DA’s Office is in relentless pursuit of justice
It has been an honor serving as your Bernalillo County district attorney and we have made tremendous strides in just one year in office. At a time when government agencies throughout New Mexico are struggling to hire staff, we have hired 45 attorneys and 42 support staff, bringing the total number of employees to nearly 300 people. That means more cases are being prosecuted now than ever before.
In 2023, there were 111 felony trials — nearly double the number of felony trials from the prior year. We have a conviction rate of nearly 70% for felony trials, and more than an 80% conviction rate on misdemeanor cases. The entire staff at the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office has done amazing work this last year, and continues to do amazing work each and every day.
Crime levels in Bernalillo County are still at unacceptable levels, but if we continue to work together as a community, things will continue to get better and more importantly, safer.
Juvenile crime
Juveniles involved in gun crimes are skyrocketing. Starting now, before they can even think about a plea agreement, if a juvenile is charged with a serious crime involving a gun, that kid must tell us where they got the firearm, or no deal is on the table. Period. We continue to have a zero tolerance policy for juveniles who bring firearms to schools and will seek
an arrest warrant for anyone who breaks this law.
Shoplifting
Our office is now entering appearances in every misdemeanor shoplifting case. Police officers are no longer prosecuting these cases, we are. That’s right. Until now, cops were required to prosecute shoplifting cases. No longer. Our prosecutors are working with law enforcement to put together better cases against shoplifters to hold them accountable and to put those officers back on the streets, instead
of in a courtroom.
Diversion programs
The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office also has a program, Pre-Prosecution Diversion, which helps low-level, non-violent offenders to stay out of the criminal justice system. Participants are required to get counseling, pay restitution and get a job or education instead of going to jail. More than 200 people graduated from that program in 2023 and the program is on track to have nearly 500 participants by early this year.
Sexual Assault Kit Investigations
The SAKI Division, or in other words, a team within our office dedicated to sexual assault cold cases, has had immense success this year in indicting and prosecuting decades old cases. In 2023, this team indicted 16 defendants, had 12 guilty outcomes, three of which were convicted at trial, with other trials pending. The people that SAKI convicted were guilty of crimes ranging from kidnapping and sexual assault charges, dating back three decades.
Special Victims Unit (SVU)
This specialized unit of prosecutors hold perpetrators accountable for crimes including felony sexual assaults, rapes, crimes against children, and many others. This year alone, SVU resolved nearly 100 cases by taking 37 to trial and convicting over 60 other defendants. In comparison, only half of that amount of cases were resolved in 2022.
The work this unit does is impressive, to say the least. One prosecutor, for example, participated in 13 of the 37 of the trials this year, averaging more than one SVU trial a month. I had the honor of prosecuting two cases with this unit – defendant Danny Aldaz, who a jury convicted of two counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child under 13 and two counts of criminal sexual contact. Aldaz was sentenced to 57 years in prison. I also participated in the prosecution of Yarelis Cesepedes. A jury found Cesepedes guilty of 3 counts of sexual exploitation of children, and she faces up to 34 years in prison.
We will continue to be relentless in the pursuit of justice.
Commercial farmers in the USA claim higher prices for their vegetables, etc., due to a shortage of labor. Thousands of Spanishspeaking illegal immigrants enter the USA daily BEGGING FOR WORK. Meanwhile, members of Congress spend their time protecting their personal agendas, and nothing gets done. SL
The Jan. 6 GUN BUYBACK in ABQ was a total fiasco. Hundreds of cars being processed with only one every 5 to 6 minutes — a joke at a 6-hour event. More lanes were required. The NMSP should have known better based on past experience. Pathetic. SGN
After 30+ years I decided to use GUN BUYBACK. Arriving an hour early, then (after spending) three more hours, I left. The thing I got out of this fiasco was watching DPS, driving their pretty black vehicles. Back and forth, back and forth. Fix this or end it. JK
Thanks for the inspiring, MOVING STORY of La Cueva soccer star, now Portland State team member, Cameron Dixon and her mother Jaime Ellman (Jan. 7). Dixon’s brave sacrifice in helping her mother indicates the future is bright for the whole world with young people like Cameron Dixon in it. ML
Congratulations to Councilor DAN LEWIS on being elected ABQ City Council president. With the wisdom and experience he possesses, I am very pleased to see him in that role and hope someday soon he will be our mayor or governor. BV
I applaud Monday’s op-ed on the need to raise alcohol excise taxes. Now, if we could also raise taxes on highly SUGARED SOFT DRINKS, the state might apply the revenue to health care while cutting back on obesity. KH
Re: Jan. 10 article regarding jailed youths: do the crime, do the time. Accountability, responsibility and morals are missing in these criminals. Perhaps incarceration will be a lesson learned. It’s time CRIMINALS OF ALL AGES pay the price. What about the victims of their crimes? Incarceration is not a spa, period. CH
Wow, SAM BREGMAN has a brilliant idea, find out where the criminals are getting their guns and prosecute the sources. Maybe the sources will be diverse, but better attention there than on law-biding gun owners. Is MLG or any Democrat listening? Probably not. GT
