Santa Fe police accused of ‘forum shopping’
Charges against obelisk protester to be refiled in municipal court
SANTA FE — The attorney defending a man arrested during an October demonstration that saw a monument in the center of Santa Fe’s historic Plaza toppled is accusing the Santa Fe Police Department of “forum shopping” by moving the case to municipal court.
Santa Fe Police dismissed the charges originally filed in magistrate court after getting an unfavorable ruling that prevented it from calling witnesses.
Deputy Chief Paul Joye said police will now refile the charges in municipal court against 24-year-old Sean Sunderland, who was originally arrested on charges of criminal trespass and resisting an officer during the Oct. 12 Indigenous Peoples Day event.
But Sunderland’s defense attorney, Kitren Fischer, said any refiled complaint would circumvent the magistrate court’s ruling prohibiting police from calling witnesses due to missed discovery deadlines.
“It’s blatant forum shopping and it’s prohibited by law,” Fischer said in an email to the Journal. “Parties who forum shop may be subject to sanctions and could be held in contempt of court.”
Joye said the refiling is being done in compliance with established rules in both municipal and magistrate court. He said the case is being refiled to allow for compliance with evidence production timelines and is not forum shopping.
City Attorney Erin McSherry said the city prosecutor will review the case for prosecution, as is done with all cases.
Sunderland was one of the first people arrested in the obelisk protest that saw the 33-foot “Soldiers’ Monument” torn down. The obelisk honored Union soldiers who fought in Civil War battles in New
Mexico, but many people viewed it as a symbol of oppression against Native Americans. An inscription on one side of the monument’s base once referred to “savage” Indians, though someone chiseled away the word in the 1970s.
Since his arrest, Sunderland’s case has been in the limelight due to missed deadlines and court hearings, and now two case dismissals.
His case was first dismissed Dec. 28 after prosecuting officer Jesse Campbell failed to appear at a court hearing. But Campbell hadn’t received notice of the hearing and the case was reinstated.
The judge subsequently ruled in favor of defense’s motion to exclude witness testimony, because Campbell didn’t follow court-ordered evidence deadlines. After that ruling, 1st Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said her office wouldn’t be pursuing the case because “there’s no case left.”
“SFPD did not like the ruling from magistrate court, so now SFPD wants to start over with a new judge in municipal court,” Fischer said.