Nehemiah Griego transferred to state custody
Motion was filed to stay at county MDC
Nehemiah Griego is headed to prison.
A judge on Thursday rejected Griego’s request to extend his stay at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center rather than transfer him to the custody of the state Department of Corrections. By 12:18 p.m., he had been transferred to DOC, according to an MDC spokeswoman.
In a motion filed last month, defense attorney Stephen Taylor asked that the court keep his client at the county jail as he awaits the outcome of his Supreme Court appeal, which has not yet been filed. He said MDC has managed to keep Griego safe and in counseling, but he worries that would not be the case if he is moved into custody of the Department of Corrections.
Griego received a life sentence in connection with the deaths of five members of his family.
And at a hearing on Thursday, Taylor said he doesn’t necessarily believe MDC is offering sufficient treatment, but he suggested that the court could order the county to do so. He said that his office is committed to doing whatever it takes to get Griego the services he needs at MDC and that moving him to DOC would likely unravel much of the progress he’s made in therapy in recent years.
When she sentenced Griego, state District Judge Alisa Hart wrote that she would prefer a “different alternative that would allow for continued treatment in a locked setting, if one existed.”
She reiterated that point in court Thursday as she denied Taylor’s motion, saying that she felt she was being asked to turn the county jail into a treatment facility.
“I would like to do something different,” she said, “but legally, I feel that my hands are tied.”
Taylor wrote in his motion that the case highlights the limitations in the legal system, and he said he plans to ask the Supreme Court to order the Legislature to address sentencing gaps in cases such as Griego’s.