Pena Case Gets More Political As APD Chief Blasts Finding At His First Court Appearance, Plus: Pena And The Pretrial Detention Bill, Also: Bregman's Black Hat And Some Blog Bottom Lines

Pena in court

Solomon Pena has done the near impossible. He's made politicians look sympathetic--and he's the gift that keeps on giving to them. 

In an ABQ Metro Court appearance Wednesday it was revealed that the Arnold Tool--used to determine the danger a criminal defendant poses to the community--suggested that Pena could be released on his own recognizance while awaiting trial, even though he faces multiple charges for the shootings at the homes of elected Democratic officials. 

The Arnold tool said even with a past felony conviction for a smash and grab crime from 2007 and for which he served nearly seven years in prison, Pena could be released. That had APD Chief Harold Medina again pointing his finger at the criminal justice system over the area's high crime rate:

. . .Yet another example that shows why the criminal justice system is broken. Prosecutors will recommend that the suspect in these shootings be held in jail until trial. But a judicial assessment recommends the suspect should be released, even though he is a convicted felon who served time in prison for committing more than a dozen felonies. This suspect is alleged to have hired hitmen to shoot up elected officials’ houses with life-threatening gunfire. While I realize the judicial assessment is just one tool that judges can consider, I believe that tool is fatally flawed. How can we require judges to use this broken tool? We need to fix this process so the public will have faith that we are keeping the community safe from dangerous criminals.

Judge Jill Martinez told a subdued Pena that he will remain in jail without bond while the DA's office preps for a pre-trial detention hearing in district court. ABQ attorney Roberta Yurcic is representing Pena. The next court hearing is scheduled for February 1. 

Chief Medina and many elected officials, including the Governor, are again asking the Legislature for a rebuttable presumption bill for violent offenses that carries an automatic presumption that the person charged is too dangerous for pretrial release. 

At the '22 session that bill was blocked in a senate committee. The Governor pushed it again in her opening address to lawmakers this week but opponents have issues with the constitutionality of the measure and it could be headed for another dead end. 

Or does the Solomon Pena case and another year of record murders in ABQ give it some steam?

MEDINA PUSHBACK

On Chief Medina's continued attacks on the criminal justice system, his critics retort that it is his failed policies--a lack of officers, a lack of intensity in street patrols and a lack of arrests for gun crimes--that is a major cause of the crime wave. 

They also fault the city of ABQ's request from the Legislature for millions in overtime pay for the police to pursue 5,000 outstanding felony warrants and 60,000 for misdemeanors in BernCo, calling it yet another scheme to pad overtime pay for APD and one that would have no impact on serious crime. 

Excessive police overtime has been a sore spot at APD for decades and the cases of abuse have continued under Medina. Attorney General Balderas failed to prosecute one of the more astonishing cases. Attorney General Torrez has yet to be heard from on the subject. 

PENA'S PLACE

Pena has a checkered employment past with nothing substantial. He lists his last job as a sales rep with a roofing company. But he did take out a $165,000 mortgage in December 2019 to purchase a 1,726 square condominium at Alcalde Place, the high rise located across from KOB and KRQE TV stations where he was arrested this week. 

The picture posted is the inside of his condo when it was on display for sale and before he bought it.  

NBC News reports that the Alcalde homeowners association forced him to remove an anti-Biden flag that included a profanity.

Jose Trujillo, who was arrested in connection with the shooting of the home of Sen. Linda Lopez, was also arrested for possessing 800 fentanyl pills. The vehicle he was in was a Nissan Maxima registered to Pena but the registration had expired. 

Here is a copy of the Pena mortgage.

THE JUDGE

Judge Jill Martinez, who presided over the nationally watched first court appearance of Pena, was elected to the bench in 2014, winning 50.8 percent of the vote over Republican John Duran. She was retained by voters in the retention elections of of 2018 and 2022. Martinez is a former prosecutor with the BernCo DA's office, as well as a former defense attorney. She is a 2004 University of Idaho Law School graduate.

THE BLACK HAT

DA Bregman

Surprise! Newly appointed BernCo District Attorney Sam Bregman says he will personally prosecute the Pena case. That is, if there is a trial and not a plea bargain. 

Bregman, a renowned trial lawyer, said when he took the two year appointment from the Governor that he would do what other DA's rarely do and prosecute cases. No surprise. His love for publicity is equal to his love for the law. 

Bregman has now taken to wearing a black cowboy hat in his public appearances and we fear that our little 'ol blog may be partly to blame. After all, we reminded everyone that back in the day when Bregman ran for state land commissioner he sported a black cowboy hat in his TV commercials.

Now the hat is back, but it's incongruous. Bernalillo County is not Lincoln County where real cowboys live. It is the state's urban center where the suit and tie uniform for prosecutors is still the standard. It is usually tough on crime Republican sheriffs seen sporting the black hat or Cowboys for Trump rabble rousers like Couy Griffin. But a Democratic DA in BernCo?

If the DA insists on wearing his hat real cowboys tell us he needs to start taking it off when he is inside public buildings like the courthouse and the Roundhouse. "Cowboys are gentlemen. We remove our hats when inside," opined one. 

A good tip for all the urban cowboys out there (including DA Sam). And finally, could the DA at least wear a white hat when he goes after Pena? He is the good guy, right? 

THE BOTTOM LINES

Joe Monahan

We quoted outgoing NM House Speaker Brian Egolf as saying no Dem House incumbent lost re-electioon last November. Actually, Rep. Candy Sweetser lost her seat in Deming to Republican Jennifer Jones. However, Egolf's point was that the 45 to 25 Democratic majority before the election stayed exactly the same after. 

Former Speaker Ben Ray Lujan? That eyebrow raiser hit the blog early Wednesday when we quoted a Senior Alligator but the mistake was ours. We've become accustomed to writing about Ben Lujan's son, Senator Ben Ray Lujan. But make no mistake, when it comes to the former speaker it is Ben Lujan--and he was one of a kind. . . 

We found a job for Mark Ronchetti. . . 

KRQE News 13 is looking for a Weekend Meteorologist. The Meteorologist forecast weather conditions and produces and anchors weather reports for all platforms in a manner that is clear, engaging and meaningful to news consumers. This position requires working every weekend. 

Weekends? That's the best we could do, Mark, but it's something. 

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023