Defense attorney who said his client was unlawfully indicted, spent unnecessary time in jail and was negatively impacted by a missing videotape  July 31, 2021 LAS CRUCES - A judge dismissed a case against a man accused of beating, robbing and attempting to sexually assault a massage parlor worker. The case was dismissed without prejudice, mean...

Years ago, an audit revealed more than 5,400 rape kits statewide were untested May 2, 2021 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.- Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller announced Friday that the city cleared it's decades-old rape kit backlog. Keller said the backlog was actually cleared in March 2020. "I remember it was during COVID when we sent the last one out," Keller said. ...

The changes were spurred by a scathing report released last year that outlined issues with the police department's evidence handling policies and procedures. March 3, 2021 Mar. 4—The Santa Fe Police Department has finished upgrading and replacing locks and keys in its evidence storage area and purchased a bar-coding system for evidence management, ...

Police seized 2,000 pounds of suspected marijuana, with an estimated street value of $2.8 million November 2, 2020 ARMINGTON Three weeks ago, Farmington police and San Juan County sheriff's deputies got a tip about a man moving a truckload of marijuana into a budget motel on the west side of town. When they began knocking on doors at the Travel Inn...

The Bartlesville police officer was packaging methamphetamine found during a Friday traffic stop when he became unresponsive. March 10, 2020 An Oklahoma police officer was administered a life-saving overdose drug after he was exposed to fentanyl last week, authorities said. The Bartlesville police officer was packaging methamphetamine found during ...

72 pieces of case evidence found in a former deputy's foreclosed house was a failure of leadership. AUGUST 1, 2020 LAS CRUCES — At a press conference Friday at the County Commission Chambers in Las Cruces, Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart said the 72 pieces of case evidence found in a former deputy's foreclosed house was a failure of leadership....

Lopez is alleged to have failed to turn in 72 pieces of evidence from the nine unsolved sex crimes involving adults and children that he investigated while serving as a deputy and detective from 2003 to 2014. August 1, 2020 LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- A former Doña Ana County Sheriff's deputy faces multiple felony charges after officials confirmed Fr...

  The sheriff says he was made aware of about $8,000 of cash missing from the evidence vault July 15,2020 NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A Roosevelt County deputy has been fired and charged amid allegations he stole evidence. The sheriff says he was made aware of about $8,000 of cash missing from the evidence vault back in January of 2019. The sheriff as...

He also allegedly stole a dozen firearms from the BIA Office of Justice Services in Nambé June 9, 2020 SANTA FE – Derek Nicholas Padilla had himself a busy month. According to online court records, Padilla has been charged in nine separate cases in Santa Fe magistrate and District Court since May 4 – mostly for vehicle theft, but also for breaking ...

Santa Fe violated state law by failing to produce records concerning missing evidence requested by a retired police officer. Enter Article DATE HERE State District Judge Bryan Biedscheid has determined the city of Santa Fe violated state law by failing to produce records concerning missing evidence requested by a retired police officer. Biedsc...

  The police department as a collective organization isn't responsible for jeopardizing yet another criminal case. Webber says the blame belongs to former Detective. May 16, 2020 We've heard two sides of a sad story, and almost no one is satisfied. Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber says a now-retired police detective lost the physical evidence that h...

Ytuarte said he clearly remembers turning in the sexual assault examination kit to the department's evidence room and he's "deeply offended" by attempts to pin the blame on him. May 14, 2020 Cute  Physical evidence collected during a sexual assault examination of a 4-year-old girl in a 2018 case has gone missing, Santa Fe police officials ackn...

Enter Headline here April 21, 2020 As the city of Santa Fe faces a potential $46 million budget shortfall, the extent to which it will impact the city's emergency services staff is yet to be fully known. Mayor Alan Webber announced employee furloughs Monday, at either four or 16 hours a week, but for now, public safety employees will see only a min...

The new positions will bring the number of evidence room employees to seven, which will allow the department to staff the room seven days a week, rather than only Monday through Friday. February 17, 2020 Equipment to revamp the Santa Fe Police Department's outdated evidence room is expected to cost about $467,000, and another $400,000 is needed to ...

Enter Headline here February 16, 2020 A youth advocate is facing charges in two cold case rapes in New Mexico and California after DNA testing was conducted last month on a backlogged rape kit from 1997. The rape kit was collected by Albuquerque police after a 17-year-old girl reported being raped by an acquaintance at a party in April 1997, accord...

City proposes software updates and recruitment in as first steps to solve evidence room problems February 1, 2020 The Santa Fe Police Department and the city manager have begun a series of corrective actions in response to problems in the department's evidence room. It is still unclear how many cases may have been impacted by the department's failu...

