New Mexico Supreme Court Rules On Defendant’s Right To Be Present When A Trial Court Responds To Jury Questions
COURT News:
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Supreme Court has upheld a Farmington man’s sex crime conviction, ruling there was no effect on the jury’s verdict by improper communications between the trial court and the jury outside of the defendant’s presence.
The Court concluded that Joshua Freeman had a constitutional right to be present when the trial court addressed two questions from the jury after it had started to deliberate in his case but the error created by his absence did not impact the outcome of the trial.
The jury sent a note to the trial court asking it to distinguish between Freeman’s charged Read More
North Road/Urban Street Intersection Is Now Four-Way Stop
Op-Ed: ‘County Shows It Doesn’t Give A Flock About Surveilling Citizens’
By JAMES RICKMAN
Los Alamos
Perhaps I should feel grateful that County leaders dispatched their official Spin Doctor to reply to my letter about the emergence of a network of Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs) in our community (link). But outside of Mr. Krueger’s “Trust Us, We’re the Government” response, the County continues to sidestep the issue of why the cameras were installed in the first place.
Is Los Alamos facing some kind of underlying existential threat that necessitates its citizens giving up some of their liberties to gain a little more security?
The way the County tells it, Read More
McQuiston: The Contractor On Your Roof Falls And Why ‘They’re Insured’ Might Not Be Enough
By ALLEN MCQUISTON
Jemez Insurance Agency
Serving Los Alamos Since 1963
A guy is up on your roof on a bright June morning replacing the flashing around your chimney. You hired him because a neighbor used him and he came in a few hundred dollars under the other bid. He’s good, he’s fast, and he’s been at it an hour when you hear the scrape, the shout, and the sound nobody wants to hear. He’s on the ground beside the ladder, his leg is clearly broken, and he can’t get up.
You call 911. You do everything right in the moment. But once the ambulance pulls away, a quieter and much larger question Read More
UCR Entomologists Detail Consequences And Control Measures Of New World Screwworm
UCR News:
The New World screwworm lays its eggs in open wounds and burrows into skin. While human infections are rare, the insect poses an existential threat to cattle farming and dairy production. And it has returned to the United States.
While the U.S. Department of Agriculture officially declared the parasite eradicated from the country in 1966, several notable outbreaks and incursions have occurred since then. One of those is happening now.
On June 3, the USDA confirmed a case in South Texas. It could decimate that state’s $15 billion cattle industry, and poses a similar threat to California, Read More