Sen. Martinez seeks jury trial in DWI case
AG’s Office says charges don’t fit requirements
SANTA FE — The defense attorney for embattled state Sen. Richard Martinez is asking that a jury decide whether the lawmaker should be convicted of drunken driving, but Attorney General Hector Balderas’ office says the request could lead to the trial date being postponed.
In addition, an Attorney General’s Office prosecutor said in a Tuesday court filing that criminal defendants in New Mexico can seek jury trials only if they face a potential sentence of more than six months in prison.
Martinez has been charged with aggravated DWI and reckless driving, both of which carry penalties of no more than 90 days.
“The defendant’s potential sentence does not entitle him to a jury trial,” Assistant Attorney General Peter Valencia wrote in his filing.
Martinez, D-Ojo Caliente, who has served in the Senate since 2001, was arrested June 28 after the SUV he was driving rear-ended another vehicle that was stopped at a red light in Española.
The veteran senator could not successfully perform sobriety tests after the crash, as shown on police lapel-cam video, and refused to take a breath test to determine blood alcohol content. He later pleaded with an Española police officer not to arrest him.
Meanwhile, Española city officials said Tuesday in response to a Journal records request that a blood sample was not drawn from Martinez.
Administrative Office of the District Attorneys Director Henry Valdez said that a search warrant is required to draw blood and that such search warrants can be obtained only for felony DWI cases.
Field sobriety tests, the odor of alcohol and an officer witnessing poor driving can be used as evidence if no physical evidence is gathered.
With the case set for a two-day trial starting Nov. 18, the Attorney General’s Office also recently modified its charges against Martinez, adding an alternative count of aggravated drunken driving that hinges on injuries suffered by the occupants of the car Martinez crashed into. The original aggravated DWI charge hinges on the senator’s refusal to submit to a breath test. The AG’s Office did not detail the nature of the injuries but included chiropractor records from the victims in its latest court filing.
“The Office of the Attorney General was required to amend its complaint after obtaining newly released medical evidence in the case,” AG’s Office spokesman Matt Baca told the Journal.
Martinez’s defense attorney, David Foster, has asked a state judge to dismiss the amended charge, arguing that the state’s top prosecutor is retaliating against Martinez’s decision to take the case to trial.
The drunken driving case is being handled by District Judge Francis Mathew, the eighth judge assigned to the case. The seven previous judges either recused themselves or were bumped off the case by Martinez’s defense attorney or the AG’s Office.
Martinez, a retired Rio Arriba County magistrate judge, has said he does not plan to resign from the Legislature, even if convicted, and intends to run for a new four-year term in 2020.