SANTA FE, N.M. —Tavis Washburn will spend just under six years in prison after a federal District Court judge sentenced him to the minimum allowed under a plea deal for killing his brother in drunk driving crash.
According to court documents, the crash killed Orlando Wadsworth, 37, of Sanostee, severely injured Washburn’s 2-year-old son and injured a third man, only identified as A.J., driving the truck Washburn hit, on Feb. 15, 2018. Wadsworth had to be extricated from the passenger seat of the red Kia Washburn was driving. Although he was flown to a hospital, he died from his injuries. Washburn had a blood-alcohol level of 0.258 after the crash.
Washburn previously pleaded guilty in front of Magistrate Judge Kirtan Khalsa on July 12, 2019, who deferred final acceptance of the plea until sentencing in front of Vazquez, during a 27-minute hearing, according to minutes from the plea hearing.
According to the sentencing minute sheet, Washburn addressed the court, as did the “Victim’s representative.” The entire hearing lasted one hour and two minutes. Neither the minutes nor the judgement state why Vazquez sentenced Washburn to the minimum allowed under the binding plea deal, or why she accepted the binding plea deal.
On Aug. 30, 2019, Maroquez Clah, of Red Valley, Arizona, allegedly killed Darrell Chavez, 22, an enrolled Navajo Nation man when he lost control of his truck and rolled it on Navajo Route 13/Indian Services Route 13 near Mitten Rock, New Mexico, within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation reservation, in San Juan county. Chavez is only identified in court records by the initials D.C. and the year of birth of 1997. Clah is also an enrolled Navajo Nation member.
A federal grand jury indicted him on Nov. 25, 2019 and he was arrested on February 14, 2020, before being released a week later to a halfway house. He has since been released to his family in Red Vallely, Ariz.
On Sept. 21, 2020, he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter without a plea deal.
On Dec. 15, 2020, District Judge Kea Riggs sentenced Clah to just over three years (37 months) followed by three years on supervised release after he is released from prison.
A search warrant filed for Clah’s truck on Sept. 4, 2019, by Federal Bureau of Investigations Agent Lancy Roundy, gives a few details on the crash.
Mitten Rock, off of Navajo Route 13 (Indian Services Route 13), New Mexico. Photo by James St. John/Flickr
Clah told federal investigators, while in the hospital, he had been drinking alcohol throughout the day prior to driving from Farmington to his home in Red Valley, Arizona, in a 2007 Ford F-150 truck.
“Clah recalled John Doe being a passenger of his vehicle at some point during the drive,” Roundy wrote. “Clah admitted to drinking vodka approximately six hours prior to driving his vehicle home and remembered losing control of the vehicle while driving approximately 70 miles per hour before the vehicle rolled several times.”
According to Clah’s hospital records from his treatment after the crash, his blood-alcohol content was 0.258, over three times the legal limit of 0.08.
It is not clear how the agents obtained the medical records. The only unsealed search warrant for the case, between the time of the crash and Sept. 4, 2019, is Roundy’s.
Clah suffered a broken leg and “other injuries,” Roundy wrote.
Roundy wrote he wanted to search the truck for physical evidence of alcohol consumption, including bottles, receipts and cans, as well as take pictures of the truck.
Autopsy
Pathologist Heather Jarrell wrote in the autopsy report that Chavez was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the truck during the crash.
She described his death as a result of multiple blunt-force injuries.
On April 1, federal Magistrate Judge Paul Brionesdenied Clah’s request to move from a halfway house in Albuquerque to his parents’ home in Red Valley, filed March 23. Briones did not have a hearing and instead relied on the emergency motion filed by Clah’s attorney, Emily Carey, and the opposition filed under seal by prosecutor Novaline Wilson. However, Wilson’s filing under seal appears to be against court rules on sealing documents, which require a judge’s consent and are only supposed to be done for very good reasons.
Red Valley, about a mile west of the New Mexico state line, 36.5850 -109.0712, Apache County, Arizona, 5/17/2014. Photo by Patrick Alexander/Flickr. CC BY-NC-SA
According to the local rules and federal court rules, documents are only supposed to be filed under seal for good reason and a record of the motion to file a document under seal is supposed to appear on the court docket, as outlined by Jeff Proctor in New Mexico In Depth.
She wrote in the initial motion that Briones, during the arraignment, said if Clah “performed well” at the halfway house, he would consider “possible modification” the conditions of his release. The current conditions restrict his travel to Bernalillo county. The minutes contain no details of what was said.
Wilson opposed Clah’s release pending trial during the arraignment, while pretrial officers suggested release, according to the minutes.
Carey wrote that Clah’s father is on dialysis and his health has recently declined and his mother, Bessie Begay, contacted her to say that his father has “developed something akin to dementia.”
Before being arrested, Clah “took on all of the household tasks and helped his mother with his father’s health care.” He also took care of his 4-year-old daughter, who is now in Begay’s custody, she wrote.
Clah’s doctors are also in Shiprock and Farmington, closer to Red Valley than to Albuquerque. If he were allowed to return to Red Valley, he could also continue his work at Yazzie Oil Field Service. Allowing him to move back in with his parents would remove him from a communal living situation and possible infection by the coronavirus, Carey wrote.
Federal pretrial services in Arizona conducted a home assessment and said it would take responsibility for Clah’s supervision, she wrote.
According to Carey’s reply to Wilson’s sealed opposition, Clah has one prior tribal conviction for drunk driving in 2018. He was sentenced to 90 days supervised probation, which he completed.
That prior DWI conviction appears to be the basis of Wilson’s opposition to Clah taking care of his elderly father, helping his mother and parenting his child. Wilson also argues, according to Carey, that the global pandemic is not a “changed circumstance.” However, because Wilson appears to have improperly sealed her opposition, it is not clear if she had any more arguments.
Carey wrote:
“At this point, concerns pertaining to COVID-19 and the risk of communal living are not merely speculative. Moreover, even if he was required to present evidence of changed circumstances, Mr. Clah submits that he has met his burden given his exemplary conduct while on pretrial release, the deterioration in his father’s physical and mental health, the inability to access medical providers including his surgeon for urgent follow up care, and concerns for his own health and the health of his family because of COVID-19.”
Briones denied Carey’s motion because his “pattern of prior conduct” and that Carey didn’t show that there are “sufficient safeguards” to protect the community from the risk of Clah drinking and driving, if he isn’t living at the halfway house.
In Carey’s April 6 appeal, she wrote that Clah’s father has repeatedly fallen, following his descent in what appears to be dementia, and has been admitted to the hospital on suspicion of internal bleeding. Begay cannot stay with her husband at the hospital because of the risk of the coronavirus.
Clah would not have access to a car while living with his parents. His mother has a vehicle, but it’s provided by her work, she wrote.
Carey wrote:
“Mr. Clah’s physical movements are restricted by his own physical injuries for which he requires ongoing treatment. Moreover, at present, the entire Navajo Nation has imposed a curfew from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., which is enforced by law enforcement personnel issuing citations and roadblocks. However, should the Court be concerned with Mr. Clah’s movement, he would be willing to submit to electronic monitoring under home detention or any other condition the court deems appropriate.”
Clah’s pretrial officer is still supports his request to move back to Red Valley, she wrote.
Whenever Clah speaks to his daughter on the phone, “she often cries and begs for him,” Carey wrote. “He is extremely concerned about the effect this separation is having on her, and worried about the burden his absence is putting on his mother.”
In her order releasing Clah, Riggs wrote his medical and physical condition weighed toward his release, especially because he needed surgery on his leg, which is infected and that the halfway house stated they could not take care of his medical needs after he is released from the hospital.
She also found that, contrary to Briones’ opinion, the Clah has no access to a vehicle, the only way he poses a danger to the community.
“Given that Defendant has a history of compliance with conditions of release or probation, and lacks access to a vehicle, the Court agrees with Pretrial Services’ recommendation and concludes that these conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community,” Riggs wrote.
Chavez’s father, Kinsey Chavez, addressed the judge through a Navajo interpreter, but what he said is not memorialized in the minutes. Clah also made a statement to the judge.
Riggs gave him two days to turn himself in to begin serving his sentence, according to the minutes.
What sentence Clah’s attorney, Emily Carey, argued for, or what sentence federal prosecutor Novaline Wilson asked for, is unknown as the minutes do not memorialize either of their stances.
No sentencing memorandums appear in the court docket either, although the docket is missing eight entries between when Clah pleaded guilty (entry 37) and the entry of judgement (entry 52)in the case. Improperly sealed documents appear to be a problem in New Mexico’s federal court, as outlined by Jeff Proctor, writing in New Mexico In Depth. He found a pattern and practice by prosecutors and public defenders to improperly seal documents in federal criminal cases, contrary to local and federal rules on sealing procedures.
On Aug. 1, 2019, John Lodgepole allegedly went to the house of a woman he knew in Nenahnezad, near Fruitland, and became verbally abusive toward her and Michaelene Warren, 43. Later that night he allegedly came back, threw the Warren to the ground and kicked her in the head multiple times. He staved the back of her head in with a cinderblock and beat her ankles with a cane, according to the plea deal. Investigators found a bloody bat near the scene, according to an affidavit for a criminal complaint.
San Juan County Sheriff’s deputies found Lodgepole in the parking lot of a chapter house across the street from the house, covered in blood. He was initially charged with murder, according to the complaint. The case was sealed, despite Lodgepole’s arrest, according to the court docket.
On Oct. 9, 2019, a federal grand jury indicted Lodgepole on a charge of voluntary manslaughter and he was arraigned on Oct. 25. The case was unsealed a day earlier.
On Nov. 3, 2020, Lodgepole pleaded guilty to a single count of voluntary manslaughter. The plea deal sets his sentence at 6 to 8 years.
On Aug. 24, 2021, District Judge Kea Riggs sentenced to 7 years in prison. Lodgepole will spend an additional three years on supervised probation after he is released from prison.
(Note: This story has been updated to reflect the victim’s name)
The incident
San Juan County Sheriff’s deputies responded on Aug. 1, 2019, to a house south of the Chapter House in Nenahnezad, after the owner called 911, Federal Bureau of Investigations Agent Jordan Spaeth wrote in an affidavit for a criminal complaint.
A view from the Indian Service Route 36 near Nenahnezad. Photo by Gene Selkov/Flickr.
The homeowner, identified by her initials of E.L., told deputies she was drinking with the Michaelene Warren, identified in court documents as M.W. (YOB: 1975) or Jane Doe, when John Lodgepole threw Warren to the ground and started kicking her in the head, he wrote.
