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Monday, January 23, 2023

The Crime Beat: Another Defeat Anticipated For Pretrial Detention Bill But Controversial Court Tool May Be Cut, Plus: More Pena: GOP Embarrassed After Electing Him To Post But Their Reaction To Alleged Crimes Seems Mild, Plus: Drug Money Used In His House Campaign?

Sen. Cervantes
The stunning shootings of homes of four elected officials allegedly engineered by failed GOP House candidate Solomon Pena doesn't seem to be moving the needle on that controversial pretrial detention bill that's back at the Roundhouse. It again appears headed for an early grave. 

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph Cervantes, who opposed the bill last year, has basically said as much. He's repeated his opposition, declaring that judges have the power they need to keep dangerous offenders in jail and that there is more to solving the ABQ crime problem than locking up people.

MLG has again made it a banner crime measure, highlighting it in her State of the State speech. This year's version--SB123--is again sponsored by ABQ Senator Linda Lopez--one of the four Dem elected officials whose homes were targeted with gunfire. But the bill has received a dreaded triple committee referral. That's as close as it gets  to guaranteeing a loss.

At last year's session "Rebuttal presumption against release," was knocked out early at the Senate health committee where it was tabled February 7. That may be close to the date of its demise this session as the health committee has again received the bill along with Senate Judiciary and Senate Finance.

The bill is simple enough and has the necessary populist appeal to win headlines. It basically states that criminal defendants charged with certain violent crimes like murder are presumed to be dangerous enough to be kept in jail after arrest and have to prove to a court otherwise. Current law requires prosecutors to make the case to the judge that the defendants are indeed dangerous and should stay behind bars.

Opponents, including the ACLU, say the pretrial system was created by voters in 2016, is largely working and detaining innocent people is expensive and would have a devastating impact on their lives. 

In theory rebuttal presumption is supposed to reduce the rate of violent crime but the Legislative Finance Committee reported last year that the bill would only nick the crime problem. To put a real dent in it they said ABQ and other crime-ridden areas need mores arrests, more prosecutions and more convictions. Then BernCo DA Raul Torrez--now AG--faulted the study but was not joined by any prominent legislators in his assessment, 

And good luck with more arrests and prosecutions as the BernCo DA's office and APD still complain of being short staffed. Some legislators believe looking more closely at the inner workings of law enforcement to assess their efficiency in light of continued budget increases is long overdue. 

Questioning police procedure and administration is tricky because opponents are quick to label anyone doing so anti-cop but they argue it's a tool in the box that has not been used. 

BROKEN TOOL?

Speaking of tools, the state's judiciary has experienced another round of ridicule over the Arnold Tool that assesses a defendant's danger to the community and tells a judge whether they should be jailed or released before trial. Guffaws broke out when the Tool recommended that the notorious Solomon Pena be released. Metro Court Judge Jill Martinez did use her power to keep him in jail and the case will now be heard in district court. Still. . . 

The Arnold Tool took account of Pena having no previous violent crime record. However, he did serve nearly seven years in prison for burglary. The Tool apparently did not analyze that Pena is charged with one of the most notorious and anti-democratic crimes involving violence the state has ever experienced.  

That led Sen. Cervantes to diss the Arnold Tool as nearly ludicrous and entertained the notion of eliminating it all together, saying:

The Arnold Tool is just like any other computer program and we all know the ‘garbage in, garbage out’ phrase. It would seem very clear the Tool is being used to make recommendations for a lot of individuals being released that shouldn’t be. Seventy-five percent (of those charged) with murder in Albuquerque in 2021 were recommended to be released. The Arnold Tool can also be used as an excuse for why certain individuals have been released and why they’re committing horrible murders while they’re on release. There is an argument being made that the Arnold Tool really serves very little purpose because all it does really is aggregate information that the judge would already have.

Senate Judiciary plans to discuss the Arnold Tool Wednesday morning with public input expected to be robust. 

ONION PEELING

Solomon Pena
The Pena case continues to unfold like the peeling of an onion. Now it's discovered that at a January 14 meeting Pena was elected as a ward chairman and a member of the NMGOP Central Committee for the Bernalillo County Republican Party. Party officials hid from the press when confronted but former state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones says the party is trying to undo the election but it's complicated. 

In addition, APD and the AG are now investigating whether Pena's campaign for the state House received drug money when he failed to unseat District 14 Rep. Miguel Garcia. 

Meantime, oilman and former NMGOP Chairman Harvey Yates, whose Jalapeno Corporation we noted last week gave $5,000 to Pena, says he met Pena two years ago at a GOP meeting. He described him as a:

 . . . Respectful, polite young man. I, at that time, had become aware that he had a criminal history but that he was trying to reform himself. I believe in redemption and helping a guy if he’s really trying to do that. So I donated to him, or the company donated to him. It also donated the same amount to probably 20 other candidates.

Yates added he was "extremely saddened" to hear of Pena's arrest. 

Redemption? Trying to reform himself?  That's treading very lightly, say the Yates critics, who wonder where the usual GOP tough on crime rhetoric is from him and other R's.

The state GOP said:

These recent accusations against Solomon Pena are serious, and he should be held accountable if the charges are validated in court. RPNM condemns all forms of violence. We are thankful that nobody was injured by his actions. If Pena is found guilty, he must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

That also sounds vanilla compared to the usual frothing the party reserves for violent criminals. 

A more fulsome response seems to be lacking because Trump still holds sway over much of the GOP grassroots that have been radicalized but whose numbers are still enough to intimidate establishment figures like Yates and GOP Chair Steve Pearce. 

Numerically the GOP is a mere appendage at the Roundhouse and Pena reminds everyone how a segment of the state's minority party has become dangerously radicalized. Being shy about boldly condemning the allegations doesn't help them dig out of their hole.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023