addressed to Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida in April 2021. Around that time, Mayor Tim Keller discussed the unpaid bill in an interview with “The Daily Show,” saying the city had used professional debt collectors to no avail.
During his visit, Trump stayed at the DoubleTree Hotel in Downtown Albuquerque — where city buses were used to barricade access to the hotel.
A letter sent with the invoice states that Trump’s visit to the metro area “incurred significant personnel and equipment costs.”
A breakdown of the bill includes $71,242 for the Albuquerque Police Department to provide 1,528 hours of additional coverage “required by the campaign visit,” $7,102 for barricades and $132,832 for paid time off for city employees “required to vacate downtown facilities” during the rally.
Trump has held rallies in the area three times since 2016 — at the Albuquerque Convention Center, at an airport hangar next to the Albuquerque International Sunport and finally at Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho. His first visit in May 2016 before he was the official Republican nominee was met by around 1,000 protesters and devolved into a riot.
Trump has not announced any plans to come back to the state this election cycle.
When asked whether the outstanding bill would impact any future visits by the Trump campaign, city spokesperson Ava Montoya said, “We’ll continue to try to collect money that’s owed and work to ensure that we get paid for any services that our city is asked to provide.”
Afghan refugee pleads no contest to 2 murders in case that shocked Albuquerque's Muslim community - Associated Press
An Afghan refugee convicted of first-degree murder in one of three fatal shootings in 2022 that shook Albuquerque's Muslim community pleaded no contest Tuesday to two homicide charges stemming from the other killings.
Prosecutors said Muhammad Syed, 53, entered the pleas to two counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, and Naeem Hussain.
A jury had convicted Syed in March in the shooting death of Aftab Hussein, 41, in July 2022.
The three ambush-style killings happened over the course of several days, leaving authorities scrambling to determine if race or religion might have been behind the shootings. Investigators soon shifted away from possible hate crimes to what prosecutors called the "willful and very deliberate" actions of another member of the Muslim community.
Syed, who settled in the U.S. with his family several years earlier, denied involvement in the killings after being stopped more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Albuquerque. He told authorities he was on his way to Texas to find a new home for his family, saying he was concerned about the killings in Albuquerque.
Bernalillo County prosecutors said Syed faces a life prison sentence in Aftab Hussein's killings and will serve 30 years behind bars for the no-contest pleas. A sentencing date hasn't been set.
Authorities said Afzaal Hussain, an urban planner, was gunned down Aug. 1, 2022, while taking his evening walk. Naeem Hussain was shot four days later as he sat in his vehicle outside a refugee resettlement agency on the city's south side.
After Syed's conviction in March, prosecutors acknowledged that no testimony during the trial nor any court filings addressed a possible motive. Prosecutors had described him as having a violent history, but his public defenders argued that previous allegations of domestic violence never resulted in convictions.
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This story has been updated to delete incorrect background on Aftab Hussein.
City launches grant to help small businesses affected by vandalism - Elizabeth McCall, City Desk ABQ
Small businesses in Albuquerque will now be able to get help repairing or replacing broken or vandalized windows.
The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and the Economic Development Department’s Small Business Office on Tuesday launched a $200,000 “Window to Opportunity” grant to reduce the costs for small businesses that have been vandalized.
The Economic Development Department announced the launch in a press release stating eligible applicants include brick-and-mortar businesses with 25 or fewer employees, nonprofit organizations and educational entities within the city.
“We stand by our local businesses and are finding new ways to support them,” Mayor Tim Keller said in the release. “For a small business, the cost of vandalism can be devastating, and folks can get back to business sooner.”
Businesses will be reimbursed up to 80% of the total cost of window replacement or repair, with a maximum reimbursement of $5,000 per business, according to the release. If a business adds environmentally sustainable or security glass into the repairs, an additional $1,000 is available.
To qualify for the reimbursement, the incident must have happened on or after Sept. 1 with appropriate documentation, a police report and time stamped photos of the windows.
Businesses vandalized between July 1 and Aug. 31 can apply with a mandatory enrollment with the APD Business Crime Prevention Security Survey.
New Mexico first state to offer residents up-front energy efficiency rebates - Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
State officials have announced $43 million in federal aid intended to help New Mexicans upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes and keep their heating and cooling bills low.
Under the Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department’s Home Electrification and Appliance Rebate program, eligible households can receive up to $14,000 in rebates, according to a news release.
The initiative, backed by the U.S. Department of Energy, aims to increase the use of clean energy across New Mexico. The program offers rebates to help low-income New Mexico residents – homeowners and renters alike – who upgrade their homes with energy-efficient technologies, including insulation, heat pumps, and Energy Star-certified appliances.
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, and Energy Department Deputy Secretary David Turk and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham held a news conference Tuesday about the initiative, touting New Mexico as the first state to implement such a program at the point of sale. It’s the third state to implement a rebate program.
“New Mexico is the first state to enable residents to get home-energy efficiency rebates at the point of sale, reflecting our ongoing commitment to leading on the clean-energy transition,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in the release. “These rebates (ensure) that all of our citizens can participate in this transition.”
Heinrich had sponsored legislation included in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that included more than $87 million for the state and New Mexico tribes, with the goal of helping to reduce the upfront cost of whole-home energy efficiency upgrades in both single-family and multi-family homes.
According to a Heinrich news release, in the two years since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law, it has spurred a manufacturing renaissance and helped to position New Mexico as a national leader in the energy industry.
Residents can determine their eligibility for the rebates and find applications here. Those deemed eligible, based on income, will receive coupons that can be redeemed for rebates when purchasing qualified products.
EMNRD Secretary-Designate Melanie Kenderdine said the program will “accelerate New Mexico’s journey to a clean-energy future,” helping to fulfill an early goal of Lujan Grisham.
“We are especially proud that this program will help many New Mexicans who might not otherwise be able to afford to participate in the clean energy transition,” Kenderdine said.
Eligible projects will include ventilation, heat pumps and electrical and weatherization upgrades.
According to the release, the first rebates will be for self-installed insulation projects, with those for other products and contractor-installed projects introduced in the coming months.
Contractors wishing to participate must be certified through the EMNRD’s Energy Conservation and Management Division and the New Mexico Construction Industries Division. Training and certification details will be available through ECAM. Interested contractors can learn more and register at cleanenergy.nm.gov.
ECAM will soon provide a list of authorized installers and additional resources to support residents pursuing the rebates, the news release states.