Santa Fe DA files bar complaint against judge

Action is because of his behavior as a prosecutor

SANTA FE — The Santa Fe District Attorney’s office is blaming a sitting judge and former prosecutor — District Court Judge Jason Lidyard — for having to offer a plea deal to the defendant in a pair of 2016 shootings that left one person dead and another seriously injured.

“In the pursuit of justice the District Attorney’s Office agreed to this plea due to the behavior of the former prosecutor on the case, Judge Lidyard, and pursuant to our ethical responsibilities and obligations, we have filed a bar complaint against Judge Lidyard (Monday),” James Hallinan, spokesman for the DA’s Office, said in a statement.

Hallinan wouldn’t say what Lidyard — who worked for the DA’s office before being appointed to his judgeship in April 2018 — is accused of doing wrong, citing confidentiality in state bar complaints. But Hallinan did say the complaint is about Lidyard’s actions as a prosecutor on an initial murder case against Caleb Calandro, 36, who’s from Missouri.

Calandro was sentenced Monday to a total of four years in prison as part of the plea deal. He pleaded no contest to aggravated battery for shooting Samuel Dillon as well as no contest to involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting 37-year-old Rustin Radcliffe. Both crimes happened within a 24-hour span in December 2016.

Current District Attorney Marco Serna took office 13 days after the shootings that Calandro was charged with and was Lidyard’s boss until Lidyard became a judge. Lidyard could not be reached for comment Monday.

Around 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 17, 2016, Calandro shot and killed Radcliffe and fled the scene. The next day, Calandro shot then-28year-old Dillon as Calandro, Dillon and two

other men were driving around Santa Fe in a van. Dillon survived the shooting but now has extensive medical problems.

In July 2018, Calandro was convicted of aggravated battery for pistol whipping Dillon after Dillon was shot. The jury was hung on another aggravated battery count for the shooting after Calandro’s lawyer, Tom Clark, argued that there was evidence that Dillon also had a gun and Calandro acted in self defense.

Calandro was initially charged with first-degree murder for the fatal shooting of Radcliffe. Judge T. Glenn Ellington dismissed that case after finding that former prosecutor John Rysanek — now also a judge, in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court — failed to properly instruct the grand jury that indicted Calandro. The case was refiled earlier this year, but Calandro this time was charged with second-degree murder.

After his pleas on Monday, Calandro will get credit for the time he’s served in custody since his December 2016 arrest. Clark said Calandro has about 14 months left to serve on the four-year sentence.

Dillon told Judge Ellington Monday that he used to be good friends with Calandro. Dillon was in a coma for several days following the shooting and now takes 32 pills a day just to digest his food. “He had a real friend,” Dillon said in court via phone. “He had a real brother, and he knows that deep down.”

Defense attorney Clark maintained that Calandro had also acted in self defense when he shot Radcliffe. “This man attempted to rob my client at knifepoint and got shot,” Clark said in court. Calandro did not address the court.