The man who killed my aunt shouldn’t get off scot free
Iread the unfortunate news about the murder case against Robert Mondrian-Powell being dismissed last Friday after a violation of his constitutional speedy trial rights. It was not clear to me exactly why his trial was delayed. Was it because the case was too complex? Was it a result of personnel changes in the Santa Fe District Attorney’s office? Was it a toxic relationship between the prosecution and the defense?
I have been following this case from afar, in San Jose, Calif. I feel I should disclose my biases. First of all, the victim, Elvira Segura, is my aunt. She was also a loving human being who left behind two talented, grieving sons. Second, I am a criminal defense attorney, having worked over 20 years representing indigent defendants in Santa Clara County, Calif. In other words, I am somewhat conflicted.
In my own mind, I cannot help but congratulate the Public Defender in this matter, who, from what little I have seen from afar, mounted a spirited and aggressive defense on behalf of her client, Mr. MondrianPowell, which resulted in his release.
But I am hopeful that the District Attorney will not give up.
Let me back up. For years, I have worked with prosecutors in Santa Clara County, Calif. Over the years, I have seen many prosecutors push ethical boundaries to the limit. But it was always out of ruthless zeal for community safety and in support of crime victims. I have seen them advocate forcefully for victims who had nobody to speak for them, e.g. the homeless, the mentally ill and the disadvantaged.
Based on this grudging respect I have for so many of the prosecutors here in my own jurisdiction, I was very relieved over a year ago when I learned that a suspect, Mr. MondrianPowell, had been arrested and had confessed to the murder of my aunt in every detail. I knew that the Public Defender would file multiple motions to dismiss, expecting that they would be denied. Then, I had every expectation that the case would either go to trial quickly, or would resolve for second-degree murder or manslaughter. After all, the prosecution had a confession, right?
Why wasn’t this case tried within a reasonable time frame? Mr. Mondrian-Powell confessed to smashing Ms. Segura’s head into the ground, causing her to bleed, and then shooting her in the neck. You have a dead body and you have a confession. You call as a witness the police officer who first entered the house and found a dead, decomposed body. Then you call as a witness the officer who took Mr. MondrianPowell’s confession, and you play the tape. Bingo, you’re done. Am I missing something? Is there some subtle nuance of New Mexico law that precludes this simple strategy?
Even if the jury buys into the theory that maybe she died of a heart attack, or a drug overdose, isn’t shooting a woman in the neck still attempted murder?
I am a true believer in rehabilitation. I did not want Mr. Mondrian-Powell to spend the rest of his life in prison. I thought that he would spend some time in prison, perhaps double digits, with some small window of hope for being granted parole after he had aged to the point where he would be little or no threat to anyone. Even though my aunt was a loving and generous human being who did not deserve to die, I did not want Mr. Mondrian-Powell to be without hope or redemption.
But I certainly did not want the man who murdered my aunt to get off scot free. Patrick Hoops of San Jose, Calif., is the nephew of retired Santa Fe librarian Elvira Segura, who police say was shot to death in her Nambé home in the fall of 2016. A judge recently dismissed a murder charge in Segura’s death against defendant Robert Mondrian-Powell on grounds that delays in the case attributed to turnover in the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office had violated Mondrian-Powell’s right to a speedy trial. The trial was scheduled to take place in August, 22 months after Mondrian-Powell was arrested. He had been in jail since his arrest and was released last weekend.