Victim: It wasn’t ‘horseplay’
Rio Grande student takes adults to task
A Metro Court judge on Thursday ruled that battery and larceny charges against Rio Grande High wrestling star Nicholas Chavez can be dismissed in three months, while the victim in the case took politicians and other adults to task for their involvement on Chavez’s behalf.
“... when is it OK to call a robbery, an assault, a battery ‘horseplay’ and get a judge to block the school’s policies?” the victim wrote in a letter read into the court record by his attorney.
Judge Daniel Ramczyk ruled that the charges against Chavez will be dismissed, provided he is not charged with any new offenses in the next three months.
The judge also commended the victim, a 17-year-old junior, for submitting the letter, which criticized some adults for throwing out “everything they teach us about honor, integrity, character” when those principles “become inconvenient.”
The victim’s letter emphasizes that the incident between him and Chavez was not “horseplay,” which is how Chavez’s supporters have characterized it. It’s the first time he has made a public statement.
“I am absolutely blown away by the letter,” Ramczyk said. “I think there’s a lot of wisdom and there’s a lot of courage in that letter.”
Chavez, an 18-year-old senior, was charged and suspended from school in February, after he allegedly took $15 from the victim — another, much smaller, member of the wrestling team — then refused to give it back and slapped him across the face. The victim had planned to use the money to register for an Advanced Placement test.
The incident, which occurred in the school cafeteria, was witnessed by the sheriff’s deputy assigned to Rio Grande, and happened the day before the state wrestling tournament began. The issue became controversial after several local politicians made phone calls on Chavez’s behalf.
Albuquerque Publ ic Schools off icials kept Chavez’s suspension in place, but his family took the issue to court and received a temporary restraining order that allowed him to wrestle, despite the district’s objections. Chavez won his weight class, and Rio Grande shared the team title with Cleveland High School.
Through his attorney, the victim agreed to the judge’s decision, saying he is “still angry and hurt by what Nick did,” but doesn’t want anything bad to happen to Chavez.
Attorney Michael Hart read the letter from the teen, who could not be in court because he was taking an end-of-course exam. The student said he was tired of hearing the incident described as “horseplay.”
Chavez’s attorney, Glenn Smith Valdez, has repeatedly used the word “horseplay” to describe what happened. When asked about the victim’s letter on Thursday, he said “the letter speaks for itself” and declined to comment further.
Chavez made one comment in court, saying he was sorry he and the victim have not remained friends through the incident.
The victim’s statement emphasizes he is more upset about the community’s reaction than the incident itself.
“But what will be a lot harder to get over, and will be a lot harder to forget is how almost everyone else acted when Nick stole from me, hit me, and humiliated me in front of dozens of kids at school in the cafeteria and lounge,” he wrote. “I got phone calls and tweets from people I thought were my friends telling me I should lie about what happened, so Nick would be allowed to wrestle in the state tournament.”
The letter specifically questioned the action by adults who intervened on Chavez’s behalf.
“I am still wondering how politicians, and people who want us young people to respect them were so quickly willing to throw out everything they teach us about honor, integrity, character, and especially all this stuff they keep saying about how they oppose bullying — when all of those principles become inconvenient. When it might mean that an athlete with political connections will have to sit out an important wrestling match.”
In the hours after Chavez was suspended, County Commissioner Art De La Cruz called school board member Analee Maestas, who called APS Superintendent Winston Brooks. Both De La Cruz and Maestas said in February they believed the incident needed to be investigated further and that the district moved too quickly in suspending Chavez.
De La Cruz declined Thursday to comment on the victim’s statement.
Maestas said she never asked district officials to withdraw Chavez’s suspension and emphasized she has no connection to his family. She repeatedly said she was only interested in making sure Chavez had due process. APS procedure does not entitle students to a hearing when they have been shortterm suspended, only when they face long-term suspension. Chavez was suspended from school and activities for three days, which he ultimately served as an inschool suspension after the wrestling tournament.
In response to the victim’s frustration at the term “horseplay,” which Maestas used in February to describe what she had heard about the incident, she said it can be hard to tell when teenage boys are fighting versus playing.
“My grandson lived with me and he brought many of his friends to my house, and many times they were horseplaying and wrestling, and sometimes I thought they were really fighting,” Maestas said. “So if they were friends, and I understand they were friends, I couldn’t make that judgment, and I didn’t make that judgment.”
She also said she would have helped any constituents in Chavez’s situation, regardless of whether they were athletes.
The victim wrote in his letter that Rio Grande students feel Chavez got special treatment.
“There isn’t a kid at Rio Grande who believes that they would get the same attention and support from the politicians if they took advantage of a student half their size,” he wrote. “But I guess this is as important a lesson as any other I take away from this event.”
State Sen. Michael Padilla had also called Brooks about the case, although Padilla emphasized Thursday that he did not call on behalf of either student.
“All I asked the superintendent to do was to ensure that both children were treated fairly,” Padilla said, adding that he doesn’t know either of the families but had talked to Maestas about the issue. He said he follows up on all constituent concerns, and that “bullying is never appropriate in any instance.”
The teen’s letter also emphasizes he is glad Chavez was able to wrestle, saying he is “proud to be a Raven, and proud that Rio Grande was able to win the state championship.”
Ramczyk urged Chavez to reach out to the victim at some point and try to make the situation right.
“I think unless you do that, this incident, whatever it involved, is going to continue to haunt you for a long time,” Ramczyk said.