Assistant Attorney General Maria Sanchez-Gagne, left, and America's Most Wanted host John Walsh during filming of a 2-hour special to be aired Friday on the Lifetime network. (Photo courtesy nmag.gov/photoalbums)

The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office will be featured on a special two-hour America’s Most Wanted episode Friday night on the Lifetime network.

Here is a brief description of the episode, or at least the AGO’s part in it, as sent out in an email this morning by the AGO’s Deputy Director of Communications Lynn Southard:

A special two-hour program, hosted by John Walsh will feature the AGO’s work to combat human trafficking is part of AMW’s in-depth look into the sex trade, which often involves victims of human trafficking

SFPD Deputy Chief Gillian Alessio, left, and Lt. Louis Carlos. (Photo courtesy Twitter account of @sfpd_pio)

Santa Fe Police Department Deputy Chief Gillian Alessio has announced her retirement. Here last day with SFPD will be Friday.

Taking her spot as one of two Deputy Chiefs under Police Chief Ray Rael will be Capt. John Schaerfl. The other Deputy Chief remains William Johnson.

I’m not sure if there will be a promotion to fill the Captain rank Schaerfl will be vacating.

Jerome Block Jr. on Feb. 20, 2012. (Courtesy Santa Fe County jail)

Former Public Regulation Commissioner Jerome Block Jr. has completed his participation in a diagnostic evaluation at a state prison facility in Los Lunas and was transported back to the Santa Fe County jail on Monday.

The Department of Corrections will now complete the paperwork on the court-ordered evaluation before a final sentencing date will be set for Block, who faces up to 4 1/2 years in prison for felony convictions including charges of embezzling public funds, violating state campaign code, conspiracy and fraudulent use of a state issued gas card.

His defense attorney, John Day, said Wednesday he has not been informed of any final sentencing date being set.

Block, who has admitted to a prescription pain pill addiction, was kicked out of the Adult Drug Court program late last year, a program he was allowed to attend while his sentencing was delayed as a part of a plea agreement with the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office. Multiple violations of the program landed him twice in jail and a third time he was both jailed and kicked out of the program.

“Your activities in Drug Court showed you still don’t understand the seriousness of your addiction,” State District Judge Michael Vigil told Block at a January court hearing. “You haven’t hit bottom yet.”

Vigil, instead of imposing a sentence at a January, said he wanted to know why Block continued to violate, adding “maybe we’re missing something.” So he ordered a 60-day diagnostic evaluation that required Block to serve less than a month in a prison facility in Los Lunas.

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King has said his office wants Block to serve the maximum 4 1/2 year sentence allowed by the plea agreement.

And as a side note, as I am sure this will come up from some readers, the term “60-day diagnostic” doesn’t mean the defendant undergoing the evaluation actually serves the full 60 days in a prison facility. Once the evaluators are done with the in person evaluations, the defendant can be transported back home or back to the county jail where he awaits sentencing while the DOC completes the reports.

Here are some links:

• Link to this blog’s Block archive list
• Block Jr. heads to prison for 60-day evaluation
• Attorney General to seek maximum penalty for Block Jr.
• Source: Jerome Block Jr. jailed after failing drug test
• Block Jr. pleads to three felonies

Alfred Lovato, the former state police sergeant riding in Carlos Fierro's passenger seat when he struck and killed a man in 2008, was found not guilty on Tuesday. (File photo by Jane Phillips/The New Mexican)

Here is the emailed statement sent out Tuesday afternoon by New Mexico Attorney General Gary King after former state police officer Alfred Lovato was found not guilty of leaving the scene of a 2008 crash that killed a pedestrian (he had his vehicular homicide charge tossed out Monday before the jury was allowed to deliberate the charge):

(SANTA FE)—In response to the acquittal of Alfred Lovato on vehicular homicide charges, Attorney General Gary King had this to say, “Our perspective on what happened is straightforward—two adult men decided they were going to get stinking drunk together; both decided they should drive despite being severely impaired; then they stopped to get snacks together; and both were in the car when they struck and killed a pedestrian. We are disappointed that the judge did not let the jury deliberate on our evidence because we believe they would have agreed with us that both men are responsible for William Tenorio’s death that tragic evening in Santa Fe.”

Nonetheless, Attorney General King says his office respectfully accepts the ruling of the court but he vows to continue to try to keep drunk drivers off our roads. He strongly believes that people need to be held accountable for their actions involving DWI.

“It is never a waste of time and resources to try to get justice for a man who was run over and killed by a couple of drunks,” said AG King.

As for Lovato’s being found not guilty today on the felony offense of leaving the scene of an accident, AG King says he is disappointed.

