Judge won’t reconsider dismissal of Tai Chan case
Prosecutors did not determine ‘probable cause’ for the new charge, he says
SANTA FE — A judge has rejected a prosecution motion that he reconsider his dismissal of the latest case against Tai Chan, a former Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputy accused of fatally shooting a fellow deputy in Las Cruces after a night of drinking.
But District Court Judge Conrad Perea says in his order that the Las Cruces District Attorney’s Office has a “remedy” available — follow New Mexico’s court rules.
Perea wrote that the state can “proceed as it wishes, provided the Rules of Criminal procedure are followed, and notions of fairness and due process are recognized.”
Last week, Perea threw out a new voluntary manslaughter case against Chan that was filed as a criminal information on Oct. 2. Chan previously was tried twice for murder in the death of Deputy Jeremy Martin, 29, in 2014 at the Hotel Encanto in Las Cruces. Both trials ended in a hung jury.
The case was dismissed altogether earlier this year after Perea ruled that trying Chan for murder a third time would represent double jeopardy because of errors by a another judge. Last week, Perea dismissed the new voluntary manslaughter case against Chan.
The judge said prosecutors had failed to go to a grand jury or a preliminary court hearing to determine whether there was “probable cause” for bringing the new charge against Chan, and also cited part of the state’s Rules of Criminal Procedure that calls for a written statement from the district attorney “containing the essential facts” of a case when filing a charge via criminal information.
The DA’s office quickly filed a motion to reconsider. Perea denied that motion Monday, with a reminder that he had dismissed the voluntary manslaughter case “without prejudice,” meaning it can be refiled. The night Martin was killed, he and Chan were staying in Las Cruces on the way back from delivering a prisoner to Arizona. The two deputies argued and drank heavily at a bar, and then returned to their room at the Hotel Encanto. Martin died after being shot five times in the back and arm. Ten shots were fired from Chan’s duty weapon. But who shot the gun first and who was the aggressor were disputed at trial.