By MAIRE O’NEILLLos Alamos resident and announced candidate for sheriff Greg White has filed an emergency leave for amicus curiae brief request in First Judicial District Court in the ongoing litigation between Los Alamos County Council and Sheriff Marco Lucero.
Amicus briefs are usually filed by a person or group who is not a party to an action with the intent of influencing a court’s decision. The current action is slated for a hearing at 10 a.m. Thursday in the Los Alamos Justice Center, which is open to the public.
The request, which was filed Wednesday slams Lucero’s attorney Blair Dunn calling him “wholly and obviously inadequate” and stating that Dunn has been “taking every and any case though not qualified, violating the rules of professional conduct … apparently doing this seeking publicity, his successfully, for his repeated attempts running for elected office”. Dunn is running for attorney general on the Libertarian ticket against incumbent Hector Balderas.
“(Dunn) has prejudiced any appeal that may be made for his client by failing to follow procedure and pissing off the State’s Supreme Court by bypassing them to reconsider their implementation of ‘bail reform’ and immediately suing them in Federal Court, which of course was thrown out and counsel sanctioned,” White said.
In a conversation with the Los Alamos Daily Post this morning, Dunn said, “We fully recognize and respect Mr. White’s 1st Amendment right to free speech and to petition his government for redress. He is exercising that right in a respectful manner, though ultimately his opinions may not be relevant or helpful to the Court or the parties attempting to resolve this dispute”.
White’s request also attacks Los Alamos County counsel accusing them of lying to the Court by insisting that the County currently operates under Section 5 of the New Mexico Constitution.
“(The County Council) constantly claims the Sheriff has exceeded his duties by Resolution limitation attempting to make it seem he is running all over town pulling over speeders, investigating every shoplifting and burglary, even defusing bombs at LANL,” White said.
“Respondent counsel repeatedly claims elected law enforcement is a danger to the community (a danger to the community or a danger to the Council and appointed officials who are violating criminal law) and they have no choice but to do away with the sheriff,” his request states.
White states that he lived for 35 years in Las Vegas, Nev.
“There as everywhere in the U.S., when one law enforcement department is wanted, the police chief is replaced with the elected sheriff, which I and others have repeatedly pointed out,” he says.
White tells the court the reason he is filing the emergency leave for amicus curiae request is to “inform the court of serious matters” in the case “to provide factual evidence needed for a just decision not being supplied” to Judge Francis J. Mathew. He said he has a vested interest because he is running for sheriff and wishes there to be a sheriff’s office when he wins.
White said he apologizes to the court for filing the request so late.
“I have been very busy with a number of cases I have filed. I only over the weekend found out about your order for additional filings to the parties involved and after review still see many problems for the court on both side,” he said.
Los Alamos County Attorney Alvin Leaphart declined this morning to comment.
