Martinez guilty of DWI
State senator faces up to a week in jail when sentenced; governor calls for his resignation
State Sen. Richard Martinez was found guilty Tuesday of aggravated drunken driving and reckless driving, and he now faces at least seven days in jail, the possible loss of his committee chairmanship and a call by the governor to resign from his legislative seat.
State District Judge Francis Mathew found Martinez guilty after a day and a half of testimony in a bench trial that came nearly six months after Martinez slammed his Mercedes SUV into a Jeep at an intersection in Española.
Johnny and Gerrie Sisneros, the victims occupying the Jeep, su≠ered multiple injuries.
“The state has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant operated a vehicle, and at the time the defendant was under the influence of intoxicating liquor,” Mathew said as gasps of approval were heard from the section of the gallery where the victims were sitting.
State prosecutors said the senator faces a mandatory five days of incarceration for the reckless driving charge and a minimum of 48 hours in jail for the aggravated drunken-driving charge. The court set sentencing for Jan. 7.
Martinez was nearly motionless as the verdict was read, moving his thumbs with his hands clasped. He declined to comment while walking to the elevator with his attorney after leaving the courtroom.
Following the verdict, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statement recalling her July remarks urging the senator to “reflect on his actions” and said given his “defense of himself,” she did not believe “any such
personal reckoning has taken place.”
“Given the judge’s unambiguous ruling this afternoon, I urge him to resign his seat,” Lujan Grisham said of Martinez. “There is no way to square the circle: Drunken driving is an intolerable scourge in our state, and our elected leaders must hold themselves to the highest possible standard of behavior.”
State Senate President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen and Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth also issued a statement recommending to the Senate Committees’ Committee that Martinez he not continue as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Now that the court has made its decision, the time has come for the New Mexico State Senate to take appropriate action,” Papen and Wirth said.
However, the senators said it was up to Martinez and voters in his district to decide whether he will continue to serve in the Senate.
Martinez, a Democrat who lives in Ojo Caliente, refused to submit to a breath-alcohol test after the crash, which occurred near the intersection of Paseo de Oñate and Fairview Lane.
That refusal prompted the aggravated DWI charge, though the state attorney general recently modified the criminal complaint against Martinez to include an alternative charge of aggravated DWI resulting in bodily injury.
After the verdict, attorney Una Campbell, who is representing the Sisneros family in civil matters, said her clients wanted to thank first responders and state prosecutors.
“It’s never pleasing to find somebody guilty of driving intoxicated, especially somebody that represents the people who voted him into office in New Mexico,” Campbell said, speaking on behalf of the Sisneros family. “But they are satisfied that there’s some measure of justice here in the criminal system.”
Final arguments
In their closing arguments, state prosecutors argued it was clear Martinez was intoxicated and drove recklessly, resulting in significant injuries to the Sisneroses.
On multiple occasions, they made reference to Martinez’s role as a senator, saying it was unacceptable that a person with such extensive experience with the law should refuse a breath test.
“No one is above the law, not even a senator,” Special Assistant Attorney General Mark Probasco said.
“A person of the defendant’s sophistication, career path, a person who has broad experience with the law and, importantly, a person who had been advised of the statutory mandate of his rights and of the potential consequences, refused to submit to chemical testing,” he added.
Probasco also often drew a contrast between Martinez and Johnny Sisneros, who abided by law that night yet sustained injuries that have impacted his career and family life.
The prosecution also pointed out that while Sisneros was concerned with the well-being of his wife after the crash, Martinez had “no concern for the occupants of that Jeep” and, according to Sisneros’ testimony, tried to cover his face from view.
In his closing arguments, Martinez’s attorney, David Foster, called police sobriety tests on his client “worthless” and attempted to discredit officers who responded to the crash — comments he also had voiced Monday and earlier Tuesday.
“This was an incomplete, haphazard, unscientific, unfounded, unwarranted arrest of Mr. Martinez not based on sufficient factors to indicate impairment,” Foster said.
Failed motions
The defense made a number of unsuccessful motions Tuesday.
Foster made a motion for a mistrial, arguing the prosecution had made a “highly inappropriate” remark in its final arguments about Martinez’s decision not to take the stand and testify on his own behalf.
In response, Probasco said the comment he had made was in reference to a police o∞cer’s body camera video from the scene, not to Martinez.
The judge denied the motion for a mistrial.
The defense also challenged whether there was legal sufficiency for the charges against Martinez, which the judge also denied.
“In reviewing the facts and the law that was cited for the purpose,” the judge said, “I find the state has provided sufficient evidence that would support conviction on both counts as charged.”
Additionally, Foster asked the court to sanction police officers for procedural errors he alleged they had made in gathering evidence and arresting Martinez. The judge rejected that motion, saying it was “based upon speculation.”
Sole witness for defense
During testimony Tuesday morning by Española police Sgt. Cody Martinez, Foster sought to discredit officers who were at the scene after the senator’s crash.
He suggested Officer Dustin Chavez had violated department policy in the way he had instructed the senator to perform sobriety tests, and Sgt. Martinez acknowledged this.
Foster asked whether the police department has taken disciplinary action against Chavez for not activating his body camera immediately when he arrived at the scene. Sgt. Martinez said it had not.
The attorney also asked the sergeant why he didn’t ask the senator over what period of time he had consumed alcoholic drinks.
After the prosecution rested, the defense called just one witness: Zackary Logson of the Española Fire Department.
Logson, who interacted with Sen. Martinez right after the crash, told Foster during questioning that the senator had said his head hurt. Logson also said he saw “some starring” on the windshield of Sen. Martinez’s Mercedes.
The defense used these comments to support its theory that the senator had hit his head on the windshield during the crash and that it was dizziness from this possible impact rather than intoxication that caused him to fail the sobriety tests.
However, Valerie Merl, the emergency room doctor who had examined Martinez at Presbyterian Española Hospital and who was called as a witness by the prosecution, said Monday she had documented that Martinez “did not have a headache.”