The end of the 'Rust' criminal case against Alec Baldwin may unlock a civil lawsuit - By Morgan Lee, Associated Press
The conclusion of a criminal case against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer clears the way for a related civil lawsuit by relatives of the deceased woman and efforts to depose the actor under oath, attorneys for plaintiffs in the civil suit said Tuesday.
At a news conference in Los Angeles, victims' rights attorney Gloria Allred said that the parents and younger sister of deceased cinematographer Halyna Hutchins were disappointed that prosecutors won't appeal the dismissal of an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin. The criminal charge against Baldwin was dismissed halfway through trial in July on allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense.
Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during a rehearsal in the movie "Rust" in October 2021 at a film-set ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Baldwin, the lead actor and coproducer, was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when it discharged, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.
Allred said Hutchins' relatives are determined to pursue damages and compensation from Baldwin and "Rust" producers in New Mexico civil court, and want Baldwin to answer questions under oath in the proceedings. Hutchins' widower and son previously reached a separate legal settlement.
"With the withdrawal that was made public yesterday, we are now able to proceed with our civil case," Allred said. "Clearly, the rights of Alec Baldwin were protected, but the due process rights of the victims — Halyna Hutchins and her parents and her sister — were violated."
Allred said she's ready to prove that Hutchins had a close relationship with her parents and sister — a prerequisite for seeking civil damages.
In November court filings in the civil lawsuit, Baldwin denied allegations that he was negligent or at fault in the shooting of Hutchins and sought to suspend the case. Attorneys for Baldwin could not immediately be reached Tuesday.
Allred read a statement from Hutchins' sister, Svetlana Zemko, that said, "Mr. Baldwin must be held accountable."
In April, a judge sentenced movie weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to the maximum of 1 1/2 years at a state penitentiary on an involuntary manslaughter conviction in Hutchins' death.
Allred condemned New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez for declining to appeal the dismissal of the criminal charge against Baldwin, calling him "the Grinch who stole Christmas" at the Christmas Eve news conference.
Torrez spokesperson Lauren Rodriguez defended the decision in an email, citing "significant procedural irregularities" identified by the judge in the criminal case.
"Attorney General Torrez will not prolong the grief and anguish of Ms. Hutchins' family in the vain attempt to salvage the compromised criminal case against Mr. Baldwin," Rodriguez said. "There are other victims' families in Santa Fe County and across New Mexico who are awaiting justice, and our energy needs to be devoted to supporting those cases on appeal."
FBI offers reward in fatal shooting of 7-year-old boy on Colorado tribal reservation — Colleen Slevin, Associated Press
The FBI is offering a $10,000 reward for help finding a man suspected of fatally shooting a 7-year-old boy on a tribal reservation in Colorado earlier this month.
The agency announced the reward Monday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Jeremiah Hight, 23, in the Dec. 11 shooting at a home in Towaoc on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation.
The FBI investigates serious crimes on the reservation in the Four Corners region, where New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado meet. It said an arrest warrant was issued for Hight, a member of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe, on Thursday after he was charged with murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Authorities have not released any details about what led up to the shooting, and Hight's arrest warrant was sealed. The FBI's wanted poster for Hight said the shooting was "targeted at a residence."
The boy who died was identified as Zamias Lang, Montezuma County coroner George Deavers said Tuesday.
An online fundraiser to raise money for his funeral described him as a "bright and loving" child.
In a video message after the shooting, tribal chairman Manuel Heart called the shooting "senseless" and urged people to let authorities investigate the shooting rather than retaliate on their own. Heart also said he was working on a resolution to ask the federal government to hire more police officers for the reservation and another to ban shooting within either of the reservation's two communities — Towaoc and White Mesa, Utah.
"We are not going to have any more of these type of events where somebody gets shot," he said.
New agency report finds Mexican wolf population has grown - Susan Morée, NM Political Report via City Desk ABQ
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a recently released 5-year evaluation of the Mexican gray wolf that the endangered species is making progress toward recovery.
Fish and Wildlife named the Mexican gray wolf an endangered species in the 1970s. The 5-year evaluation says that as of 2023, there are at least 20 different litters fostered by wolves.
In 2017, the Mexican gray wolf population in the U.S. wild consisted of 117 wolves. But as of 2023, the population had reached 257 wolves. The agency’s evaluation says the population has more than doubled since a 2017 recovery plan was implemented.
Conservation groups are concerned that the report glosses over problems with the recovery and that Fish and Wildlife has downplayed high mortality rates and a lack of releases in Mexico. They say pup mortality in the U.S. is higher than expected and the mortality rate for pups in Mexico couldn’t be calculated because too few had radio collars. One conservation group called the evaluation”lipstick on a pig.”