Antoinette Sedillo Lopez rightfully rails against Trump and Jan 6. Yet, when the ABQ City Council votes to remove the Air Quality Control Board, she ignores the vote and pulls a TRUMP FOLLY herself, only to continue the meeting with an illegal board. Can’t have it both ways kid. GC
DEI at UNMH sounds a lot like reverse discrimination. Given the shortage of health professionals in NM, maybe the focus should be on improving outcomes rather than attempts at social engineering to meet artificial QUOTAS. SM
I find many SpeakUps questionable. They read more like POLITICAL RANTS using blame, insults, knee-jerk comments, comparisons and the like. If you don’t have a good reason to support your opinion, it’s probably not valid. If that’s “conservative voices” speaking, it’s not positive, convincing or persuasive. MY
Democrats caved and included a budget provision allowing $10 billion in funding cuts to the IRS in order to benefit WEALTHY TAX EVADERS. For every $1 the IRS spends auditing wealthy tax cheats, America sees $22 in return. Shame on Congress. WDS
The 14th Amendment says “engaged in insurrection,” not convicted of insurrection. No, THAT MAN should not be on the ballot. Do we get to pick and choose which laws we want to follow? CB
On Election Day 2024 Joe Biden will be 81 and Donald Trump will be 78. There isn’t much difference there. Please stop focusing on BIDEN’S AGE and instead look at the accomplishments of the last three years. This presidency has done us a lot of good. FW
CHANGE THE WORDS
Liberals love to to describe people. Homeless people are now called unhoused. According to the two liberal women in their letter to the editor Jan. 10 (“Democrats losing support over Israel”) protesters are now citizens of conscience. So, I guess the people at the Capitol on Jan. 6 were citizens of conscience. SW
Billionaire Warren Buffett believes that raising taxes on the wealthy would help cure our extreme WEALTH INEQUITY. “This country has the productive capacity to let people like me live extraordinarily well and still make sure that nobody is really left (behind).” Congress, are you listening? WS
There has been a letter and a column recently misstating that NUCLEAR POWER is emissions-free. Not true: this source on average produces 66g CO2-eq/kw-hr. Instead, put nuclear dollars into renewables and efficiency. Why would you want to build a central station power plant that produces nuclear waste forever? DD
Heather Reams and Grace Marie Stanke are pushing NUCLEAR energy (Journal, Jan. 7). I guess they don’t know about Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima, or the battle to stop New Mexico being a dumping ground for nuclear waste. DF
The article “Guess which energy source is proven, clean, and has zero carbon emissions?” (Jan. 7) mentions nuclear but ignores an important one: GEOTHERMAL. It’s used worldwide and in seven U.S. states. It does require higher initial investment than other sources but operational costs in the long run are basically zero. BS
Cal Thomas’ Jan. 5 column suggested Calvin Coolidge’s policies of limited government, reduced taxes and less regulation is a good lesson which should be emulated today. There are many who believe those policies helped create the excessive stock market speculation that resulted in the crash that triggered the GREAT DEPRESSION. RT
RJB in SpeakUp! Jan. 7: If you don’t like the programming on PBS don’t watch or politely ask your mom to change the channel after “Barney and Friends.” RRB
I enjoy NM PBS, including Passport for streaming foreign and domestic shows. RJB (Jan. 7) might enjoy watching the cooking, nature, travel shows as well as LAWRENCE WELK, “Firing Line with Margaret Hoover,” “NM in Focus,” “PBS Newshour,” and the pledge drive specials. Lots of viewpoints. Check it out once again. AB
People complaining about spending $4.4 billion on education, chiding the governor and teachers that we pay for failure: Until you can encourage parents to be responsible and accountable for their kids’ readiness to learn, nothing will change. It isn’t our schools.
IT’S THE PARENTS, their culture, and their habits. AH
Once again NM has record revenue due to oil and gas. Once again MLG proposes to grow government proportionally. NO TAX RELIEF for working New Mexicans. Probably never even crossed her mind. Thanks again for electing her NM. TT
Gov. Lujan Grishman has failed New Mexico, per US World News. Here are NM’s ranking in the following categories: Education 51st,
Child Care Services 50th, Economy 47th, Crime 2nd, Health Care 38th, Hit and Run 6th. Overall state ranking 47th. Is this OK? Time to IMPEACH our governor? DN
New Mexicans have not heard or seen much of MARTIN HEINRICH, our senior U.S. senator in the last five years. However, now that he is running for reelection in 2024, he is burning rubber crisscrossing N.M. bragging about what he and President Biden have done for the people. BL
Businesses shutting down because of high crime. Your Democrat governor and mayor shut down hundreds of businesses permanently during the SCAMDEMIC. Now their soft on crime policies are shutting down more. And they were both reelected. KP
Ironic that our governor did not choose to include testing for cannabis/THC in SCHOOL WASTE WATER as part of her “Public Health Order.” I’m betting pot is a root cause behind anxiety, violence, suicide, poor self-esteem, and lackluster academic performance in children, despite progressive narratives to the contrary. JR
Now Bill Richardson has been accused of SEX TRAFFICKING a young woman at Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico. And the Albuquerque Journal remains silent? JF
$300 million federal fund for PUBLIC ART GRANTS? This is not a federal issue. Let the states pay for their own art projects. No wonder our country is up to its eyeballs in debt. That money could be put to much better use. LM
I grew up in Hobbs, and I’m proud to say we knew it was proper to pronounce RUIDOSO with two “o”s. We pronounced it Rio-do-suh. DM