“Lodgepole then fled the residence and E.L. contacted 911,” Spaeth wrote. “Deputies were notified a short time after arrival that Jane Doe was pronounced dead at the scene by Emergency Medical Personnel.”
Deputies found Lodgepole in the parking lot of the chapter house. He was covered in blood, he wrote.
Deputies detained him and Navajo Police officers arrested him when they arrived on scene, he wrote.
When investigators spoke to E.L., she said Lodgepole arrived at the house earlier that night and was verbally abusive toward her and Warren. As the night went on, he threw Warren to the ground and kicked her in the head.
Outside the house, investigators found a bloody metal baseball bat and shoe prints near where Warren’s body was found and resembled the soles of Lodgepole’s shoes.
The field investigator with the Office of the Medical Investigator found three wounds to Warren’s head, including one that likely fractured her skull.
Spaeth charged Lodgepole with murder.
San Juan County Sheriff’s Corporal C. Decker wrote in an incident report that medics found Warren was dead when they arrived and it appeared brain matter coming out of the side of her head.
The woman at the house kept telling Decker that “he wouldn’t stop kicking her,” then went to find Lodgepole at the Chapter House, Decker wrote.
The plea deal offers a slightly different set of facts than what investigators initially found.
Lodgepole wrote in the plea deal that he punched his mother’s friend in the head and face 10 times because she called him names and threatened him. After throwing her to the ground, he took a cinderblock and “smashed the back of her head.”
“When I noticed that Jane Doe was still breathing, I took the block, placed it under her feet and used a cane to strike her ankles for approximately five or six times,” according to the plea deal.
“There were broken skull bones, bleeding around the brain, bruises of the brain and swelling of the brain,” they wrote. “Other injuries included scrapes and bruises of the extremities and scrapes of the torso.”
Her blood-alcohol content was 0.25.
Indictment
Although Lodgepole was arrested on Aug. 1, the court docket does not show that he was ever arraigned or assigned a lawyer until two months later, when prosecutors indicted him, on Oct. 9.
The complaint for his arrest, and the entire case, appears to have been sealed until Oct. 24, 2019, the day before he was arraigned on the indicted charge of voluntary manslaughter, a downgrade from murder.
Nothing in the court record indicates why Lodgepole would have been arrested, and held without bail, without being arraigned or assigned an attorney, or why the case would have been sealed, even though he was arrested.
Magistrate Judge Steven Yarbrough accepted the plea, although he deferred final acceptance until sentencing in front of a district court judge, according to a plea minutes sheet.
Lodgepole wrote in a plea deal that he punched his mother’s friend in the head and face 10 times because she called him names and threatened him. After throwing her to the ground, he took a cinderblock and “smashed the back of her head.”
“When I noticed that Jane Doe was still breathing, I took the block, placed it under her feet and used a cane to strike her ankles for approximately five or six times,” according to the plea deal.
The federal charge of voluntary manslaughter is defined as the unlawful killing of someone without malice and “upon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion.” It is a downgrade from first- and second-degree murder.
According to the indictment, Lodgepole killed Warren “upon a sudden quarrel and heat of passion, and therefore without malice.”
Lodgepole was initially charged with murder by Spaeth.
According to federal law, first-degree murder is done with “malice aforethought” and is “every murder perpetrated by poison, lying in wait, or any other kind of willful, deliberate, malicious, and premeditated killing.”
In the plea deal, Lodgepole said he took the cinderblock he used to bash in the back of Warren’s head, put it under the legs and beat her ankles with a cane after he saw she was still breathing.
According to federal sentencing guidelines, a judge can increase a sentence beyond the sentencing guidelines if the perpetrator’s behavior was “unusually heinous, cruel, brutal, or degrading to the victim.”
“Examples of extreme conduct include torture of a victim, gratuitous infliction of injury, or prolonging of pain or humiliation,” the guidelines state.
How the grand jury that indicted Lodgepole reached the conclusion that voluntary manslaughter was the appropriate charge is a mystery as grand juries are secret. The prosecutor’s signature on the indictment is inscrutable, although Ruiz-Velez is the only attorney listed on the docket.
However, multiple articles articulate how grand juries will follow the lead of the prosecutor presenting the case to them. In the case of Breonna Taylor, a grand juror said that homicide charges were never even presented to them.
University of Dayton Law Professor Susan Brenner wrote in a 1996 article that “the federal grand jury has become little more than a rubber stamp, indiscriminately authorizing prosecutorial decisions.”
“The complete prosecutorial control over the grand jury — particularly over the flow of information and grand jury procedure — solidifies the grand jury’s dependence on the prosecutor,” the anonymous author wrote.
Lodgepole is tentatively set to be sentenced at 3 p.m., April 14, 2021, by District Judge James Parker, according to a hearing notice. The hearing will be held virtually, via Zoom. No courtroom is listed on the hearing notice, entered on Feb. 10, 2021.
District Judge Kea Riggs sentenced Lodgepole, 22, to seven years in prison for killing Michealene Warren, 43, of Nenahnezad, during a virtual hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021. Lodgepole will spend an additional three years on supervised probation after he is released from prison.
According to the sentencing minutes, Lodgepole addressed the judge, as did Warren’s sister, Miracle Yellowman. What she said is not memorialized in the minutes. His entire sentencing hearing took just 27 minutes. Lodgepole did not physically appear for his hearing.
Tavor Tom, a member of the Navajo nation, allegedly went on July 1, 2019 to Roberta Clyde’s house (his maternal aunt) and stabbed her repeatedly, killing her, stole her car, then crashed it into a fence, according to his alleged confession.
He was allegedly trying to get to Farmington because he wanted to steal the over-the-counter drug Mucinex, generically known as guaifenesin.
A federal grand jury indicted him eight days later on July 9, 2019, on a charge of second-degree murder.
At 10 a.m., July 2, 2019, the Roberta Clyde, 45, was found dead in her house by her father. Sometime during that same morning, Tavor Tom, of Shiprock, was found in the Clyde’s Jeep Cherokee, after he crashed into a fence in front of a church in Nenahnezad. Navajo Nation police officers found a bloody knife in the car, FBI agent Cary Cahoon wrote in an affidavit for an arrest warrant.
FBI agent Kalon Fancher interviewed Tom and advised him he did not have to speak with him, but Cahoon did not write if Fancher told Tom his Miranda rights.
According to Fancher’s interview with Tom, the latter allegedly admitted to killing Clydewith a folding knife he took from his father’s vehicle with the intention of going to her house to steal her car so he could drive it to Farmington to steal Mucinex, Cahoon wrote.
Tom allegedly said he went to the Clyde’s trailer, “slit her throat and then stabbed her seven (7) or (8) times with the knife he took from his father’s vehicle, and then stole her vehicle,” Cahoon wrote.
Tom allegedly said he drove to the Wal-Mart in Farmington, stole Mucinex from the store around 7 p.m. and drove on the back roads toward Shiprock, Cahoon wrote.
He then crashed the vehicle into a fence at a church in Nenahnezad, rendering the vehicle undriveable. He was found in the vehicle the next morning.
Crashed car
Navajo Nation firefighter Derrick Woody told Cahoon that he responded to Tom’s car crash and that Tom allegedly tried to overdose on Mucinex. The drug, as well as vomit, were found in the vehicle, Cahoon wrote.
Navajo Nation Sgt. Francis Yazzie told Cahoon that he also responded to the crash and he found a folding knife with blood on it on the passenger-side floorboard, Cahoon wrote.
Family interviews
Clyde’s father, only identified by the initials R. C., found his daughter, when he went to check on her at the behest of her adult children, who could not reach her on the phone, Cahoon wrote. Clyde is unnamed in federal court documents and referred to as “victim.”
“After R.C. discovered Victim and realized she was deceased, he called 911,” Cahoon wrote.
Cahoon was called by Navajo Nation detective Jerrick Curley that there had been a killing in Shiprock, in the exterior boundaries of the reservation, he wrote.
Curley told Cahoon that he found Clyde lying on her bedroom floor with multiple cuts and blood around her. He also told Cahoon that Clyde’s nephew, Tom, had been in a car crash near Nenahnezad. The car he crashed allegedly belonged to Clyde and inside the vehicle police found a knife with blood on it.
Clyde’s father, Tom’s grandfather, told Cahoon that Tom had come to his house, next door to the victim’s, at 6 p.m., July 1, 2019, to use his computer, and then left.
Tom’s mother, who was Clyde’s sister and is only identified by the initials “M.T.,” told Cahoon that Tom lived with her at her house in Shiprock, which was in “close proximity” to Clyde’s house, a single-wide trailer. Tom got around on a red ATV, parked next to R.C.’s house.
“M.T. received a text message from TOM the previous night (07/01/2019) and indicated he was with his friends,” Cahoon wrote. “M.T. went to visit Victim at her residence the previous evening (07/01/2019), at approximately 6:30 p.m., when M.T. arrived and saw that Victim’s vehicle was gone, she assumed Victim left in her vehicle to go somewhere.”
She said her son had been addicted to Mucinex for several years and uses it to get high.
“TOM also had been suicidal in the past and has become more violent recently,” he wrote.
M.T. alleged her son often takes her car without permission and drives it to stores where he can steal Mucinex. She also acknowledged that Tom was found in the Clyde’s vehicle, he wrote.
“M.T. believed TOM was the one who killed Victim,” Cahoon wrote. “R.C. and M.T. both advised that Tom often went by and visited Victim at her house and that they got along with one another.”
The crime scene
In the afternoon of July 2, 2019, officers searched the interior and exterior of Clyde’s trailer, although Cahoon did not write whom he obtained consent from, since Clyde was dead.
During the search, officers found the key to Tom’s red ATV on a couch in the living room. A cell phone was found on a different couch in the living room and there were drops of blood in the kitchen, laundry room and bedroom.
“Additionally, the medicine cabinet door was open in the kitchen and it appeared that someone had rummaged through the prescriptions and over-the-counter medications,” Cahoon wrote.
The field investigator with the Office of the Medical Investigator found Clyde had “trauma” and cuts to her neck, back and chest.
Pathologist Ross Zumwalt wrote in the autopsy report that Clyde suffered a total of 75 separate “sharp force injuries,” meaning stab wounds and incised, or slashing, wounds.
“Two of the stab wounds of the back of the head penetrated the skull resulting in bleeding around the brain,” Zumwalt wrote.
Clyde also has four stab wounds in her chest and one in her abdomen, which penetrated her stomach. She also has cutting wounds on her hands, which Zumwalt classified as probable defensive wounds.
“Death was a result of the blood loss caused by the multiple wounds,” Zumwalt wrote.
According to the deputy field investigation conducted by Kayelynn Williams, Clyde got home after work at 5:15 p.m. and went next door to check on her parents at 6 p.m.