Cyndi Tuell, the Arizona and New Mexico director at Western Watersheds Project, said the nonprofit group is “deeply concerned that the Fish and Wildlife Service has tried to distract the public’s attention with fairly limited successes for the program in the U.S.”
“For lobo recovery to be successful, we need at least three viable subpopulations in suitable habitat in the U.S. but we have only one,” Tuell said.
Chris Smith, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians, said Fish and Wildlife deserves credit for the successes of the recovery program, but he said it does not provide a true picture of what is happening.
“This report glosses over significant setbacks and real threats to recovery,” Smith said.
The agency said through spokesperson Aislinn Maestas that the agency “recognized
all of these concerns in the evaluation.”
“Particularly, the lack of progress towards recovery for the population of Mexican wolves in Mexico. We remain committed to working with our colleagues in Mexico to improve progress, and we identified a range of possible actions to improve population performance and progress toward recovery in Mexico in the evaluation. As we stated in the Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan, the 5-Year Evaluation is a chance to measure our progress, not to make changes to our recovery actions or overall strategies. The 10-Year Evaluation will provide an opportunity to update recovery actions and our recovery plan if it is deemed necessary,” Maestas said.
State Health Care Authority will open 7 behavioral health clinics throughout New Mexico in January - Leah Romero, Source New Mexico
New Mexico’s Health Care Authority is preparing to roll out seven certified community behavioral health clinics across the state in January with the goal of expanding access to mental health and substance abuse treatment.
The behavioral health clinics will also offer 24/7 crisis services for people experiencing mental health emergencies, according to a November Legislative Finance Committee analyst report. People of all ages and insurance statuses will be able to receive care.
The clinics are funded by $15 million in Government Results & Opportunity Program monies appropriated by the Legislature, with three to six more in the pipeline, according to Eric Chenier, Legislative Finance Committee principal analyst. The funds are required to be spent within two fiscal years. The first round of clinic locations are set to open Jan. 1 at:
- University of New Mexico Health System in Bernalillo and Sandoval Counties
- Presbyterian Medical Services in San Juan County
- All Faiths Children’s Advocacy Center in Bernalillo County
- Carlsbad Life House in Eddy County
- Families & Youth Innovations Plus in Doña Ana County
- Santa Fe Recovery Center in Santa Fe and McKinley Counties
- Mental Health Resources in Curry County
- According to a Health Care Authority news release, the clinics are also part of a four-year federally-funded pilot program led by several federal agencies.
“Through a no-wrong door approach, these clinics will offer 24/7 crisis services and comprehensive mental health and substance use treatment for New Mexicans,” Dana Flannery, New Mexico Medicaid director, said in the release.
This new approach to services in New Mexico comes at a time when – despite millions in federal and state funding and more providers – the state is not seeing positive results in behavioral health, according Chenier’s analysis on behavioral health needs and gaps.
In a report presented to lawmakers last month, Chenier said New Mexico’s funding is some of the highest in the nation, but hiring someone to coordinate the spending hasn’t panned out.
The state’s Interagency Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative, created in 2004 to lead 16 local behavioral health collaboratives and coordinate the statewide plan, has been without a director for over a year and has not met for about a year, Chenier said.
“It has been posted. There have been interviews that have been done. We haven’t found the right candidate at this point,” Chenier told lawmakers.
A large portion of the money for treating mental health and addiction issues has gone unspent.
The state appropriated over $424 million between 2020 and 2024 for behavioral health. Out of that sum, only half – about $240 million has been budgeted. And even less – $46 million, or about 10% of the total appropriated – has actually been spent.
Rep. Jack Chatfield (R-Mosquero) questioned how the state could allocate millions of dollars and receive federal funding for behavioral health needs and not see results.
“You drive down the street and the people that I see standing out there holding a sign, most of them probably need treatment, and we’re not reaching them,” Chatfield said. “We’re not getting the job done.”
While the number of providers in the state has grown in most areas, the state’s rankings on key behavioral health metrics has worsened over the last several years.
New Mexico ranks 44th out of 51 in overall mental illness prevalence in adults and children, according to Mental Health America’s State of Mental Health in America data for 2024. The state is 49th in adult substance use disorder with a rate of 23%, and last in youth substance use disorder with a rate of 16%.
“Even though we’re seeing more providers out there, more provider agencies, we’re not seeing the outcomes,” Chenier said “And it’s not changing.”
New Mexico governor’s Cabinet candidates to face confirmation votes - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
Among the first items on the New Mexico Senate’s agenda when the Legislature meets in the new year will be choosing whether to confirm the governor’s picks to lead state agencies.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, will likely see her nominees approved because her party holds a majority in the Senate.
