Pardons For 19 New Mexico Criminals, Some Who Were Violent- By Morgan Lee Associated Press
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has pardoned 19 people for convictions ranging from cocaine trafficking to domestic violence, bribing a witness and shoplifting, her office announced Friday.
The pardons were signed Monday and represent the third round of clemency decisions for Lujan Grisham since the Democratic governor took office in January 2019. She has now pardoned 50 people overall.
Nonviolent offenses such as fraud, burglary and telephone harassment dominate the list of pardoned convictions. But clemency was granted to four people linked to violent crime for shooting into a dwelling, domestic violence, battery and aggravated assault.
"Nearly all of the offenses were at least a decade old, some dating back several decades," the governor's office said in a statement.
The governor's pardoning power extends to all crimes committed under state law except for impeachment and treason.
New Mexico's governor does not have the authority to pardon convictions for violations of municipal ordinances or for violations from other states or federal convictions.
Lujan Grisham's predecessor, Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, pardoned just three people during her eight years in office. Martinez denied at least 72 pardon applications, including 13 in which the state Parole Board had recommended approval.
Parole Board recommendations for those people who benefited from the most recent round of pardons were not immediately available on Friday. Requests were referred to the Parole Board, which did not respond to telephone and email messages.
Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Nora Meyers Sackett said her administration has denied 130 applications from clemency for nearly 300 pardon applications, including many that were left over from the previous administration. Some decisions are pending on applications that still lack complete information, Sackett said.
Lujan Grisham has announced that she will seek re-election in 2022.
Attorney Disqualified In New Mexico Utility Merger Case- By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
An attorney representing an international energy company involved in a utility merger in New Mexico has been disqualified because of an alleged conflict of interest stemming from ongoing contracts with the state attorney general's office.
A hearing examiner with the state Public Regulation Commission issued the order Friday, saying Marcus Rael Jr. can no longer represent Iberdrola in connection with the utility case.
The order pointed out that the New Mexico Supreme Court has held that disqualification based on a conflict of interest claim should take place before any substantive hearings get underway.
Hearings begin Monday on the proposed multibillion-dollar merger between the Public Service Co. of New Mexico, the state's largest electric provider, and Avangrid, a U.S. subsidiary of Spain-based Iberdrola.
Watchdog groups had filed complaints in July with the state auditor, the state Ethics Commission and the disciplinary board of the New Mexico Supreme Court that highlighted Attorney General Hector Balderas' relationship with the law firm where Rael works. They alleged that Rael used his influence to convince Balderas to sign off on the merger and that Balderas awarded numerous contracts to Rael and approved improper invoices.
Balderas and Rael both graduated from the University of New Mexico law school in 2001 and briefly worked together before Balderas ran for public office.
Rael said Friday he doesn't believe there is a conflict but will honor the order. He said he joined the Avangrid and Iberdrola team because he believes the merger is in the best interest of New Mexicans, and he's proud of the work he has done.
"I look forward to the merger being complete so that New Mexico achieves its renewable energy goals," he said in an email to The Associated Press. "New Mexico is poised to be a leader in renewable energy, and with AVANGRID/Iberdrola, we are assured to get there."
In filings with the utility commission, the attorney general's office and Iberdrola had denied there was any conflict.
Matt Baca, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, suggested the claims about a conflict were a "sideshow" and the case needs to proceed on the actual merits.
The hearing examiner noted in the order that the case is of public interest. It will affect more than a half-million customers and New Mexico's economy as a whole as it will likely change the way electricity is generated and delivered in the state.
Some critics have said a proposed settlement agreement between Avangrid and PNM Resources — the parent company of Public Service Co. of New Mexico — doesn't go far enough when it come to customer benefits or funds to support economic development in the state.
PNM and Avangrid recently announced more concessions since their initial proposal failed to win the necessary support. The latest proposal includes $65 million in rate credits for customers, economic development donations of $15 million and additional money for energy efficiency assistance for low-income customers.
New Energy Economy Executive Director Mariel Nanasi is among those who have raised concerns about the merger and Rael's relationship with the attorney general's office. Public records obtained by her group and a review by Searchlight New Mexico showed that since taking office in 2015, Balderas has hired Rael or others at his firm to help represent the state in at least 19 cases, which is at least triple the number of cases farmed out to any other private law firm.
Invoices and contracts from the attorney general's office showed more than $3 million in direct payments of fees and expenses to the Robles, Rael & Anaya law firm.
The hearing examiner's order also pointed to a series of meetings between Rael and the attorney general's office from late February through early April while the attorney general was preparing testimony that initially opposed the planned merger.
US Is Flying Central Americans To Mexico To Deter Crossings- By ELLIOT SPAGAT And GISELA SALOMON Associated Press
The Biden administration has begun flying Central American families expelled from the United States deep into Mexico as authorities encounter more families and unaccompanied children at the U.S.-Mexico border, two American officials said Friday.
For years, the U.S. government has intermittently flown deported Mexican migrants back home to make it more difficult to try to cross the border again, but this appears to be the first time it has flown Central Americans to Mexico instead of their home countries.
The first flight Thursday fell short of its targeted number of passengers because of elevated COVID-19 rates among migrants, according to two officials who are familiar with the policy change and spoke on the condition of anonymity because details were not intended to be made public. Reuters first reported on the change.
The flights were expected to continue, with plans for Mexico to deport the migrants to their home countries in Central America, the officials said. One official said the planes have capacity for 135 people.
The U.S. Homeland Security Department confirmed that it began expelling migrants by air to Mexico under a pandemic-related authority that prevents migrants from seeking asylum at the border. The department, which did not respond to a question about the nationalities of those aboard Thursday's flight, said the frequency of repeat crossers and transmissibility of the delta variant of the coronavirus necessitated the move.
