 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. House11/20/1997
Taos. The letter generally accuses former District Attorney Robert Schwartz and others of prosecuting Defendant with racist motives. The second item referred to by the court concerns an article from the Albuquerque Journal in which the current state senator from Taos, Carlos Cisneros, criticized then District Attorney Schwartz during a budget hearing for continuing to prosecute Defendant despite two hung juries in Taos.
{38} To the extent that both local leaders were critical of the prosecution, there was no showing in the record that their beliefs were widespread within the Taos community. In fact, the district court itself recognized that it could not determine whether the thoughts, comments, and criticisms contained in Francisco Gonzales's letter to the editor reflected similar or widespread thoughts and opinions held by other Taos County residents. However, the district court did believe that the thoughts and opinions of both local leaders would reinforce and solidify similar thoughts and opinions that may have been held by other Taos County residents. The district court also presumed that as local leaders Francisco Gonzales and Senator Cisneros were aware of, and speaking on behalf of, their Taos County constituency.
{39} Because Judge Blackmer was concerned about the effect of these comments within the Taos County community, he took note of his prior experiences presiding over trials and hearings in Taos County. Cf. People v. Rich, 212 N.W. 105, 106 (Mich. 1927) (trial Judge may rely on judicial knowledge acquired from first trial in determining to grant state's motion for change of venue following mistrial). Judge Blackmer reflected on his "FINE experiences with Taos county jury selections and juries," and he noted "that Taos area citizens/jurors are close-knit, know and socialize with each other well, exchange news and information and points of view openly and freely, and have a great deal of personal respect and consideration for each other and their opinions and points of view."
{40} While we can appreciate the district court's concern over the effect that publicity and local commentary about the case might have on the small, close-knit community of Taos County, Judge Blackmer's judicial experiences in Taos County seem to contradict his decision to change venue without attempting to select a jury first. The fact that Taos County citizens "have a great deal of personal respect and consideration for each other and their opinions and points of view" suggests that potential Taos County jurors would be well-suited and committed to serving as fair and impartial jurors who could competently assess the evidence presented in court. Indeed, Judge Blackmer's experiences with Taos County residents clash with the image of a community in which a fair and impartial jury could not be empaneled.
{41} We do not mean to imply that the district court's apprehensions about holding a third trial in Taos County are unimportant. However, nothing in the record supports the notion that the court, with the able assistance of counsel on both sides, would be unable to ferret out potential prejudice through the use of a thoughtful and probing jury selection process. See (commenting on how the district court and attorneys used extensive voir dire to combat potential prejudice caused by pretrial publicity, and noting that extensive voir dire was also available for use in the third trial). Before the district court took the unenviable step of declaring a community incapable of rendering a fair and impartial verdict, the court should have exhausted all legitimate means of securing a fair and impartial jury in Taos County. See John A. Burgess, Note, The Efficacy of a Change of Venue in Protectin
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 New Mexico DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|