Ex-Cop’s Trial Moved To Sandoval County
Attorney: Heavy Media Coverage Creates Bias
District Court Judge George P. Eichwald granted a motion on Wednesday to hold the trial of ex-Albuquerque police officer Levi Chavez in Sandoval County.
Eichwald granted the motion to change the venue from Valencia to Sandoval counties following a claim that Chavez could not receive a fair trial due to intense media coverage.
Chavez’s attorney, David C. Serna, filed the August motion that said Chavez would not get a fair trial since he claims a Los Lunas trial setting would “reach a fevered pitch” from publicity and media attention.
On Wednesday, Serna pointed to multiple stories from local media outlets that he said garnered almost 9,500 views on different websites as of three months ago.
According to Serna, one of those accounts was from an editorial that called Chavez “a rogue cop.”
“This is why it’s important to move this case out of Los Lunas,” Serna said. “… Nothing could be worse than allowing this trial to take place in Valencia County.”
Chavez is accused of killing his wife, Tera Chavez, with his department-issued service weapon in 2007 in their Las Maravillas home. Prosecutors claim Chavez tried to make the death look like a suicide.
The motion, which is 574 pages, lists stories from several media outlets, including the Journal and Valen-
cia County News-Bulletin, says “the inhabitants of (Valencia County) are prejudiced against the defendant due to public excitement” over the matter. The current media attention is “sufficient to show a reasonable apprehension” that defendant will not secure a fair and impartial trial.
Eichwald told attorneys that a questionnaire of potential jurors from Sandoval County must be completed by mid-March. He said the trial date would not be pushed back.
The trial date is scheduled for June 11.