Here is a link to the story posted online moments after the verdict:

• Jury finds former state cop Alfred Lovato not guilty

Carlos Fierro, serving a prison sentence for vehicular homicide, testifies Monday in court at the vehicular homicide trial of his passenger, Alfred Lovato. (Jane Phillips/The New Mexican)

State District Judge Michael Vigil on Monday afternoon tossed (again) the vehicular homicide case against Alfred Lovato, a former state cop who was a passenger in a car that struck and killed pedestrian William Tenorio in 2008.

Vigil, some may remember, tossed this case before saying there was no legal grounds to charge the passenger with the same charge as former attorney Carlos Fierro was charged with (Fierro was convicted of vehicular homicide in a jury trial in 2009 and is currently serving a prison sentence in Los Lunas).

The Court of Appeals, basically, sent the case back to Vigil’s court saying a passenger could, in fact, be charged with vehicular homicide under certain circumstances. That’s a pretty huge ruling and one that Assistant District Attorney Donna Bevacqua-Young felt was worthy of using this case as a good test run for.

The problem is I talked to a dozen or so people familiar with the case over the past month or so and didn’t hear one — not one — other than Bevacqua-Young think this case was even remotely close to the proper test case for charging a passenger with vehicular homicide.

The back and forth grandstanding and showboating between her and defense attorney Sam Bregman over the past several months has been entertaining, but I’m afraid it’s been at the expense of taxpayers as it seemed apparent to most this case didn’t have the legal legs to stand on as charged. Obviously the AGs Office disagreed.

Monday, after the state rested its case, Bregman asked the judge for a directed verdict and Vigil agreed there is no reason to ask the jury to even consider the vehicular homicide charge as there was not nearly enough evidence in his mind to even waste their time with such deliberations. It is a legal tactic often asked for at trial for by defense attorneys after the state rests its case, but one I don’t see a judge go with often, instead usually letting the jurors hearing the evidence make  the decision on guilt.

Lovato still must stand trial for another day (the case will wrap up on Tuesday Bregman says) as he still faces a fourth-degree felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident (up to 18 months in prison).

Here are some past stories in the Lovato case:

• (Monday) Judge dismisses vehicular homicide charge against former state cop
• (May 2011) Court rejects ex-cop’s appeal in vehicular homicide trial
• (March 2011) Ex-state cop faces reinstated criminal charges
• (December 2009) Lovato pleads not guilty in pedestrian death

Courtesy image (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Obviously this doesn’t fall under the “Crime” category that is the main theme of this blog, but there is a pretty steady following of readers here and I absolutely wanted to share this info with all of you as this one really hit home for several reasons, even if I didn’t know Isaac personally.

Isaac Jaramillo was 33 when he died of a heart attack on Jan. 26. Yes, 33. The day after his death, his daughter, Aubrey, was born. He also has a son, Jordan.

Not only was Isaac a close friend of some dear friends of mine from many years ago, he worked at a local bank where my mom has worked for many, many years, First National Bank of Santa Fe.She says he was a great young man and everyone loved working with him.

Some friends of Isaac and former softball teammates of his have put together a memorial softball tournament with 100 percent of the proceeds after expenses going to a memorial fund set up for his family and medical expenses. You can also donate to a memorial fund set up in his name at First National Bank of Santa Fe.

The Isaac Memorial Softball Tournament will be April 28-29 at the Santa Fe MRC. The cost is $215 per team and must be paid online prior to the tournament.

Here are two links: One to the basic info of the tournament (EVENT INFORMATION) and this link takes you to the registration page for USSSA tournaments in New Mexico. If you scroll down and find the Isaac Jaramillo Memorial Tournament on 4/28 (its sorted by date), you can click on the link at the far left “$215″ if you’re ready to sign your team up and pay. You softball junkies already have a good idea how to do all this.

If you have questions about the tournament, please contact Edwin Quintana at (505) 670-4266.

Or if you’d prefer, email me at ggrammer@sfnewmexican.com and I can forward along questions or concerns to Edwin, although I am not affiliated directly with the softball tournament in any way.

Here is a link to Isaac’s obituary from last month in The New Mexican:

• Isaac Maurice Jaramillo (OBIT)

As the new Digital News Editor at The New Mexican (I am no longer the full time crime/courts reporter), I can tell you that Isaac’s obituary for about a week in late January and early February was one of the top handful of stories on our entire website in terms of pave views, even with a legislative session going on and some very well-trafficked crime stories.

He was very well liked in this community and he will be missed.

John Paul Chavez, top in 2011 with defense attorney Val Whitley, and below in 2003 with defense attorney Hugh Dangler. (The New Mexican file photos)

KRQE-TV’s investigative arm, the On Special Assignment team, has a scathing story on the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office (Rio Arriba, Santa Fe and Los Alamos counties) and their handling of DWI cases.

Producer Jason Auslander, the former crime reporter at The New Mexican, takes a look at so many of the DWI cases in the past year or so that have slipped through the cracks in the district.

