Failures in NM justice system set killers free

Justin Quintana and Nehemiah Griego have more than a little in common.

For starters, both are killers. And thanks to quirks in New Mexico’s legal system and various decisions by judges, prosecutors and bureaucrats, both are likely to be free men with little or no supervision and with what some contend is a likelihood to re-offend and put society at risk.

Legally, the cases are different, but both point to flaws in the system — and, to his credit, are being challenged by Attorney General Hector Balderas.

Quintana never faced justice after shooting his mother, State Police officer Susan Kuchma, in the head in December 2007. He was 25 at the time, found incompetent to stand trial and remanded to the state mental hospital in Las Vegas, N.M. Those who felt he would be there for life were wrong. Doctors at the hospital in August 2017 found Quintana was now competent to stand trial.

That set off a flurry of activity that resulted in a plea deal reached by District Attorney Mark D’Antonio and defense attorney Gary Mitchell, which found Quintana not guilty by reason of insanity but he would remain in the state mental hospital — with no time limit — until it was deemed he could be released safely. Judge Douglas Driggers accepted the deal.

It appears that just as in 2007 there was little chance of Quintana being released.

But the Department of Health balked and said it had no authority to hold Quintana under those circumstances.

The state hospital can keep individuals under a civil commitment for 30 days before having to get an evaluation and court-ordered extension, and the Supreme Court added a few days so the DA could seek an extension. It appears that process began but went nowhere and Quintana was released just over 30 days later. It is unclear whether DOH formally concluded it was safe to release Quintana, and it won’t say.

But we do know this. Instead of being treated to competence and standing trial, Quintana was released to a halfway house in Albuquerque on Sunday. He has a “treatment guardian” 220 miles away in Las Cruces who is supposed to make sure he takes his medication.

Case closed. No trial. No conviction. No real restrictions. No Justice.

“I can’t say without any certainty that an individual like this – able to pull the trigger and kill a State Police Officer, his own mother — won’t murder again,” said State Police Chief Pete Kassetas.

If knowing Quintana is out concerns you, the Griego case will do nothing to quell your anxiety.

Nehemiah Griego was just 15 when he murdered his parents and three siblings in the family’s South Valley home in 2013.

The cold-blooded killings shocked the state as sheriff’s deputies said he had planned the shootings for days. This was no out-of-control kid. He first shot his mother, Sarah, and 9-year-old brother, Zephaniah with a .22-caliber rifle around 1 a.m. Then he went into his younger sisters’ room and shot Jael, 5, and Angelina 2.

Not yet finished with his bloody work, he waited for his father, former Calvary assistant pastor Greg Griego, to return home from an overnight shift at a homeless shelter. He killed his father with a different rifle.

District Court Judge John Romero concluded the state failed to prove Griego could not be rehabilitated, meaning he remains jailed until he turns 21 — just a few weeks from now — unless the state Court of Appeals rules in favor of an appeal by Balderas that Romero’s ruling was in error.

The appeal of Judge Romero’s decision notwithstanding, Balderas argues persuasively that New Mexico needs a system of “blended” sentencing for juveniles convicted of violent crimes — one that would allow reassessment and continue supervision after the offender turns 21. As it stands now, Nehemiah will be set loose on society with no restrictions.

A sister, Vanessa Lightbourne, who wasn’t home when the murders occurred, said she still believes her brother is a danger to society and to her family. “He murdered five people,” she said. “For him to do that, I don’t think anybody can come back from that.”

Griego was charged with murder by the office of then-District Attorney Kari Brandenburg, who rejected a defense offer that would have allowed some kind of supervision or assessment after age 21, although the legality of that isn’t clear. Her rationale: Her office never expected a judge to find Griego amenable to treatment based on the evidence of his horrific crimes.

The two cases point to serious flaws in the system — including the fact that in a case like Griego’s, it’s the state’s burden to prove the defendant CANNOT be rehabilitated.

Balderas needs to take his advocacy a step farther. He needs to meet with other prosecutors and stakeholders and come up with proposed legislative fixes for cases like Quintana and Griego.

A justice system needs to protect the rights of everyone — not just the accused.