Issues with the evidence room came to light after the department discovered it lost evidence in the 2017 Selena Valencia murder case. January 11, 2020 The Santa Fe Police Department's evidence room is understaffed, its employees are undertrained, items are held in no logical order and at least one area is secured with only a $10 Master Lock, accord...

In December,  Capt Romero found $144 in crumpled cash while searching Hernandez's desk in his office; Romero was looking for drug paraphernalia that had gone missing in an unrelated case. January 14, 2020 CLOVIS, N.M. — A Clovis police detective has been charged with embezzling $166 from a man he arrested in June. Francisco Hernandez, 33, face...

Jennifer Burrill, vice president of the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, said a third-party audit is a step in the right direction for the department. January 4, 2020 More than six months after the Santa Fe Police Department told the District Attorney's Office it had lost evidence in a first-degree murder case, it's still unknown ho...

When a police department's evidence room needs to be audited because procedures weren't being followed, there ought to be hell to pay. Enter Article DATE HERE Here's the problem with the criminal justice system: What looks simple from the outside is never so cut and dried from within. That's what police, prosecutors and the judiciary tell (and...

Vialpando said there was a lack of consistency in keeping track of the chain of custody of certain evidence and that some pieces of evidence were labeled with the wrong case numbers. September 27, 2019 SANTA FE — A Santa Fe District Court judge on Friday denied a defense motion to dismiss a murder case, despite the Santa Fe Police Department losing...

Noriega wants the police department to be held accountable. September 26, 2019 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.- Friends and Family of a young woman who was murdered will be protesting Friday outside District Court in Santa Fe. The case against Selena Valencia suspected killer, Christopher Garcia, could be thrown out because the Santa Fe Police Department lost se...

Santa Fe police say an internal investigation is now underway to figure out how it got lost and re-evaluate evidence policies and procedures Enter Article DATE HERE SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – An investigation is underway after evidence in a Santa Fe murder investigation went missing. Christopher Garcia was arrested in 2017 for the murder of his g...

Santa Rosa Police lost 19 pounds of marijuana from its evidence room February 13, 2019 Santa Rosa Police lost 19 pounds of marijuana from its evidence room, according to the Cameron County District Attorney, and now Police Chief Ronnie Hernandez's job is on the line. Santa Rosa aldermen are holding a special meeting Thursday to review Hernandez's w...

The Eastern New Mexico News reports Parker announced this week an audit found the cash missing after an employee notified him. Enter Article DATE HERE ORTALES, N.M. — Roosevelt County Sheriff Malin Parker is asking New Mexico State Police for help in investigating missing cash from its evidence room. The Eastern New Mexico News reports Parker ...

The suspect also allegedly took methamphetamine that had been seized during an undercover operation by the FBI July 6, 2018  Select The juvenile female allegedly started receiving the messages following a June 15 traffic stop by Capehart during which he asked for personal information, including her date of birth, email address and phone number...

According to the criminal complaint, he stole drugs seized during arrests and gave them to women July 3, 2018 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico State Police officer Daniel Capehart, who worked patrol in the northwest part of the state, has been arrested and charged with distribution of methamphetamine and marijuana. Capehart made an initial court appe...

Police Department was damaged due to an electrical fire in the evidence room April 1. April 27, 2018 The Mountainair Police Department was damaged due to an electrical fire in the evidence room April 1. Since then the department has been operating out of the former town hall part of the building. The town is waiting for an asbestos test to come bac...

According to court documents filed this month, Hansen's defense team argues crucial evidence from the attack has been destroyed by the Albuquerque Police Department, February 26, 2018 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- He's accused of savagely beating a teenage girl within an inch of her life. The victim is still recovering from the attack. Justin Hansen was arr...

Based on that figure, New Mexico led the nation in untested kits per capita. Enter Article DATE HERE ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller says he plans to issue an order for investigators to clear the backlog of untested rape kits in the city's crime lab. Keller is expected to detail his plans for the order at a press conferen...

"We have 5,000 unique items back here," Enter Article DATE HERE Cute and Pas ALBUQUERQUE, N.M (KRQE) – The Albuquerque Police Department said it's looking for a new way to get stolen and lost items building up in their evidence lab, back to their owners. "We have 5,000 unique items back here," Officer Simon Drobik said. They're all checked-in ...

A former deputy with the Curry County Sheriff's Office was arrested Wednesday, accused of misappropriating drugs taken during a traffic stop June 28, 2017 CLOVIS - A former deputy with the Curry County Sheriff's Office was arrested Wednesday, accused of misappropriating drugs taken during a traffic stop and lying about it on sworn court documents. ...

Angell said that five videos made the night of the shooting by police officers – one from the body camera of Tanner Tixier, one from Daniel Brokaw, and three from Sonny Molina – had been edited prior to being uploaded to Evidence.com. May 12, 2017 A former police detective and on-body camera expert said in a sworn affidavit that video recordings po...