Roberta Clyde
According to her obituary, Clyde had three children, Erik, Alyssa and Ryland Benally, all of Shiprock, as well as three sisters and two brothers.
She was a piano player for the Ojo Amarillo Baptist Church.
According to the court docket, Tom initially appeared July 3, 2019 and on July 10 in Albuquerque federal court, and he was ordered held indefinitely after his attorney waived a detention hearing.
On July 10, his attorney filed a waiver of a preliminary hearing. However, a federal grand jury had already indicted him on July 9, 2019, on a charge of second-degree murder.
Tom pleaded guilty, Nov. 24, 2020, to second-degree murder in front of federal Magistrate Judge Kirtan Khalsa during a virtual hearing that lasted just over 30 minutes. Khalsa deferred final acceptance of the plea deal until sentencing by a district court judge.
Prosecutors will agree that Tom accepted responsibility for his conduct and grant that, under the sentencing guidelines, he is entitled to a reduction of two levels from the base offense. Spindle and Tom’s defense attorney, James Loonam, can argue whatever they want when it comes to the sentence.
In the plea agreement, Tom wrote that he stabbed his aunt repeatedly with a knife, “intentionally and without justification.”
When interrogated by FBI agents, he said he stabbed her repeatedly and slit her throat, according to court documents.
Zumwalt did not write in the autopsy report her throat was slit but did note many wounds to the back of her neck, some of which went from the back to the front of her neck.
Sentencing guidelines
Second-degree murder carries a base offense level, per the federal sentencing guidelines for second-degree murder, is 38. The plea deal provides Tom with a two-level reduction for pleading guilty, putting the base level at 36.
According to the federal sentencing table, with little or no criminal history, that puts Tom’s proposed sentence, sans any increases or decreases, at 16 to 20 years. At a base offense level of 38, the level without the consideration of his guilty plea, the range increases to 20 to 24 years.
Based on a search of federal and state court records, Tom does not appear to have any prior state or federal arrests. His tribal criminal records are unknown.
His final sentence will be up to the sentencing judge.
Tom is asking for a seven-year sentence while Spindle is asking for the maximum under the sentencing guidelines, as calculated by the U.S. Probation Office, of 14 to 17.5 years.
Tom’s attorney, James Loonam, wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Tom’s age at the time, 18, was one reason, and that Tom, high on and addicted to dextromethorphan, also known as Mucinex, was “operating under diminished capacity” when he stabbed his aunt to death. That he killed a family member, and “will face consequences of loss of part of his family for the rest of his life,” was the third reason for giving Tom a sentence below the guidelines. Tom had been addicted to the drug since he was 14.
“Tavor knows that his actions have caused everyone he loves and cares about almost unbearable pain,” he wrote.
“Each hospitalization indicates that Tavor exhibited signs of chronic depression,” he wrote.
Loonam wrote that Tom’s actions were “a product of that (drug) abuse and addiction.”
Prosecutor Joseph Spindle wrote in his own sentencing memorandum that Johnson should sentence Tom to the high end of the sentencing guideline calculated by the U.S. Probation Office, 17.5 years.
Spindle wrote that Tom went to Clyde’s house to steal her car.
“However, once he was inside her house, the attempted theft became infinitely worse,” he wrote. “Before stealing her car, Defendant decided to stab his aunt seventy-five times in the face, back, abdomen, arms, hands and neck. She died of blood loss on the floor of her bedroom, alone and suffering.”
Among the reasons for a sentencing at the top of the guideline was how “senseless and brutal” it was.
“The stabbing was so frenzied, two of the stab wounds penetrated her skull,” Spindle wrote. “She died of blood loss. This level of brutality far exceeds what would have been necessary to effectuate a murder.”
While Tom is young and experienced traumatic events, his drug use contributed to them and he seems disinterested in curbing his use, he wrote. Spindle wrote:
“According to Defendant, treatment “takes up too much time.” (Doc. 38, ¶ 60). This level of apathy to his drug use, even after multiple overdoses and the murder of a loved-one, indicates that he is not interested in changing his life. Therefore, even if the brutal murder of his aunt can be partially attributed to Defendant’s drug use, the fact that he does not intend curtail his drug use indicates he will remain a public safety risk.”
On April 7, 2021, Judge William Johnson sentenced Tom to 15 years in federal prison.
Tom appeared via video for the sentencing hearing and family members appeared via Zoom and one of them addressed the court, according to minutes from the hearing.
The minutes do not say who spoke or what was said. At the hearing, Spindle argued for 17.5 years and Loonam argued for seven years.
Tom must also pay $4,077 in restitution to Erik Benally, $11,522 to State Farm and $6,000 to the New Mexico Crime Victim’s Reparation Commission.
On April 16, 2019, Mateo Maestas, 22, of Cuba, and enrolled member of the Acoma tribe/Navajo nation, crashed in Laguna into a car driven by a Monica Murray, 43, of the Laguna Pueblo, on State Road 124 (Old Highway Route 66). He was drunk. As a result of the crash, Murray died. Her two children, in the car, survived. On April 18, he was arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter, DWI and reckless driving.
On Sept. 5, 2019, Maestas pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charge under a plea deal that specified his sentence would be between five and eight years and it was accepted by federal Magistrate Judge Laura Fashing.
On Jan. 23, 2020, Federal District Judge Dee Benson sentenced Maestas to six years in prison and allowed him 60 days to self surrender. Maestas was arrested a month later for violating the conditions of his pretrial release.
(Note: This story has been updated with victim Monica Murray’s name. She was not named in court documents.)
The crash and indictment
On April 16, 2019, Monica Murray, 43, of the Laguna Pueblo, was driving west on Old Highway Route 66, also known as State Road 124, when Maestas, driving a black Ford sedan, either tried to turn onto Yellow Hill Road or tried to make a U-turn in the intersection, Bureau of Indian Affairs Agent Marcelino ToersBijns wrote in an affidavit for an arrest warrant, submitted to the court on April 18. The lead investigator was BIA Agent RoAnna Bennett.
Laguna Pueblo by ANOXLOU/Flickr
While turning, Maestas’s car slammed into Murray’s car, forcing it off the road and into a small wash on the side of the road.
The crash was initially reported by an unknown woman. The two children in the car were reported to have received serious injuries and the driver was dead when investigators arrived.
State Police Capt. Troy Velasquez told ToersBijns that he was the first officer to arrive at the scene and he checked on Maestas, who said he wanted to get out of his car and wanted help. Velasquez told the federal investigator he saw multiple beer cans in the car and Maestas smelled like alcohol. He made no mention if Velasquez checked on the woman or her children or what their status were.
Laguna Police Officer Keith Riley told ToersBijns that he arrived at the scene “minutes after it occurred” and also spoke to Maestas and asked him how much he drank.
“(He) replied he had too much to drink,” ToersBijns wrote. “MAESTAS was asked what he had to drink and MAESTAS replied margaritas.”
At the hospital, a “presumption blood results” showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.28, over three times the legal-per-se limit is 0.08. According to his plea deal, his blood-alcohol content was later determined to be lower, at 0.19.
According to a sentencing memorandum by his attorney, Britany Schaffer, Maestas was abandoned at his vehicle the night of the accident “in the middle of nowhere by his friends” following a “minor argument.”
“He made a terrible error in attempting to drive back to safety, one for which he will be haunted by for the rest of his life,” Schaffer wrote. “He called out for help to one of his loved ones, but he was too far away to be able to help.”
One of the children, L.R., suffered “liver lacerations and spleen injuries.” She was unrestrained in the back seat.
Schaffer does not write how Maestas was in danger that he needed to drive, drunk, to safety.
Although the criminal complaint was filed on April 18, Maestas was not arrested until May 22 and on May 29, he was released and placed on house arrest, according to court records.
The Office of the Medical Investigator only provided a deputy field investigation following a request for Murray’s autopsy report.
Field investigator Robert Hays wrote in the field investigation that the children in the car with Murray were easily extricated.
“Ms. Murray was still trapped in the drivers (sic) seat, seat belted in and encased by the vehicles (sic) steering column, doorway and dash; all airbags were deployed,” Hays wrote.
He wrote Murray “was a large woman” and appeared to have hit something in the car because “her abdomen fat tissue was all around the front compartment.”
It took over an hour to extract her body from the car, Hays wrote.
She wrote that Maestas drove because his friends left him at his car following a minor argument.
“He made a terrible error in attempting to drive back to safety, one for which he will be haunted by for the rest of his life,” Schaffer wrote. “He called out for help to one of his loved ones, but he was too far away to be able to help.”
Schaffer does not write how Maestas was in danger, or what he was in danger from, that he needed to drive, drunk, to safety, or what safety he was trying to drive toward.
The presentence report, which isn’t public, suggested a sentence of 2 1/2 to 3 years, she wrote.
Schaffer wrote that she wants Browning to give Maestas a sentence at the low end of the plea agreement.
“Mr. Maestas has a criminal history of zero: that is, prior to this case, he has never been convicted of a crime, other than a single speeding ticket,” she wrote. “He is young, hard-working and educated, and aspires to help others in his future as he has been doing during his counseling sessions while this case has been pending.”
He is the grandson of Wilson Joe Chiquito, who was killed in his home. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into his killing is still unsolved.
“Although there is no excuse for his actions on the date of the accident, Mr. Maestas was heavily impacted by the loss of his grandfather, and, at the time when this accident occurred, he had unfortunately fallen into a pattern of using alcohol in an unhealthy manner. He was forthright with his probation officer when he discussed his drinking habits, and that he ‘was struggling with alcohol use,'” Schaffer wrote.
Prosecutor Elisa Dimas wants Browning to give Maestas a sentence above the maximum of eight years agreed to in his plea deal because of his “uncharged conduct,” Schaffer wrote. This is because of the injuries to Murray’s children.
One child, L.R., received “liver lacerations and spleen injuries.” She was unrestrained in the back seat.
According to Schaffer’s sentencing memo, Dimas’ request for Maestas to receive a sentence above what she agreed to in the plea agreement is document 45, which does not appear on the public court docket. There is no explanation as to why the document is being kept secret and there are no entries indicating it was sealed, or that either the defense or prosecution requested it be sealed.
According to Schaffer’s memo, Dimas wants Maestas to be sentenced to at least a maximum of eight years and one month, one month above what was allowed in his plea deal, although it is not clear if she is seeking a sentence above that and her request is not on the public docket.
Maestas also wrote a letter to Browning and Murray’s family. Although he wrote that he feels sympathy for the woman’s family and he regrets the decision he made, because it killed Murray, much of his letter is about the unsolved killing of his grandfather.
