Courts

NIST, DOJ Form Commission to Develop Guidelines for Forensic Labs

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NIST News:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have announced the establishment of a National Commission on Forensic Science as part of a new initiative to strengthen and enhance the practice of forensic science.

The National Commission on Forensic Science will be composed of approximately 30 members, bringing together forensic science service practitioners, academic researchers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and other relevant stakeholders to develop policy recommendations for the Attorney General.

The Read More

Help With The Hard Stuff: Legal Process is All about Negotiation

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Help With The Hard Stuff

Part 1 (of 10) – Legal Process is All about Negotiation

By GINI NELSON, JD, MA
 

“Legal process” is different from “law.” Law is comprised of the compromises that have been negotiated or otherwise made into enforceable rules.

Legal process is what you are “in” if you are in a dispute with someone over what the rules are or how they are applied – it’s the enforcement part of “enforceable rules.”

Let’s assume that consulting with a lawyer is involvement in “legal process” even if the lawyer does not end up representing you in a formal legal action.

You are already a problem Read More

Former New Mexico State University Student Sentenced to Prison for Making False Bomb Threats

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE—Thursday morning, Jan. 17, a federal judge in Las Cruces, New Mexico sentenced Daud Anwar, 30, of Albuquerque to 24 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for his conviction for making false bomb threats.

Anwar’s sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales and Carol K.O. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI.

SAC Carol K.O. Lee

On March 21, 2012, Anwar was charged with using electronic communication devices on March 3, 2011, to falsely claim that buildings on the New Mexico State University (NMSU) Read More

LANL 6 Found Guilty on Two of Three Counts

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The self-named LANL 6 protesters outside the Los Alamos Justice Center Wednesday include Janet Greenwald, Catherine Euler, Pamela Gilchrist, Cathie Sullivan, Benjamin ‘Summer’ Abbott and Barbara Grothus. Photo by Greg Kendall/ladailypost.com

By Greg Kendall

Six defendants sat in the front of Judge Alan Kirk’s Municipal Courtroom at the Los Alamos Justice Center Wednesday morning with their defense lawyer, Santa Fe Attorney Jeffery Haas.

The defendants were on trial for charges of trespass, refusing to obey an officer and obstructing movement as a result of their actions Read More

Former Bernalillo County Corrections Officer Sentenced for Civil Rights Violations

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FBI News:

WASHINGTON—Demetrio Juan Gonzales, 40, a former corrections officer at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Albuquerque was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to 33 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for violating the civil rights of an individual in his custody when he struck and choked the victim in the shower room/dress-out area of MDC. Gonzales pleaded guilty in October 2012.

According to court documents, during the early morning hours of December 21, 2011, Gonzales was assigned to the Receiving-Discharge-Transfer Read More

Local Trial Set For Anti-Nuclear Protestors

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LANL 6 protestors Cathie Sullivan, Wind Euler, Janet Greenwald, Benjamin (Summer) Abbott, Barbara Grothus and Pam Gilchrist. Photo by Greg Kendall/ladailypost.com

 

Staff Report

 

Trial is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 9 for six protestors arrested during last year’s Hiroshima Day demonstration at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

 

The trial will be heard by Judge Alan Kirk in Los Alamos Municipal Court, 2500 Trinity Dr., in Los Alamos.

 
Police arrested the six protestors Aug. 6 on LANL property and charged them with criminal trespass, refusing to obey an officer
Read More

County’s Insurance Carrier Settles Lawsuit

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Staff Report
 
Los Alamos County’s insurance carrier, the New Mexico Self-Insurer’s Fund, has settled a lawsuit filed by a former Parks and Recreation Department employee.
 
Melody Cross, a senior office specialist with the Parks Department filed the lawsuits in First Judicial District Court against Los Alamos County, Parks Manager Richard McIntyre and Parks Department employee Randy Lucero.
 
Cross charged the defendents with infliction of emotional distress, battery, punitive damages and prima facie tort, a term used in modern legal English to signify that
Read More

NMOHVA Files Lawsuit Against Santa Fe National Forest Travel Management Decision

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NMOHVA News:

The New Mexico Off Highway Vehicle Alliance (NMOHVA) filed a lawsuit against the Santa Fe National Forest Dec. 11 in Federal District Court.

The lawsuit contests the Forest’s Travel Management decision signed by Forest Supervisor Maria T. Garcia June 12 and upheld by the Region 3 Appeal Deciding Officer Oct. 2.  

Filing a lawsuit is a major commitment of NMOHVA’s time and money. The NMOHVA Board thought long and hard about this and then voted unanimously to go ahead with legal action.

“NMOHVA filed this lawsuit on the behalf of our members but it really Read More

Man Who Shot Crop Duster Plane Pleads Guilty

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Crop duster plane. Courtesy photo

FBI News:

Weilding a Ruger Number One 25-06 caliber single shot rifle with a Redfield scope, James R. Cate, 68, shot a crop duster plane as it flew over a field neighboring his land near Talpa, Texas dusting crops last February.

Before he actually shot the aircraft, Cate fired three rounds from the rifle into the air, according to documents filed in the case.

Cate admits that he threatened the aircraft to frighten the pilot away from his crops.

The last round that Cate fired hit the propeller of the aircraft, penetrated the engine cowling traveling toward the rear Read More

Picuris Pueblo Woman Pleads Guilty to Embezzling $132,000

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE—This morning in federal court in Albuquerque, Norma Mermejo, 61, a member and resident of Picuris Pueblo, entered a guilty plea to an indictment charging her with embezzlement and theft from an Indian tribal organization.

U.S. Kenneth J. Gonzales said that Mermejo pled guilty to embezzling approximately $132,000 belonging to Picuris Pueblo between February 2008 and April 2010.

At the time, Mermejo was employed as a file clerk in the Pueblo’s accounting office. Picuris Pueblo terminated her employment in April 2010, when Pueblo officials learned of her unlawful activities. Read More