DA wrong, victim interviews get truth
Move to eliminate pretrial interviews will put innocent people behind bars
Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez has got it all wrong on pre-trial interviews of victims of crimes. Pretrial victim interviews are an essential civil right of the accused.
Ascertaining the truth is the most important job in criminal justice. Convicting an innocent person is the greatest tragedy in criminal justice. Interviewing all witnesses to a crime is perhaps one of the most important ways to ascertain justice and truth. Torrez’s proposal to eliminate pretrial interviews will result in a more over-burdened and chaotic criminal justice system and innocent people will be wrongfully convicted.
Case in point: The Office of the District Attorney charged Kalani Hodges, a 16-year-old teen, with the attempted murder of another teen, Vicente Sanchez. The Albuquerque Police Department made several public statements, calling Hodges a “stonecold killer” — Simon Drobik, June 30, KRQE. Yet at the pretrial “victim” interview I learned that Sanchez actually was the aggressor, Hodges was the victim. At my pretrial interview, Sanchez admitted he met Hodges to rob him. Sanchez admitted he pulled a gun on Hodges and put it to his head. Sanchez was about to shoot Hodges when another man shot Sanchez. None of this would have been learned without the pretrial interview. Lesson learned: the District Attorney’s “victim” is not always the victim!
Also at the pretrial interview “victim” Vicente Sanchez stated he never saw Hodges with a gun, he had no reason to think Hodges had a gun. Yet, the District Attorney not only charged Hodges with attempted murder, but also with minor in possession of a firearm. One may argue that Sanchez simply “changed his story.” But independent witnesses support the version of events that incriminate Sanchez and exonerate Hodges. The police failed to interview these witnesses, but they were interviewed by myself and the lawyers in pretrial interviews. One witness during a pretrial interview saw Sanchez hand his gun to a friend, who hid it.
It’s very sad for all involved, but that’s what happened, the truth came to light as a result of a “victim” pretrial interview. None of this would have been learned under DA Torrez’s proposal to eliminate victim pretrial interviews.
As a former police officer, retired federal agent and now private investigator for attorneys in criminal cases, I know for a fact that victim pretrial interviews are an essential element in finding the truth. I know, first hand, from both sides of the system that victim interviews exonerate the innocent and confirm evidence against the guilty. This saves our overburdened courts considerable time and money. Trials are expensive. A pretrial interview can facilitate a guilty plea. Torrez has got it all wrong, the evidence should be vetted in pretrial interviews long before the criminal trial begins.
I see examples like this every day. I have many personal experiences of the need for victim pretrial interviews. I have a loved one who was accused of a serious crime that could have resulted in a life sentence, but due in part to the pretrial interviews, the truth was revealed and he was exonerated. There are many examples of how victim pretrial interviews resolve cases long before trial. Victim interviews can also facilitate a guilty plea, thus saving a victim of a violent crime the anguish of trial testimony. I’ve witnessed this first hand when a pretrial interview results in the undeniable fact that a defendant is guilty.
DA Torrez, don’t further erode our civil rights, don’t take away the most important tool we have to ascertain the truth and justice for all.