Sentence
Federal District Judge Dee Benson sentenced Maestas on Jan. 23, 2020, to six years in prison, during an hour and 20 minute hearing in federal District Court in Albuquerque.
According to the sentencing minute sheet, Dimas asked for an 8-year sentence during the hearing and Maestas’ defense attorney, Britany Schaffer, asked for a 5-year sentence.
According to the minutes, four members of Maestas’ family addressed the judge: M. Vigil, L. Castillo, M. Pablo and J. Maestas.
Maestas also addressed the court, but the minutes contain no information to what anyone said.
Three people also spoke in court on behalf of Murray. M. Valdez spoke on behalf of her family, M. Garcia spoke as a member of the victim’s family and R. Garcia spoke as the guardian of the dead woman’s children, according to the minutes.
Maestas was originally supposed to be sentenced by a different judge. No records indicate why Benson, normally a judge in Utah, sentenced Maestas.
No court documents illuminate why Benson settled on the sentence he did.
Release violations
After Benson gave Maestas 60 days to turn himself in to begin serving his prison sentence, Maestas’ attorneys requested he be allowed to return to his home pending his self-surrender, which Benson granted. Since Dec. 6, 2019, Maestas was living at a halfway house in Albuquerque. Before that, he had been on house arrest.
On Feb. 26, 2020, a federal judge with an illegible signature ordered Maestas arrested, which he was, on March 3, 2020, in Albuquerque.
“Defendant failed to comply with conditions of release: alcohol use, failed to report contact with law enforcement and failed to comply with travel restrictions,” according to the warrant.
Federal Magistrate Judge Paul Briones revoked the conditions of his release on March 5 and ordered he be sent to prison to begin serving his sentence.
On Oct. 18, 2018, Joey Unkestine crashed a 2002 Ford Explorer on Highway 53 on the Zuni Pueblo, killing his brother, Elison Unkestine and his girlfriend, Katherine Edaakie and injuring his girlfriend’s son (D.G.). He was allegedly drunk.
His blood-alcohol level was later measured at 0.35 and he was estimated to be driving between 74 and 93 mph on a 55-mph-limit road.
He pleaded guilty and per a binding plea deal, District Judge Scott Skavdahl sentenced Unkestine on Oct. 18, 2019, to the three years, 10 months in prison.
The incident
Joey Unkestine was driving between 74 and 93 mph on Highway 53 on the Zuni Pueblo, after he had been drinking extensively, when he rolled his 2002 Ford Explorer, killing his girlfriend and brother and injuring his girlfriend’s 9-year-old son, D.G., according to his plea agreement.
Zuni Pueblo, eastern edge. Photo by Joseph Novak/Flickr
Opioids and methamphetamine were also found in his system, although he claimed he used no drugs that day. The brother and girlfriend had also been drinking while he was driving. D.G. received “only scrapes and bruises,” Mendenhall wrote.
Unkestine had several prior convictions “involving alcohol” but all of them were tribal, Mendenhall wrote.
Indictment
On March 18, 2019, a grand jury indicted Unkestine on two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of child endangerment, according to the indictment.
Plea
On June 20, 2019, Unkestine pleaded guilty to the charges. Mendenhall and defense attorney Irma Rivas signed the plea deal. Federal Magistrate Judge Jerry Ritter accepted the bindingplea agreement.
According to the plea agreement, Unkestine would only receive a sentence of three years, 10 months, with probation up to the sentencing judge. Ultimately, he received two years of probation when prosecutors asked for three.
According to Mendenhall’s sentencing memorandum, three years, 10 months is the “upper-guideline sentence” and reflects the seriousness of the offense.
Because the two people in the car were drinking, their deaths do not warrant a sentence at the top of the sentencing range. However, the child being placed in danger did warrant the lengthier sentence, as did his history with alcohol, he wrote.
Mendenhall did not write why, specifically, he agreed to a three year sentence for the deaths of two people, one of which left a child without his mother. However, he noted that both he and the defense minimized the uncertainty that comes with a trial.
Sentence
Federal District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl sentenced Unkestine on Oct. 18, 2019, to the three years, 10 months stipulated in the plea agreement and two years probation, a year less than requested by the prosecutor, according to the sentencing minute sheet.
No investigative documents appear in the court record.
According to the local rules and federal rules, documents are only supposed to be filed under seal for good reason and a record of the motion to file a document under seal is supposed to appear on the court docket, as outlined by Jeff Proctor in New Mexico In Depth.
According to Mendenhall’s sentencing memorandum, the only document that was docketed but is not public is #27, the pre-sentencing investigation report by the probation department.
However, according to the docket, entry 28 was also sealed, as were 30 and 31. In addition, documents 34-36 appear to be sealed with no motions for sealing and no record of sealing, a process which is supposed to warrant a judge’s approval.
Office of the Medical Investigator Field Investigator Maria Olivares wrote, in a field investigation, the SUV was heavily damaged and Elison Unkestine had been ejected from it and his right hand was amputated.
In Edaakie’s field investigation, Olivares found Edaakie’s body was in the east-bound lane.
Charges:Second-degree murder, unlawful taking of a vehicle, tampering with evidence, DWI, driving on a license revoked for DWI and open container of alcohol in a vehicle
Status: Pleaded down to voluntary manslaughter, unlawful taking of a vehicle and DWI third offense
Sentence: 4 years followed by 3.5 years supervised release, per plea agreement; credit for 1.5 years time served
On Dec. 16, 2017, Kimsey Barboan, 33, beat his roommate, Anthony Martinez, 61, to death with a baseball bat at their Cuba home. He then drove to a gas station in Cuba where he was reported as lying in a truck with a head wound. He was sent to the hospital, and then arrested, for drunk driving and felon in possession of a firearm. Officers found a bloody bat in the truck.
On Dec. 18, 2017, two of Martinez’s friends went to his house on County Road 13 and found he was lying, dead, inside the house. The next day, State Police agents charged Barboan with an open count of murder.
On Feb. 1, 2018, a Sandoval County grand jury indicted Barboan on a series of charges, including second-degree murder.
On June 17, 2019, Barboan pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, unlawful taking of a vehicle and DWI third offense. As part of his plea deal, his sentence was set at 4 years followed by 3.5 years of supervised probation.
The incident
On Dec. 16, 2017, Kimsey Barboan beat his roommate, Anthony Martinez, 61, to death with a baseball bat.
He was only arrested charged with Martinez’s death three days later, while he was already in custody on charges related to drunk driving and the illegal possession of a firearm, State Police Agent Marcus Lopez wrote in an affidavit for an arrest warrant.
Lopez wrote that he interviewed Barboan, along with Agent Tony DeTavis, on Dec. 18, 2017.
Kimsey Barboan
“Mr. Barboan advised he had been chopping wood at the residence, 334 County Rd 13 (sic),” Lopez wrote. “Mr. Barboan advised he currently lives there with Anthony Martinez.”
Barboan told the agents that at 5 p.m. on Dec. 16, 2017, he went into the house and Martinez “jumped him and struck him with a wooden baseball bat,” Lopez wrote.
“He sustained injuries to the left side of his head and face,” Lopez wrote. “Mr. Barboan advised he got the baseball bat away from Mr. Martinez and began to strike Mr. Martinez with the baseball bat. He advised he did see blood on the facial area of Mr. Martinez.”
He told the detectives there were stolen guns in the house and Martinez used illegal drugs.
“Mr. Barboan stated he left the residence and also started Mr. Martinez was making some type of groaning noises,” Lopez wrote. “He took the baseball bat and broke out the window to the 1985 Blue GMC pickup, the driver’s side door.”
Lopez wrote that State Police Officer Darrell Blackhorse was told by dispatchers to be on the lookout for a 1980s Chevy pickup on the evening of Dec. 16, 2017 and he found it at the Circle K in Cuba.
Officers did not know about the homicide at this point.
Lopez did not write why Blackhorse was told to look for the truck.
Inside the truck, Barboan was lying across the front seat. He had a cut on the left side of his forehead. Blackhorse called for an ambulance and Barboan told him he got the cut because was jumped by “numerous white males,” Lopez wrote.
In the truck, Blackhorse found a bloody baseball bat and a rifle. He left the bat and seized the rifle and called an ambulance for Barboan, who was transported to the hospital. After Barboan was released, Blackhorse charged him for drunk driving, felon in possession of a firearm, driving on a revoked license, open container of alcohol in a vehicle and on two felony arrest warrants, he wrote.
Two days later, at 11:30 a.m., Dec. 18, 2017, two friends of Martinez went to his house. One of them, Coby Aragon, wanted to see if Martinez had any work for him, Lopez wrote.
When he went into the house, he found Martinez on the floor and told his friend, who called 911, he wrote.
Sandoval County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Stand arrived and saw Martinez appeared to have blunt trauma to the head and “there was lots of blood.” Martinez was cold to the touch and had no pulse, Lopez wrote.
Stand noted that it appeared there had been a struggle in the house and there was blood on several walls, he wrote.
Where the kitchen and living room met, there was a dark baseball bat with blood on it. The deputies referred the case to the State Police agents, Lopez wrote.
Lopez and DeTavis then interviewed Barboan while he was being held at the Sandoval County Detention Center, he wrote.
Lopez charged him with an open count of murder and tampering with evidence.
On Feb. 1, 2018, a Sandoval County grand jury indicted Barboan on charges of second-degree murder, unlawful taking of a vehicle, tampering with evidence, DWI, driving on a license revoked for DWI and open container of alcohol in a vehicle.
Barboan received credit for time served of 547 days, or just over a year and a half.
According to the plea deal, Barboan killed Anthony Martinez “as a result of sufficient provocation” but no court documents state what, specifically, Martinez did to sufficiently provoke Barboan.
On Dec. 9, 2017, Jerome Dayzie was driving back from Colorado to his home in Round Rock, Ariz, with his wife, identified as Terra Dayzie, and a friend, Marvin Johnson, 37. Jerome Dayzie, who had a blood-alcohol content of 0.196, crashed into the back of a parked trailer on the side of the road. Johnson was ejected and died at the scene, according to court records.
Jerome Dayzie was initially arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter, according to court records.
On April 16, 2018, he pleaded guilty to the same charge and on Feb. 26, 2019, District Judge Martha Vazquez sentenced him to the minimum under the sentencing guidelines, just over three years, despite four previous convictions for DUI, according to court records.
Butte off of U.S. Highway 191 near Roundrock, Ariz. Photo by Seth Graham/Flickr. CC-BY-NC-ND
They had driven to Cortez, Colo., to buy beer at the G-Whil liquor store. There, they bought three cases of St. Ides malt liquor, all in 40-ounce bottles. St. Ides has an ABV, or alcohol by volume, of 8.2 percent. They were sharing the liquor as they drove back to Arizona and Jerome Dayzie estimated he drank a whole bottle by himself, he told Fancher in an interrogation, according to Fancher’s affidavit.