Mexico's Foreign Relations Department and immigration agency did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
The flights are the Biden administration's latest attempt to confront growing numbers of migrants.
David Shahoulian, Homeland Security assistant secretary for border and immigration policy, said in a recent court filing that July will likely mark the highest number of unaccompanied children picked up at the border and second-highest number of people arriving in families.
There are "significantly increased rates" of migrants testing positive for COVID-19, he said without offering more specifics.
The administration also began fast-track deportation flights July 30 for Central American families who are not subject to the pandemic-related expulsions. Manuel Padilla, the Border Patrol's chief of operations, said Friday that those flights have gone to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras and will continue weekly.
"Anyone who doesn't have legal status in the United States will be returned to their home countries and will not be allowed to stay here," Padilla said in a conference call for Spanish-language media.
The accelerated efforts to expel Central American families have prompted pro-immigration groups to draw parallels to Donald Trump's presidency.
"It is surprising and disappointing to see the U.S. administration implementing such harsh measures at a time when humanitarian needs could not be higher," said Olga Byrne, director of immigration at the International Rescue Committee.
The Trump administration flew many Mexican adults deep into Mexico last year in an effort to deter repeat crossings, which have become common under the pandemic-related authority because there are no legal consequences for getting caught. Those flights, often to Mexico City, Guadalajara, Queretaro or Villahermosa, tapered off early in the Biden administration.
The Biden administration also appears to be flying more migrants out of Texas' Rio Grande Valley, by far the busiest corridor for illegal crossings, to other U.S. border cities. Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that tracks flights, said there were likely 24 flights from Brownsville, Texas, to El Paso, Texas, during July and likely five to San Diego and four to Tucson, Arizona, in the last few days of July.
It is unclear how many flown from Rio Grande Valley to other U.S. cities were allowed to remain in the United States to seek asylum and how many were expelled to Mexico. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not responded to questions about those flights.
Lawsuit: Guards mistook dentures for contraband, beat inmate- Associated Press
A man was brutally beaten by corrections officers and denied medical treatment at a county jail in a small New Mexico community after guards mistook dentures in the inmate's mouth for contraband, according to a civil rights lawsuit.
The New Mexico Prison and Jail Project, a watchdog group for improving prison conditions, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court this week on behalf of former inmate Marvin Silva.
The group said Silva was left naked in a holding cell at the Valencia County Adult Detention Center with no security cameras after a medical checkup, when a guard insisted that the inmate was hiding contraband in his mouth.
The lawsuit said several other corrections officers arrived and beat Silva at the lockup in the community of Los Lunas, about 30 minutes from Albuquerque.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary compensation for Silva for injuries and emotional harm plus punitive damages against the jail and health care employees and attorney's fees.
Administrators at the Valencia County detention center did not immediately respond Friday, and an attorney for the county said there would be no comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit levels charges of excessive use of force at four corrections officers and accuses Texas-based prison health care provider CorrHealth and two of its employees of deliberate indifference to a person in serious medical need.
CorrHealth President Todd Murphy said Thursday that he could not comment on details of an active legal claim.
"Allegations such as these are important to us, as is ensuring we're providing a high standard of care," Murphy said in an email. "Our team will be closely reviewing these allegations and this claim."
According to the lawsuit, medical personnel at the jail denied Silva's requests for medical care before he was released to walk 5 miles (8 kilometers) toward home and hitched a ride the rest of the way.
An ambulance later took Silva to an Albuquerque hospital that treated him for fractured ribs, a collapsed lung, injuries to the spleen and other injuries to the head, neck and abdomen.
Colorado Mine Owner Seeks US Compensation Over 2015 Spill- Durango Herald, Associated Press
The owner of an inactive southwestern Colorado mine that was the source of a disastrous 2015 spill that fouled rivers in three Western states has sued the U.S. government, seeking nearly $3.8 million in compensation for using his land in its cleanup.
Todd Hennis claims the Environmental Protection Agency has occupied part of his property near the Gold King Mine but hasn't compensated him for doing so since the August 2015 spill, The Durango Herald reported. He also contends that the EPA contaminated his land by causing the spill, which sent a bright-yellow plume of arsenic, lead and other heavy metals into rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Hennis argued that the EPA's actions have violated his Fifth Amendment rights to just compensation for public use of private property.
The EPA didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday.
An EPA-led contractor crew was doing excavation work at the entrance to the mine when it inadvertently breached a debris pile that was holding back wastewater inside the mine.
The spill released 3 million gallons (11 million liters) of wastewater that made its way into the Animas River and eventually down to the San Juan River. Water utilities were forced to shut down intake valves, and farmers stopped drawing from the rivers as the plume moved downstream.
After the spill, the EPA designated the Gold King Mine and 47 other mining sites in the area a Superfund cleanup district. The agency is still reviewing options for a broader cleanup.
The lawsuit says Hennis verbally authorized the government to use part of a 33-acre (13-hectare) piece of land as an emergency staging area right after the blowout. He thought it would be temporary and that he would be compensated, according to the lawsuit.
Hennis claims that months later and without his permission, the EPA built a $2.3 million water treatment facility on the property. The agency continues treating water and storing waste there, the lawsuit says.
He's asking for at least $3 million in compensation for damage to and occupation of the property, which he says is worth at least $3 million according to a private appraisal this year. The lawsuit also seeks interest.
In January, New Mexico and the Navajo Nation announced settlements in litigation over the spill with companies that had operated mines near Gold King. Last year, the U.S. government settled a lawsuit brought by Utah for a fraction of what it was initially seeking in damages.