The most notable of the “poster boys” of the DWI problem that highlight the KRQE piece is the case of John Paul Chavez, who has about a dozen DWI arrests through the years and I broke the story about his latest DWI arrest in December 2010 and of his getting that case dismissed last summer because of prosecutor error.

Chavez is the man who in 2002 slammed into Elly Cote near the Santa Fe Plaza, leaving her in a coma and forever changing her life and that of her husband, Michael Cote. I covered the case in 2002 when I was first at The New Mexican and was sincerely hurt when I had tracked them down last year and told them first that Chavez, who did a long stint in prison for that crash, was not only out of prison, but had been charged again with DWI and then later had that case dismissed for an error of the DA’s Office.

The KRQE piece from Wednesday is an interesting and frustrating read that also touches on the struggle and finger pointing between the DAs office and the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office. Here are the first five graphs of the text version of KRQE’s story (CLICK HERE to read the entire piece and/or watch the video of what they broadcast on air) that give you a pretty good idea of the tone of the piece:

Call them the poster boys for New Mexico’s drinking and driving problem.

Rodney Mascarenas, 55, and Frank Anchondo, 53, have each been arrested 11 times for DWI, according to court documents and other records.

Police have arrested Anthony Rodriguez, 44, eight times for drunken driving. And Kevin Kelly, 52, has been caught seven times.

That’s a total of 37 arrests in the last quarter century for just those four men

But a love of alcohol and automobiles isn’t the only thing that binds these men together. They’ve also benefited from the incompetence of the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office.

Here are some related links on this topic:

• KRQE: DA-cop chaos lucky for chronic DWIs
• New Mexican (August 2011): Error frees repeat DWI offender
• SantaFeCrime.com (August 2011): Notorious DWI offender off the hook due to prosecutor’s error (w/ list of his 30 years of DWI cases)
• New Mexican (December 2010): 8 years after tourists hit and dragged, another DWI arrest for driver

One of Santa Fe Police Department's two speed enforcement SUVs. (Luis Sanchez Saturno/The New Mexican file photo)

Got a lead foot on Valentine’s Day?

Slow down or one of the city’s sneaky Photo Enforcement speed-monitoring SUV’s parked around town will get you.

You can check the daily locations (Monday through Friday, they aren’t deployed on weekends as everyone in Santa Fe has agreed to only speed during regular work days) by clicking the link at the top of this blog: Where is the Speed SUV?

Jessica Smith, left, and Kimberly Smith (Courtesy New Mexico Department of Public Safety)

Last week, the New Mexico Department of Public Safety issued an Amber Alert for 11-year-old Jessica Smith of Fort Worth, Texas, saying her mother, Kimberly Smith, abducted her and headed toward New Mexico (See Feb. 8 Amber Alert).

Both were found in the Tres Piedras area on Sunday.

HERE is Chandra Johnson’s article in the Taos News and the following is the news release as sent out by New Mexico State Police Lt. Robert McDonald:

Taos County — A 72 hour coordinated law enforcement effort ended today with the locating of 11 year-old Jessica Smith and her mother. Law enforcement officers acted on tips and narrowed down the search to the Northern New Mexico area near Taos.

Officers saturated the area and located the suspect vehicle approximately 9 miles south of Tres Piedras off of US 285 near the Carson National Forest. The suspect was taken into custody without incident and both were transported to Holy Cross Hospital in Taos.

The suspect was reported to be lethargic and Jessica was in good spirits and very happy to be found.

Fort Worth Police Department is working on the extradition of the suspect mother, to Texas.

New Mexico State Police would like to thank all of the agencies who worked long hours over the past 72 hours in bringing a successful close to this case.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Crime reporter Nico Roesler had a story in Thursday’s New Mexican about the decline of property crime in the Santa Fe area (county and city property crime rates dropped) in 2011.

It would be crazy not to point out that while the decreases are great news for area residents, and certainly better than the alternative, the drop is based on comparing the numbers to the record high property crime reports in the city limits in 2010.

It’s all relative. The numbers still aren’t great, but they’re headed in the right direction.

For some further context, here is a LINK to a March 2011 blog post (also linked at bottom of this blog post) in which I had that provided 15 years of residential burglary statistics and four years each for auto and commercial burglary numbers.

Here is a blog post I had in December with a similar theme from Nico’s story which is that when police arrest more burglars, the property crimes seem to go down:

• Burglary arrests up for Santa Fe PD, burglary reports down

Also, for some context, here is a March 2011 blog post I had with four-year crime statistics (and 15 years worth for residential burglary):

• Here are the numbers: Residential burglaries at 15-year high in Santa Fe (in 2010)

Here is a link to Nico’s story:

• Task force targets property crime: Joint effort aims to make headway in cutting burglaries