Jerome Dayzie said Johnson was the one who wanted to go, Fancher wrote.
After he turned off Highway 491 and onto BIA/Indian Services/Navajo Route 13, the sun was in his face and a car was heading toward him. A trailer was parked “half on the road,” Fancher wrote, summarizing his interview with Jerome Dayzie.
“He stated ‘it’s either I hit the other vehicle or I hit the trailer,'” Fancher wrote. “He stated he hit the end of the trailer and flipped right over.”
Johnson was in the back seat of Jerome Dayzie’s Ford Explorer when he was ejected from the vehicle.
Jerome Dayzie’s wife, Terra Dayzie (identified as T.D. or Jane Doe-1 in some court records), said Jerome Dayzie drank about half of a 40-ounce bottle, Fancher wrote.
Fancher wrote:
“JANE DOE-1 stated she fell asleep and woke up when DAYZIE hit the back of a trailer parked along the side of the road. JANE DOE-1 stated (V-1) flipped over. She stated JOHN DOE-1 was thrown out of (V-1) and she tried to wake him up but he was not responding.”
When law enforcement arrived, they declared him dead at the scene, he wrote.
After crashing into the rear, Jerome Dayzie’s Ford Explorer flipped. Johnson was ejected and pinned under the driver’s side, Ruiz-Velez wrote.
One witness, behind Jerome Dayzie, said his car had been swerving from side to side before it hit the trailer, rolled, and landed on the driver’s side, she wrote.
The owner of the trailer said he and his son were driving to Arizona when they noticed the straps holding the furniture down seemed to be loose. They pulled to the side of the road to check the straps before Jerome Dayzie crashed into the back of the trailer, Ruiz-Velez wrote.
In an amended sentencing memorandum, Jerome Dayzie’s attorney, federal public defender John Butcher, wrote that the trio were “bootlegging” alcohol to the reservation.
According to a deputy field investigation by Tiffany Keaton, with the Office of the Medical Investigator, witnesses told law enforcement that the Explorer “clipped” the left corner of the trailer, causing the trailer to “fork” to the left. The explorer then flipped one and a half times. Johnson was ejected out the passenger-side window before it landed on him. He was not wearing a seat belt.
“Witnesses, were able to pull the vehicle off of Marvin Johnson,” Keaton wrote.
Fancher filed the for the arrest warrant two days after the crash, on Dec. 11., 2017.
Court proceedings
Pre-trial release
Jerome Dayzie pleaded not guilty, waived a preliminary hearing and a grand jury presentment on Dec. 15, 2017, and federal Magistrate Judge Steven Yarbrough released him to the La Pasada Halfway House in Albuquerque, according to the docket and a response by Ruiz-Velez to a motion to allow Jerome Dayzie to speak to his wife, Terra Dayzie.
Among the conditions of release, Jerome Dayzie was prohibited from speaking to any of the witnesses, his wife included.
Ruiz-Velez wrote that she opposed letting Jerome Dayzie talk to his wife “to assure the integrity of the judicial proceedings against the Defendant.”
“As mentioned in his Motion, they have four children and a home together,” Butcher wrote. “Thus, there is a need to coordinate the care of the children as well as the household finances.”
According to Fancher’s affidavit, Terra Dayzie told investigators that she fell asleep during the drive and only woke up as the crash was happening.
According to the plea deal, Jerome Dayzie admitted to killing Johnson while driving drunk.
The plea agreement contained agreement as to the sentence, other than that he was entitled to a reduction of two levels in the federal sentencing guidelines because he pleaded guilty.
Sentencing arguments
Ruiz-Velez wrote in a sentencing memorandum, dated Feb. 7, 2019, that Jerome Dayzie should be sentenced to the high end of the guidelines for his crime, 46 months, or just under four years.
She wrote that he had an offense level of 19 and a criminal history category of III, resulting in a guideline sentence range of 37 months (just over 3 years) to 46 months.
Shiprock. Photo by Bowie Snodgrass/Flickr
She wrote that his blood-alcohol content was extremely high, at 0.196, over double the legal per se limit of 0.08.
His criminal history included five prior arrests for DUI, four of which resulted in convictions, although only two of those were considered to calculate his criminal history category.
“It is troubling that Defendant was sentenced for these two convictions on June 21, 2016 and January 12, 2017, less than two years before the instant offense,” Ruiz-Velez wrote. “Defendant’s convictions show that he was aware of the illegality of his conduct when he decided to drive his vehicle while under the influence of alcohol on December 9, 2017.”
His “past conduct” endangered the lives of others, including his 15-year-old son, she wrote.
“He was a friend and family member,” Butcher wrote. “The three were drinking together. The alcohol found at the accident was due to the fact that the group was bootlegging alcohol back to the reservation.”
Butcher then wrote that they, as friends, went out drinking together.
“Unfortunately, they decided to drive home while intoxicated,” Butcher wrote. “Mr. Dayzie recognizes the loss caused by John Doe’s death.”
Jerome Dayzie is an electrician and is trying to get the licenses needed to “improve his employment,” although he is currently employed as such.
Butcher wrote:
“More importantly, Mr. Dayzie has taken his drug and alcohol treatment extremely serious. As the Court is aware, Mr. Dayzie has a long history of substance abuse. The defendant has remained totally sober while on Pretrial Conditions of Release. He understands now that when he drinks alcohol, ‘bad things tends to happen.'”
Butcher initially asked for a sentence of two years, which he called a mistake. In an amended sentencing memorandum, Butcher asked for a sentence of 37 months (just over 3 years).
The minutes do not contain any information about the reasoning behind the judge’s decision.
According to the minutes, Vazquez addressed Jerome Dayzie and then Johnson’s family members addressed Vazquez.
Although Ruiz-Velez was the prosecutor on the case, according to the sentencing minutes, she did not attend or argue for the sentence she requested at his sentencing hearing. Instead, prosecutor Novaline Wilson attended the hearing. Court documents do not state why she was missing.
Jerome Dayzie then spoke to the judge, and then the judge spoke to him again and imposed the sentence, according to the minutes.
She also ordered he pay $1,592.97 to the New Mexico Crime Victim Reparation Commission and $2,448.72 to Johnson’s sister.
On April 22, 2017, Thomas Goodridge, 72, allegedly listened to a voice in his head that told him to kill his wife, Anna Goodridge, 76, because they were both going to be attacked in their Placitas home.
He allegedly took a rock from the front of their house and bludgeoned her in the head while she slept. He then washed his hands, combed his hair, brushed his teeth and then called police to say what he had done.
He allegedly told Sandoval County Sheriff’s Deputies they had been married for 46 years and was diagnosed as being bi-polar and had been taking his medication, but he was overcome with a fear that they were going to be attacked and he wanted to spare his wife as much pain as he could. He was arrested on an open count of murder.
On May 4, 2017, he was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder and on May 2, 2019, he pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree murder. A plea deal capped his sentence at eight years, which he was sentenced to on July 30, 2019.
“Upon arrival, Deputy Colvin detained Thomas Goodridge who had walked out of the residence,” Rodriguez wrote. “Thomas Goodridge made a statement about him murdering his wife, Anna Goodridge. Sergeant Marshal made entry into the residence. Inside the master bedroom, Sergeant Marshal located Anna Goodridge lying on the bed. Anna Goodridge had sustained severe trauma to her head and she was deceased.”
Next to the bed, Marshal saw a piece of rock splattered with blood. Colvin read Thomas Goodridge his Miranda rights, including his right to remain silent, and the latter agreed to talk.
“Thomas Goodridge told Deputy Colvin that he used a rock located near the front door of the residence,” Rodriguez wrote.
The rest of the rock was located at the front of the house, covered in blood, and matched the rock shard.
Rodriguez interviewed Thomas Goodridge a second time at the sheriff’s office.
“Thomas Goodridge informed us that he woke up around 1 a.m. fearing that he and his wife, Anna Goodridge were going to be attacked,” Rodriguez wrote. “Thomas Goodridge stated he and his wife, Anna Goodridge were asleep when he awoke. In the interview, Thomas Goodridge stated he had been hearing voices and he has been experiencing this fear of being attacked for months.”
Thomas Goodridge allegedly said he did not want his wife to suffer any pain.
“Thomas Goodridge stated, ‘I thought I would take her out of her misery, so that’s what I did,'” Rodriguez wrote.
He allegedly told the detectives he stopped hitting her with the rock when he thought she was head.
“Thomas Goodridge stated before he called the police he placed the rock back at the same location where he grabbed it,” Rodriguez wrote. “Thomas Goodridge stated while he waited for the Deputies to arrive on scene, he brushed his teeth and combed his hair.”
He said they had been married for 43 years and described his wife as “the best.” Although he is bi-polar, he allegedly told Rodriguez he had been taking his medication and when he went to bed, he felt normal.
“Thomas Goodridge stated the voices that he had been hearing told him, ‘That we both were going to be harmed, and if I did not want her to be harmed I would have to take her life,'” Rodriguez wrote. “Thomas Goodridge stated he has continued to hear these voices even though he is on medication and seeing a psychiatrist.”
McDonald previously, on May 2, accepted a no contest plea from Goodridge that capped his maximum sentence at eight years and set a minimum of four years. That plea mandated that the rest of his sentence be suspended, in this case seven years, and he be placed on supervised probation for five years after he is released from prison. The judgement and sentence also states that he will be placed on parole for two years.
Second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 15 years and it is a serious violent offense which means he must serve 85 percent of his sentence before he can be released, compared to the 50 percent required for crimes that are not considered to be serious violent offenses.
According to the judgement, Goodridge received credit of 828 days for time served while he was in jail awaiting trial, just over two years.
Sandoval County Sheriff’s detectives alleged brothers Liam, 18, and Jacob Johnson, 20, plotted to kill their uncle because he was getting between them in. They also planned his death in hopes that it would be a bonding experience.
On April 21, 2017, they allegedly lured him outside his room at the family’s two-house compound and hit him in the back of the head repeatedly with a three-pound sledge hammer.
They then allegedly loaded his body into the back of his own truck and dumped him into an arroyo in Rio Rancho, where his body was discovered, under a pile of his own trash, by a jogger.
Bothmen were indicted on May 4, 2017 on a series of charges including first-degree murder.
On March 8, 2019, Jacob Johnson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and five other charges. The plea agreement provided for a total sentence of 42 years.
On March 26, 2018, Liam Johnson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. According to his plea agreement, he faced a sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison.
