El Mitote de El Norte
APD Dukes it Out with DOJ
“Section 14141 makes it unlawful for government entities, such as the City of
Albuquerque and APD, to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers that deprives individuals of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States.” —DOJ According to news reports across the nation and the world, the APD’s re-introduction of the death penalty into New Mexico under a “shoot to kill policy” is unconstitutional. Apparently, the Government has rules when it comes to shooting the homeless and mentally challenged.
Grapplers: Not Killers
Up in Taos, the Police are less bloodthirsty than the APD. According to a report in The Taos News by ace reporter Andrew Oxford (Aug. 3, 2014), a cop reported, after a high-speed chase through the Horse Shoe, down into Pilar, and up and over Taos Junction Bridge ended near Carson, “I attempted to subdue Mr. Blair to the ground to handcuff him. Mr. Blair resisted and attacked, placing me on my back. Mr. Blair stated ‘if you want to grapple, I know Jujitsu.'” Blair reportedly held the patrolman to the ground with one hand behind his head, the officer’s report stated.
The patrolman wrote he calmed Blair down and the two talked, with the officer asking at one point why he did not stop during their chase. “Nothing like a high-speed pursuit,” Blair allegedly replied before getting off the officer and returning to his vehicle.
The cop, however, did not shoot the fugitive. Nor did state cop Taos Native Elias Montoya shoot the Van Woman but took careful aim, carefully aiming his weapon at the tire of the fleeing van, in an attempt to disable the vehicle not kill the occupants. Neither cop would qualify for the APD.
Taos DA
No doubt DA Donald and bull dog prosecutor DDA Chavez were outraged when Judge Paternoster quashed a grand jury indictment, due to the use of illegal subpoenas. Now the alleged Ma Barker Gang, accused of robbing the KCE Coop of its booty, has time to breathe and refocus when new charges are filed: think “poison fruit.”
If Detective Wentz knew about the conspirators then why didn’t he proffer a writ to a judge and ask for a court-ordered subpoena of the metadata records? They say Ma Barker herself passed a polygraph. What gives?
The practice of issuing DA ordered subpoenas (49 plus) but sequestering them in the court clerk’s “miscellaneous and administrative” file sounds like something practiced by the East German Stasi and NSA. Taosenos might consider forming a “task force for justice” in an attempt to rein in the outlaw DA.
When a DA acts as an investigator, as DDA Chavez did, according to Paternoster’s decision, then, according to civil rights attorneys, the DA loses “immunity” and can be subject, personally, to “civil rights lawsuits.” We hear a second DA operative has gone undercover to investigate the drug and drink trade in Raton, though the rumor is unconfirmed. Investigations” must be addictive.
Coop News
Though KCEC might turn out to be a winner in the Broadband business, as they are, generally, in the electricity distribution service, the trustees and CEO lost big time in the recent Town of Taos election, just as they continue to do so in Propane division. Batting 500.
Maybe the Coop can replace the E911-Dispatch operation, now rejected by Town and County, with bytes and bits from Broadband or as a place to store the legal files from fighting Tri-State.
Up at the Mora-San Miguel Electric Cooperative, the trustees fired CEO Alex Romero, a former KCEC exec, and removed the president of the trustees, Diego Quintana in a revolt of the trustees themselves. According to the Las Vegas Optic (Martin Salazar, reporter, Tuesday, April 1, 2014), “Diego Quintana and Alex Romero also allege that the other board members turned on them because they have been raising concerns about the amount of money being spent on travel expenses for board members.” No rubber stamps in Mora.
Back in 2006 at a PRC meeting, Mora-San Miguel CEO Jerome Lucero testified against Tri-State’s discriminatory practices in New Mexico. Then Mora-San Miguel Tri-State representative Diego Quintana, a trustee, made sure Mr. Lucero was summarily fired. Since that time, Mr. Lucero has become a renowned Coop activist in Taos while doing double duty by keeping an eye on Mora-San Miguel.
Taosenos have long memories.