"Sometimes the evidence was never logged in, sometimes the evidence was found at an officer's home when we went looking for it." February 22, 2017 unland Park's city manager said a new audit may have uncovered "borderline corruption" inside the city's police department. The city had an outside firm do an audit on the department and just got got the...

A recent inventory of the evidence and property at the Tucumcari Police Department revealed that 17 firearms from nine criminal cases are unaccounted for, February 15, 2017 A recent inventory of the evidence and property at the Tucumcari Police Department revealed that 17 firearms from nine criminal cases are unaccounted for, according to City Mana...

​Santa Fe PD is ahead in processing rape kits—because they already cleaned out a freezer full of them -  December 16, 2016 The trouble started with a freezer, and the question of just what could be done to get rid of it and open up some space at the Santa Fe Police Department headquarters. Someone cracked the door, and found materials tied to ...

The issue of untested rape kits sitting in law enforcement agencies' evidence vaults has been a nationwide problem in recent years. In other states, the backlogs were created by officers' mishandling of cases and a lack of resources to keep up with the evidence testing process. December 6, 2016 ALBUQUERQUE — The State Auditor's Office says New Mexi...

The allegations said members of the department improperly erased, altered or corrupted footage from body cameras Nov 24, 2016 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque police are investigating allegations that members of the department improperly erased, altered or corrupted video footage taken by the lapel cameras worn by officers, top executives under Mayo...

The outgoing Bernalillo County district attorney, said Monday a federal "criminal investigation is absolutely warranted" into allegations that Albuquerque Police Department employees have tampered with videos that show police shootings. Enter Article DATE HERE November 22, 2016 Kari Brandenburg, the outgoing Bernalillo County district attorney...

Three officers' body camera videos that captured events surrounding the fatal shooting of 19-year-old suspected car thief Mary Hawkes in April 2014 were either altered or partially deleted, November 18, 2016 Albuquerque Police Department officials have altered and, in some cases, deleted videos that showed several controversial incidents, including...

According to confidential police sources, the Sergeant unknowingly recorded himself on duty last month. It shows him enter his private office at the police station, grab what appears to be marijuana, then drive to his girlfriend's house. August 27, 2016 GRANTS, N.M. (KRQE) – A police sergeant in New Mexico was arrested Wednesday, accused of stealin...

A New Mexico police sergeant accused of unwittingly recording himself on a lapel camera taking marijuana from his office and giving it to his girlfriend has been released from jail. August 28, 2016 GRANTS, N.M. — A New Mexico police sergeant accused of unwittingly recording himself on a lapel camera taking marijuana from his office and giving it to...

In the audit, Keller said, his staff found 80 different policies and procedures on sexual assault investigations in the state's 130 police agencies. August 19, 2016 he New Mexican ALBUQUERQUE — State Auditor Tim Keller on Thursday told a panel of lawmakers that officers' discretion and the lack of structured policies on sexual assault investigation...

Currently, there are more than 5,000 untested rape kits New Mexico. Rape kits contain evidence collected during investigations of sexual assault that helps determine if criminal charges are warranted. July 27, 2016 LAS CRUCES - A fundraiser to empower victims of sexual assault to become advocates, and to raise money to help pay for a backlog of unt...

The sexual assault task force's goal is to process the untested kits and ensure no future kits get backlogged. July 22, 2016 MISSOULA, Mont. - Over 10 bipartisan agencies from across the state gathered to figure out what to do with the over 1,400 untested sexual assault kits in Montana. Friday's meeting started with a tour of the state crime lab fa...

Silver City Daily Press, scdailypress.comBYLINE: Stewart McClintic, City, NMPotentially hundreds of convictions could be overturned after an audit of the Region VII Drug Task Force, based in Deming...

The Daily Times, daily-times.comBYLINE: Steve Garrison, , NM>(Photo: Courtesy of San Juan County Adult Detention Center)FARMINGTON — Ashley Goodvoyce, the 28-year-old former Farmington poli...

Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico)BYLINE: T.J. Wilham Journal Staff WriterAlbuquerque, NMFor six months, police have been trying to track down the owner of three urns and the remains they contain. Now they are hoping the public...

Alamogordo Daily NewsBy Duane Barbati, Staff WriterLink to Article Alamogorodo, NMA 34-year-old Alamogordo man is being held on a $60,000 bail bond for alleged burglary after Alamogorodo Department of Public Safety officers u...

Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico)BYLINE: Bruce Daniels, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.Las Cruces, NMDNA profile recently completed for suspect in June 1 attack on Las Cruces woman.Sep. 9--A criminal "John Doe" warrant was filed thi...