Brother Liam and Jacob Johnson had a problem. Their uncle from California, Donald Kalma, was coming between them, Jacob Johnson allegedly said during an interview with Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office detectives on April 21, 2017, Detective Frank Tomlinson wrote in a statement of probable cause for the arrest of both brothers.
Liam Johnson
On the evening of April 20, 2017, the brothers allegedly discussed the disruption Kalma was causing to their relationship and what do about it.
“After a long discussion, it was decided that Jacob and the defendant would kill Mr. Kalma by possibly stabbing or beating him to death,” Tomlinson wrote. “In the early morning of April 21, 2017 the defendant (Liam Johnson) and Jacob arrived at the residence of Mr. Kalma and as Jacob waited outside the entry to Mr. Kalma ‘s apartment, the defendant entered the residence with the intent of stabbing Mr. Kalma.”
When Liam Johnson entered Kalma’s room, a loft in the garage of the family complex that consisted of two houses, he woke up and mistook him for another member of the family, although who exactly is not listed.
“The defendant (Liam Johnson) aborted the knife attack and lured Mr. Kalma outside the residence,” Tomlinson wrote. “The defendant left, followed by Mr. Kalma. As Mr. Kalma exited the door, Jacob described striking him in the back of the head with such force it ‘dropped him like a sack of potatos (sic).'”
Jacob Johnson allegedly said he used a three-pound sledge hammer to hit Kalma in the back of the head. As Kalma lay on the ground, gurgling, Jacob Johnson allegedly said he struck his uncle two to three more times in the head.
“The defendant (Liam Johnson) and Jacob moved the body of Mr. Kalma to the east side of the residence where Mr. Kalma began to ‘gurgle’ once more,” Tomlinson wrote. “At this time the defendant (Liam Johnson) retrieved the sledgehammer and struck him two or three additional times in the head.”
Jacob Johnson allegedly said he loaded up Kalma’s body into the back of Kalma’s 1972 Ford F100 truck, along with pallets and a garbage bag filled with soda cans that Kalma collected. Once they reached a ravine area, they allegedly tossed his body down, along with the pallets and bag of trash.
“The 3lb sledgehammer was ‘tossed’ away from the body as both parties drove away from the scene,” Tomlinson wrote. “Jacob described the events as ‘justified’ due to Mr. Kalma’s constant disruptions and his ‘coming between brothers.’ Jacob and the defendant (Liam Johnson) stated he believed killing Mr. Karma was going to be a ‘bonding’ activity.”
Jacob Johnson
On the afternoon of April 21, 2017, after the Johnson brothers allegedly dumped their uncle’s body in the ravine, a jogger found it and called 911 at 12:29 p.m. in Rio Rancho.
Officers found Kalma’s body had a wood pallet covering it, a few “squirt” soda cans and sheet metal screws, a gold Allen wrench and a nail.
“It appeared that these items possibly could have fallen out of a vehicle used to transport the body to the location,” Tomlinson wrote. “A few feet further down the road at an intersection was located a small handheld sledge hammer that appeared to have suspected blood on it.”
The pathologist found a large wound to the back of his head and other contusions on his head.
Detectives then headed to the family property Kalma had been living at in Bernalillo, in the 900 block of North Camino Del Pueblo.
“Investigating officers obtained consent to look around the property,” Tomlinson wrote. “The property contained two family dwellings and a detached garage with a loft where Mr. Kalma lived.”
On the property they found Kalma’s blue truck and saw the bed had recently been washed out, but there still appeared to be blood in the puddles of water in the back.
“A sheet metal screw matching the ones found at the crime scene was observed in the back of the truck,” Tomlinson wrote. “Wood or bark were also seen in and around the truck and one yellow ‘Squirt’ soft drink can was inside the bed of the truck as well.”
In addition, officers found a wooden fence that allegedly matched the wooden fencing found near Kalma’s body, as well as plastic trash bags with red draw strings which matched the ones found with his body, he wrot.
“Investigating officers also located suspected blood on a property building,” Tomlinson wrote.
Tomlinson had Jacob Johnson come to the Sheriff’s Office with him, read him his Miranda rights and the Jacob Johnson allegedly told Tomlinson about the killing, he wrote.
Liam Johnson was the first brother to sign a plea agreement, on March 7, 2018, although the document was not filed with the clerks office until March 29, 2018. District Court Judge Cindy Mercer signed the agreement on March 26, 2018.
He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
According to the plea, he faced a sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison followed by 5 years of supervised probation. The plea agreement was conditioned on his cooperation in the prosecution of his brother.
Jacob Johnson
A year later, Jacob Johnson signed a plea agreement, on March 4, 2019, along with prosecutor Jessica Martinez and his defense attorney, Marie Legrand Miller. The judge’s signature District Court Judge Cindy Mercer’s does not have a date. The plea agreement is time stamped by the clerks office on March 8, 2019 at 1:51 p.m.
A criminal information for Jacob Johnson was filed on March 4, 2019, charging him with three counts of tampering with evidence. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and six counts of tampering with evidence. The aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon charge was dropped.
According to the terms of the plea, Jacob Johnson was to serve a 42-year sentence, with the various six counts of tampering with evidence running consecutive to one another.
Sentencing
Jacob and Liam Johnson were both sentenced on May 10, 2019, by District Court Judge Cindy Mercer.
At 8:25 p.m., April 16, 2017, Kasey Weaver, of Albuquerque, crashed into a car after she tried to stop at a red light. Her boyfriend, Kit Francis II, who was the only passenger in the car, received extensive injuries and later died as a result. A Santa Fe Police Department officer alleged Weaver was intoxicated, on an antihistamine and alcohol, when she crashed.
On June 15, 2017, a Santa Fe grand jury indicted her on a single charge of DUI vehicular homicide.
A jury found her guilty of DUI vehicular homicide on Nov. 16, 2018 and Chief District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sentenced her to eight years in prison on April 10, 2019.
The incident
On April 16, 2017, Kasey Weaver, of Albuquerque and her boyfriend, Kit Francis II, 24, had allegedly been drinking and were headed back to Albuquerque, after drinking at Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, when Weaver crashed into a car, around 8:25 p.m., after she tried to stop at a red light at Cerrillos Road, before the exit to the I-25 interstate.
Kasey Weaver
Francis was transported to the hospital, but he had sever injuries. A few days later, he died from those injuries.
Tapia alleged he could smell alcohol coming from Weaver’s breath.
After Weaver was helped onto a gurney in one of the ambulances on the scene, de Luca followed behind. He did not write if he read her a Miranda warning.
“I asked Ms. Weaver what had occurred and she explained that she was traveling on Cerrillos Road and headed to I-25 Southbound en route to her residence in Albuquerque,” de Luca wrote. “Ms. Weaver added that as she approached the intersection, she noted that the traffic control light was red, attempted to stop and collided with the other vehicle.”
De Luca noted that Weaver’s eyes were allegedly bloodshot, her speech was slurred and he could smell alcohol coming from her breath.
Weaver allegedly said she had three to four drinks during the entire day and was coming from Meow Wolf.
While she was in the gurney, her neck immobilized, he administered two field sobriety tests, which appeared to indicate her alleged intoxication.
“I asked Ms. Weaver if she had consumed any other substances aside from alcoholic beverages,” de Luca wrote. “Ms. Weaver stated that at about noon that day, she had taken a pill of a drug she described as ‘hydroxyzine’ for the treatment of anxiety. I asked Ms. Weaver how many more she took and Ms. Weaver admitted taking a second pill sometime in the afternoon, and that she did not remember when.”
Hydroxyzine is an antihistamine that is also used to treat anxiety as it also acts as a sedative, depressing the central nervous system.
De Luca then had Weaver recite the numbers back from 74 to 52, which she did not do well on. He then arrested her, although she was transported to the Christus St. Vincent’s Regional Medical Center. There, she agreed to have her blood taken for a drug and alcohol test at 9:30 p.m., although de Luca also got a search warrant for the blood at 11:30 and a second vial of blood was taken at 11:30 p.m.
Weaver received 643 days (1.7 years) of credit for time served while she was awaiting trial, including 500 days she spent out of custody, but while being electronically monitored. In New Mexico, time spent on electronic monitoring counts toward the time served calculation.
Request for reduced sentence
In a hand-written motion on May 14, 2020, Weaver noted she has no prior convictions and, since being sent to prison, has not received any discipline.
“Further, I have been enrolled in multiple programs starting with Matrix in Santa Fe County Jail, Sober Living shortly after my transfer to Springer Womens Facility, and most recently with the completion of the Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Program on the 27th of March, 2020,” Weaver wrote.
Attached to the motion are a series of certificates noting the programs she completed.
Charges: DWI great bodily harm, knowingly leaving the scene of an accident causing great bodily harm or death, failure to give notice of an accident and criminal damage to property under $1,000
Status: Sentenced following guilty plea to DWI vehicular homicide
Sentence: 12 years followed by 3 years supervised probation
An allegedly drunk Paulo Vega-Mendoza allegedly crashed into the back of the motorcycle Paul Padilla, 63, was driving on April 15, 2017 on Airport Road in Santa Fe. Vega-Mendoza allegedly fled from the scene, after he allegedly crashed owbln car, a Dodge Neon. It landed on its hood. Witnesses, and then officers, allegedly chased Vega-Mendoza on foot before he tried to climb and fence and it broke, throwing him backward. Padilla died from extensive brain injuries on April 25, 2017.
On July 7, 2017, a grand jury indicted him on he was indicted on charges of DWI vehicular homicide and knowingly leaving the scene of an accident causing great bodily harm or death.
On April 29, Vega-Mendoza pleaded guilty to one count of DWI vehicular homicide and, according to the plea deal signed by prosecutor Blake Nichols, prosecutors agreed to drop the charge of knowingly leaving the scene of an accident. First Judicial District Court Judge T. Glenn Ellington accepted the plea.
At the scene of the crash, Flores found that the motorcyclist, Paul Padilla, was alive. He was flown to the University of New Mexico Hospital following the crash with extensive brain damage. He died April 25, 2017, 10 days later.
Witnesses told Flores that the motorcycle rolled, finally coming to a stop on top of Padilla.
Paulo Vega-Mendoza
Witness Mary Prone allegedly told officers she was driving east on Airport Road in the right lane and the motorcycle was in front of her and switched from the right to left lanes.
“Ms. Prones observed another vehicle, a Dodge Neon, pass her and did not brake,” Flores wrote. “The Dodge Neon struck the motorcycle from behind.”
Another witness, Margaret Johnson, said she was in the left lane and heard the Neon revving its engine and speeding.