Lujan Grisham has designated five people since the last legislative session to serve in her Cabinet:
- Manny Barreras is the secretary-designee for the Department of Information Technology.
- Rob Black is the secretary-designee for the Economic Development Department.
- Emily Kaltenbach is the secretary-designee for the Aging and Long-Term Services Department.
- Melanie Kenderdine is the secretary-designee for the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department.
- Mariana Padilla is the secretary-designee for the Public Education Department.
Two additional agency leaders are in acting roles, but Lujan Grisham has not officially nominated them to the Cabinet:
- Gina DeBlassie is the acting secretary for the Department of Health. She replaced former secretary Patrick Allen last month.
- Anna Silva is the acting secretary for the General Services Department. She will replace outgoing secretary Robert Doucette, who steps down at the end of the year.
Three other high-ranking state official appointments that are not Cabinet positions are also in the queue for Senate confirmation: Heather Jordan is the director of the Workers’ Compensation Administration, Chris Hefner is the state mine inspector and Elizabeth Anderson is the state engineer.
In total, there are 27 positions in the governor’s Cabinet.
Cabinet secretaries are considered for confirmation by the nine-member Senate Rules Committee, and if they get voted in, their nominations go to the full Senate for a vote.
The Rules Committee’s staff initiates background checks for all appointments, said Chris Nordstrum, a spokesperson for the Senate majority.
A private vendor will verify the nominees’ identity, credit and loan information, liens and judgements, court records and property ownership, Nordstrum said
The New Mexico Department of Justice checks for criminal records, he said.
Of the 42 members of the Senate, 16 will be newly elected. That means all of the legislative committees in the upper chamber are expected to change membership, Nordstrum said.
Committee assignments will be announced as soon as the Committees’ Committee meets and then the full Senate approves their decisions, Nordstrum said. The Committees’ Committee is an administrative panel that picks the leadership and members of all committees in the Senate.
That typically occurs on the session’s first day, Jan. 21.
Two water-related bills head to Pres. Biden- Susan Morée, City Desk ABQ
Two water-related bipartisan bills passed the U.S. Senate this week and are headed to President Joe Biden’s desk in the final weeks of his presidency.
America’s Conservation Enhancement Reauthorization Act of 2024 passed both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate this month. It includes a reauthorization of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act through 2030. Both chambers of Congress also passed the Water Resources Development Act, with the Senate sending that legislation to Biden’s desk this week as well.
The Water Resources Development Act is comprehensive legislation that authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study and build projects to enhance U.S. rivers and harbors.
In New Mexico, the act is expected to help restore the Middle Rio Grande Bosque, support a collaborative management approach to the Upper Rio Grande Basin, renew and expand the Tribal Partnership Program, initiate feasibility studies for new water projects, increase federal support for acequias and increase funding for Western drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.
Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, both Democrats, said they welcomed the final passage of the Water Resources Development Act in the Senate this week and they both championed the sections of the bill to provide additional water resources to New Mexico.
The North American Wetlands Conservation Act helps the federal government to acquire, restore and enhance wetlands in all 50 states. Heinrich cosponsored the wetlands act along with Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana.
Wetlands are important for waterfowl and migratory birds, as well as fish and other wildlife. They also recharge aquifers and mitigate soil erosion and flooding.
Peabody sued in death of worker at Grants coal mine- Albuquerque Journal
In 2022 a 23-year-old man was killed after he was crushed by a 13-ton steel door—now his family is filing a lawsuit alleging negligence by the mining company that owned the equipment.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that the man was a contract welder by the name of David Warren. In the lawsuit it describes Warren was pinned at the waist while he was making repairs to a huge earth-moving shovel at the El Segundo Coal Mine near Grants.
According to the lawsuit, Warren was not killed immediately and suffered painful injuries when a plastic block gave way and the giant door crushed him.
The wrongful death lawsuit was filed on December 9th in the 1st Judicial District Court, and seeks unspecified damages from defendants Peabody Energy, a multinational mining giant, and its subsidiary El Segundo Coal Company LLC.
While a spokeswoman for Peabody Energy did not immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment about the lawsuit.
The suit alleges the companies were negligent for failing to develop proper safety procedures for repairing a huge electric shovel used at the mine.
It also alleges the companies were negligent in their response to the injury, causing needless delay in evacuating Warren by failing to call 911 and not having a clear rescue plan for coordinating a helicopter rescue.
Instead, mine officials called a private air ambulance company but provided inaccurate coordinates that made it difficult for the medical helicopter crew to find the right location.
The helicopter arrived more than two hours after the injury but it was too late, Warren had already passed away.
Warren’s family said in a written statement, “We know this should not have happened,” and they added that, “It’s not right. It’s been devastating for our family. We want more answers and justice — and we want to help other families avoid what we’re going through.”