“The Neon passed her in the right lane and cut in front of her to the left lane,” he wrote. “The vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed and struck the motorcycle.”
After hitting the motorcycle, Vega-Mendoza’s Neon rolled, coming to rest on its hood.
“Mr. Vega-Mendoza then exited the vehicle and fled the scene,” Flores wrote. “Mr. Vega-Mendoza did not render aid or give immediate notice of an accident prior to leaving the scene.”
Montijo followed Vega-Mendoza as he allegedly fled on foot, north on Camino de Jacobo. He was being chased by several people.
“Officer Jared Alire and I jumped the fence and were in the backyard of a residence on Acequia Borrada,” Flores wrote. “On Acequia Borrada a male pointed to the west and stated ‘He ran that way.'”
Alire and Flores scaled a fence and found themselves in the same back yard as Vega-Mendoza as he allegedly tried to climb the fence opposite.
“As I finished negotiating the fence I observed the fence the male was pulling himself onto had broke and the male fell backwards to the ground,” Flores wrote. “Officer Alire then placed the male into handcuffs.”
While talking to Vega-Mendoza, Flores could allegedly smell alcohol coming from his breath. He also noticed alleged bloodshot, watery eyes and slurred speech.
After being read the implied consent act, Vega-Mendoza refused to submit to a blood-alcohol test. Flores later got a search warrant for the blood and the draw was done at 7:25 p.m.
He was arrested on charges of:
DWI great bodily harm
Knowingly leaving the scene of an accident causing great bodily harm or death
Joseph Vargas fatally stabbed Kenneth Torres at a party on March 31, 2017, and also stabbed, but not fatally, Julian Torres. Vargas was initially charged with murder.
A grand jury indicted Vargas on charges of second-degree murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, among other charges, on April 20, 2017.
On May 23, 2018, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. According to his plea agreement, he received a sentence of eight years followed by five years of supervised probation.
The incident
On March 31, 2017, Joseph Vargas and Kenneth Torres were at the same party, at an apartment at 95 Eventide Road SE in Rio Rancho.
On April 6, Ginn managed to arrest Vargas on a probation warrant and brought him in for an interview.
“Joseph stated he went downstairs to where he observed two subjects involved in an altercation,” Ginn wrote. “Joseph was able to identify the two subjects as ‘dead guy’ and ‘Juelz.'”
Juelz had a handgun, which he handed to Kenneth Torres.
Vargas allegedly said he then stabbed Torres and saw “Juelz” going to a car, Ginn wrote.
“Joseph said that he was not sure if Juelz was going to get a bigger gun and stabbed Juelz as he was getting into the car,” Ginn wrote. “Joseph said he took the gun from Kenneth and left the area in Kenneth’s vehicle as the passenger. Joseph stated he remembered waking up the next morning with the gun and knife however could not account for the whereabouts of the weapons at this time.”
He was arrested on an open murder count and a charge of tampering with evidence.
A year later, on May 23, 2018, and without any intervening court hearings, Vargas pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
According to the plea agreement, accepted by Eichwald and signed by Assistant District Attorney Andoni Garrote, Vargas had his sentence set at eight years in prison followed by five years of supervised probation. (Technically, Eichwald sentenced Vargas to 15 years, the maximum, and then suspended seven of those years, resulting in a sentence of eight years.)
In the plea, Vargas also admitted his identity to one prior conviction, for aggravated battery on an officer and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery on an officer. He pleaded guilty in that case on Sept. 16, 2016, in case D-202-CR-201600853.
On March 25, 2017, Matthew Rodriguez, 34 at the time, allegedly stabbed his 64-year-old neighbor, Mitchell Daniel, in the chest repeatedly, compelled by the voices in his head. He allegedly admitted to stabbing the man, who appeared to be living in a van outside of Rodriguez’s apartment complex.
On Oct. 19 or Oct. 22, 2018, Rodriguez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for Daniel’s death and, per the plea deal accepted by Judge T. Glenn Ellington, he received a sentence of 10 years followed by five years of supervised probation.
The incident
On March 25, 2017, Matthew Rodriguez, 34 at the time, allegedly stabbed his 64-year-old neighbor, Mitchell Daniel, in the chest repeatedly, compelled by the voices in his head.
Although Daniel was transported after the stabbing to the hospital, he died from his injuries shortly thereafter.
Officers found four men at the scene when they arrived, including Rodriguez and took all four of them into custody.
After Rodriguez was put into the back of the police car, he allegedly started punching himself in the face. After being handcuffed, he then allegedly started banging his head on the divider in the police unit. He was taken to the Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center for his head injury.
“While in the emergency room at the hospital being treated by the attending physician and nursing staff Matthew Rodriguez made a statement ‘how’s the fuck I stabbed doing’? and ‘I called 911 about the stabbing; I didn’t realize that I did it,” Trujillo wrote. “These statements were heard by attending physician and nursing staff.”
At the police department, Trujillo talked to Gary Brown, who described himself as an acquaintance and told Trujillo that he was one of the people who called 911.
“Mr. Brown was at the apartment with Matthew Rodriguez approximately one hour prior to making the 911 emergency call. Mr. Brown stated Matthew Rodriguez suddenly told him ‘you need to leave,’ and ‘fucking neighbor,'” Trujillo wrote. “Mr. Brown told Affiant Matthew Rodriguez is schizophrenic and hears voices in his head. Mr. Brown told Affiant this was not unusual to him because Matthew Rodriguez on other occasions had told him ‘you need to leave’ for no reason at all.”
He gathered his belongings and left the apartment. While outside, he heard someone yelling to call 911 and he went up to the apartment and saw Daniel lying on the ground, bleeding.
“Mr. Brown called 911,” Trujillo wrote. “Mr. Brown also told Affiant that Matthew Rodriguez always carries a kitchen knife with him.”
While Rodriguez was being held at the police department, an officer walked up and asked if he wanted a cup of water.
“Matthew Rodriguez responded ‘the person that I stabbed,
what’s going on with him?'” Trujillo wrote.
Later on, Rodriguez was interviewed and he agreed to waive his Miranda rights.
“In this statement Matthew Rodriguez admitted to stabbing Mitchell Daniel,” Trujillo wrote. “Matthew Rodriguez stated he did not mean to kill him, saying ‘I was just angry at the voices in my head.'”
He allegedly described the knife as being nine inches long with a black handle and he allegedly threw it into the sink after the stabbing, Trujillo wrote.
“Matthew Rodriguez stated he stabbed Mitchell Daniel inside Mitchell Daniel’s van which Mitchell Daniel had been living out of and parked in the driveway of 1713 Fifth Street,” Trujillo wrote.
On May 5, 2017, a notice was filed that Rodriguez’s competency was in question and on July 5, 2017, Ellington suspended the proceedings.
On Feb. 9, 2018, Rodriguez’s attorney withdrew the question of his competency and filed a notice that Rodriguez would plead not guilty by reason of insanity and an incapacity to form specific intent.
On April 17, 2018, prosecutors filed a motion to have Rodriguez moved from the Santa Fe Detention Center to the custody of the Department of Corrections, as well as a motion to close the courtroom to hear the motion.
On April 24, 2018, the Santa Fe Reporter published an article by Justin Horwath about Rodriguez’s confinement in the Santa Fe Detention Center and his extensive stay in solitary confinement.
According to the article, on Sept. 21, 2017, Rodriguez attacked two separate inmates, who declined to press charges against him.
First Judicial District Judge T. Glenn Ellington
“A corrections officer wrote in an incident report that Rodriguez said he assaulted the two inmates because they ‘are mind-control freaks,'” Horwath wrote.
On Sept. 21, 2018, prosecutors and the defense reached an agreement for a plea deal. That plea deal was signed by Ellington on Oct. 19, 2018 although the docket states the hearing took place on Oct. 22.
During that hearing, Rodriguez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
According to the plea deal, which Ellington accepted, Rodriguez will spend 10 years in prison, sans credit for time served. Prosecutors agreed to drop charges of aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence.
Ellington, acting according to the plea deal, sentenced Rodriguez to a total of 15 years, but suspended five and ordered that they be served on intensive supervised probation.
According to the judgement and sentence, Ellington ordered that the Department of Corrections place Rodriguez in “an appropriate Mental Health Unit where Defendant’s medical regimen can be fulfilled by the New Mexico Department of Corrections” and receive his required medication and mental health treatment.
Charges: First-degree or felony murder, armed robbery, tampering with evidence, shoplifting under $250
Status: Jury conviction on felony murder and shoplifting; acquittal on tampering with evidence; armed robbery vacated by the judge. Upheld by the Supreme Court.
Sentence: Life with the possibility of parole after 30 1/2 years (mandatory)
On March 19, 2017, Aaron Sieben and Ameer Muhammad allegedly got into some kind of argument while Sieben was in his truck, parked at a Circle K gas station.
After Muhammad allegedly fled from Sieben, Sieben pursued him, leading to a fist fight. As the fight progressed, Muhammad allegedly produced a knife and stabbed Sieben two to three times. After stabbing Sieben, Muhammad allegedly took his wallet. Sieben died at the scene and Muhammad allegedly fled, only to be arrested shortly thereafter.
Muhammad was indicted by a grand jury on March 30, 2017, on first-degree murder or felony murder, armed robbery, tampering with evidence and shoplifting under $250. After multiple allegations of misconduct by the prosecution and defense, the Attorney General’s Office took over the prosecution. The defense also tried to suppress statements he made to a detective after he asserted his right to an attorney.
On July 27, 2018, a jury found Muhammad guilty of felony murder, armed robbery and shoplifting under $250 while finding him not guilty of tampering with evidence. On Sept. 25, 2018, Judge Jacqueline Flores sentenced him to life in prison, which is a term of 30 years, according to a remand order.
On Nov. 7, 2018, Muhammad’s attorneys appealed his conviction and on June 10, 2019, his attorneys filed a brief in chief, arguing his statements should have been suppressed and the judge should have given a self defense instruction to jurors.
On Oct. 19, 2020, the New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously upheld Muhammad’s conviction for felony murder, rejecting the two arguments made by his defense attorney: Flores not suppressing Muhammad’s statement to the police and the lack of a self-defense instruction.
The incident
On March 19, 2017, Albuquerque Police Officers were called to the Circle K gas station at 900 Eubank Boulevard after a husband and wife called in a stabbing.
Multiple people were standing over Sieben and one person was trying to administer first aid. After paramedics arrived, a short time later, they declared Sieben was dead.
Officers, given a description of the alleged stabber, were able to locate Muhammad near-by.
Hsu interviewed two witnesses, George and Lindsy Brigham. They were parked on the south side of the gas station. Sieben, in a gray truck, was parked beside them.
“Mr. Brigham also observed a black male adult, later identified as Muhammad Ameer, standing outside the gray GMC pickup truck,” Hsu wrote. “As Mr. Ameer started to leave the vehicle, the decedent got out of the GMC and started to Mr. and Mrs. Brigham, ‘Get that mother fucker!’ Mr. and Mrs. Brigham believed that the decedent was requesting their assistance for an emergency.”
Sieben then chased Muhammad along the sidewalk behind the store while the Brighams got out of their vehicle and watched as the pair engaged in a fist fight, which spilled into the westbound lanes of Lomas Boulevard NE.
“While on Lomas Blvd NE, Mr. Ameer produced a six-to-seven inch knife,” Hsu wrote. “Mr. and Mrs. Bringham saw Mr. Ameer going through the decedent’s pants pockets. Mrs. Brigham observed Mr. Ameer remove a black wallet from the decedent’s right rear pocket. Mr. Ameer then fled the scene on foot eastbound on Lomas Blvd NE.”
The Brigham’s tried to administer first aid until paramedics arrived and Lindsy Bringham called 911 and provided a description of Muhammad and the direction he was headed. George Brigham positively identified him, after officers detained him.
He was initially charged, the day of the alleged incident, on an open count of murder and robbery with a deadly weapon.
Romaine, in his motion for sanctions, alleged Martin and Swonger were trying to suppress witnesses because of issues related to pre-trial witness interviews and by putting off interviews of police officers until closer to trial, but before the deadline. He also alleged that the defense, both employed by the Law Office of the Public Defender, did not “seem motivated to move forward in the adjudication of this matter.”
He requested sanctions to “deter this sort of behavior.”
Swonger filed a response on Sept. 11, 2017 and wrote that they were splitting the pre-trial interviews and Martin was not available until November 2017.
“The State responded on August 7, 2017 and stated that the ‘interviews in this case cannot be put off any longer,’ despite the fact that the interview deadline in this matter is not
until January 22, 2018,” Swonger wrote about Romaine. “The State gave no further explanation to Defense of why interview dates in November, two months prior to the interview deadline, would be unacceptable to him.”
Swonger also alleged that Grace Fonesca, employed by the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office and who was on the prosecution’s witness list, was trying to avoid being served with a subpeona and had been providing false names to investigators for the defense. (According to an Oct. 27, 2017 court filing by Romaine, Fonesca saw Sieben’s killing.)
On Sept. 18, 2017, the judge set a hearing for the motion for sanctions on Oct. 19, 2017.
On Oct. 18, 2017, Martin filed a motion to dismiss or disqualify the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Martin wrote in the motion that Fonesca allegedly lied to investigators, claimed she was a different person when an investigator tried to serve her with a subpoena and allegedly claimed that Romaine told her she did not have to accept the subpoena.
Martin wrote that Romaine violated Muhammad’s Fifth and Fourteenth rights, as well as state constitutional rights, by “the obstruction and interference of the prosecutor in the service of a lawful subpoena upon the witness in this matter.”
“This was in part due to the inherent conflict of interest by the witness being employed at the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s office and therefore, wanting to please her employer in this matter,” Martin wrote.
Martin wrote that Romaine caused a denial of due process because of bias “formed” by Fonesca being an employee of his office.
“The interplay between the employee witness and the prosecutor has given rise to the appearance of impropriety and a need for a special prosecutor,” Martin wrote.
According to an affidavit by Investigator Milton Rodriguez, and attached to Martin’s motion, Rodriguez went to to Fonesca’s house on Sept. 6, 2017 and a woman was sitting outside on the phone. She claimed her name was “Lisa” and she was the dog sitter. Rodriguez pulled up Fonesca’s driver’s license photo and found he had been duped, he wrote.
On Sept. 11, 2017, Rodriguez found Fonesca’s 17-year-old son outside the house and explained why he was there.
“After explaining to Richard (Fonesca) Jr. the subpoenas I had in hand, Richard Jr. told me he witnessed the same incident in question. Richard Jr. told me, his mother told him not to tell the police what he had seen because she did not want him to get involved,” Rodriguez wrote.
On Oct. 19, 2017, following a hearing, District Court Judge Christina Argyres denied Romaine’s motion for sanctions in a form order.
On Oct. 27, 2017, Romaine filed a response and alleged that he never told Fonesca to refuse service of the subpoena.
On Nov. 7, 2017, prosecutor Mark Probasco, with the Attorney General’s Office, entered his appearance in the case, taking the case away from Romaine and the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Motion to suppress
Judge Jacqueline Flores
On April 2, 2018, Martin filed a motion to suppress statements Muhammad made to Det. Andrew Hsu on March 24, 2017, after he had been arraigned, asked for an attorney and was being represented by the Law Office of the Public Defender.
Martin wrote that Muhammad was “actively hallucinating” during the interrogation by Hsu and he was represented when Hsu interrogated him on March 24, 2017.
On April 12, 2018, Probasco filed an opposition to the motion to suppress statements and he wrote that Muhammad initiated conversation with Hsu on March 27, 2017. It is not clear which date is correct.
Probasco wrote: “After documenting an injury on the Defendant’s hand, the Defendant — without any question being posed– volunteers ‘Like, uh, never mind. I was going to say, like, I know I did it but that· is that what y’all want to know? Like I did it but I feel like I wasn’t in my right mind at the time though. Like, I feel like everybody in Albuquerque, New Mexico was trying to kill me and shit.'”
“Law enforcement,” although it is not clear if that was Hsu or someone else, stopped Muhammad from speaking and told him he needed to read him his rights, which he did.
“The waiver in this case comports with the requirements of the Constitution because Defendant initiated his interrogation: he was given repeated and individualized advice of
rights, he repeatedly attempted to discuss his criminal conduct, his demeanor showed relief when he initiated his statement, and his affirmative waiver of rights indicated that
he still wanted to provide a statement to the police in this case despite having on previous occasion asserted his right to counsel.”
Guilty verdict and sentence
Trial began on July 23, 2018 and the jury found Muhammad guilty on July 27, 2018, of felony (first-degree) murder, armed robbery and shoplifting $250 or less.
Flores vacated the armed robbery charge because it was the predicate felony for felony murder. He was acquitted of tampering with evidence.
On Sept. 25, 2018, Flores sentenced him to life in prison, which is a term of 30 years, according to a remand order.
Supreme Court appeal
In an initial statement of issues filed Nov. 7, 2018, Martin raised four issues on appeal:
The denial of the suppression of Muhammad’s statements to Andrew Hsu
The judge’s denial of a self defense instruction to the jury
If the judge erred by allowing Det. Tasia Sullivan to be designated as the case agent, and attend the trial, despite not being the lead agent
If there was sufficient evidence to convict Muhammad
In the June 10, 2019 brief in chief, Assistant Appellate Defender Steven Forsberg, with the Law Office of the Public Defender, only challenged two issues: the judge not suppressing Muhammad’s statement to the police and the lack of a self-defense instruction.
However, both of those issues are related because the judge, Flores, used Muhammad’s statements as the basis for not giving a self-defense instruction, Forsberg wrote.
The 42-page brief outlines much of the testimony at trial.
In challenging the unsuppressed statement, Forsberg wrote that the Flores used the wrong legal standard to determine if it needed to be suppressed.
A Miranda rights waiver has to be both voluntary and knowing and intelligent, but Flores stated she believed police coercion was required to suppress the statement. However, that is only required to find if a statement was given voluntarily; a statement can still fail to meet the knowing and intelligent threshold in the absence of coercion, Forsberg wrote.
He wrote that Muhammad was “in the grips of severe mental illness” when he made the waiver.
The statement was also the only evidence Muhammad was the initial aggressor. When the defense argued for a self-defense instruction, the judge said she could not discount his statement to police. Forsberg wrote:
None of the eyewitnesses saw what caused Muhammad to flee from Mr. Sieben’s truck while Mr. Sieben chased him, but Ameer in his statement said he had held a knife to Mr. Sieben. None of the witnesses could provide a motive for those events, until Mr. Muhammad said during his statement, according to the detective, “that he wanted to get meth; to get high; to kill himself, and he made statements that he killed him because he did not want to continue to ask people for money.” [8 Tr. 23:24-25:15] Due to his mental state, Ameer’ s statements were not knowing (let alone reliable).
When the defense was arguing for a self-defense instruction, the trial court judge emphasized the importance of the statement: “I think the problem for me is you really want me to discount the Defendant’s statement, and I can’t” [8 Tr. 56:16-56:18] Ameer’s unknowing statement kneecapped any defense he might have had.
Forsberg wrote that the Supreme Court should either reverse his conviction and remand for a re-trial, with the statement suppressed, or remand the case to the District Court for a new hearing on the suppression issue.
Should the trial court, on remand, find the statement unknowing, then a new trial would be required. If, on the other hand, the trial court held that the statement was knowing and intelligent, then Mr. Muhammad could appeal that decision to this Court.
In the answer brief for the prosecution, filed June 20, 2019, Assistant Attorney General Maris Veidemaniswrote that, although Muhammad was experiencing delusions during the police interrogation, he was “coherent and articulate” and that the defense presented no information that Muhammad did not understand the Miranda warning.
If there had been an error, it wouldn’t have mattered because there was ample evidence to convict him of felony murder, predicated on armed robbery, Veidemanis wrote.
As to the self-defense instruction, Veidemanis wrote that really, the Flores’ decision was based on the lack of evidence that Muhammad had been attacked and pointed to State v Abeyta, which states that self defense must be reasonable in relation to the threat posed and that excessive force in self defense “renders the entire action unlawful.”
On July 10, 2019, Forsberg filed a reply brief and focused on Veidemanis’ emphasis on the voluntariness of Muhammad’s statement. He wrote that the trial court should be ordered to consider evidence of Muhammad’s mental state in determining if he knowingly and intelligently waived his rights.
He wrote that Veidemanis’ claims that the case could have stood without his statement was contradicted by the trial prosecutor, who fought the suppression motion and highlighted the statement during his closing arguments.
On Oct. 19, 2020, the New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously upheld Muhammad’s conviction for felony murder, rejecting the two arguments made by his defense attorney: Flores not suppressing Muhammad’s statement to the police and the lack of a self-defense instruction.
Supreme Court Justice Barbara Vigil, in her opinion for the court, wrote that no self-defense instruction was appropriate because there was no evidence that the Sieben, 30, ever had a weapon, even if he struck first.
Muhammad’s Miranda rights were not violated because, based on the recording of his interview, because his “mental illness did not affect his understanding of his rights but rather his motivation for not exercising those rights,” Vigil wrote.
