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Thursday, November 1, 2007

Judge-Police Conflict Settled

By Lee Ross
Mountain View Telegraph
    A "scheduling nightmare" and a case of contempt of court recently had Edgewood Municipal Judge Bill White in a disagreement with the New Mexico State Police.
    But that may all be water under the bridge, according to White.
    "The issue, for me, is protecting my turf," White said in a phone interview Monday.
    White has an arrest warrant out for Joshua Bright, who failed to appear in court on a charge of criminal damage to property.
    That put Bright in contempt of court. But that's where things get tricky.
    There are two ways people can be charged with contempt, White said. One is the way people see in movies, where a defendant yells an obscenity at a judge. The other is doing something such as failing to appear in court, as in Bright's case; that's called indirect contempt.
    White issued an order to show cause— requiring Bright to appear and explain why he was not in contempt of court.
    But to have a legitimate court session, White had to arrange for Bright to have an attorney. Bright was also in jail in Bernalillo County awaiting trial on an unrelated charge, so White had to arrange for Bright to be brought to his court by law enforcement.
    Normally the transportation would be handled by the town's police department, but Edgewood doesn't have one. So White called on State Police.
    The town has an agreement with State Police that requires them to take on the duties of a local police force.
    But State Police Lt. Pat Garrett didn't have his officers complete the order because he felt it was not a priority, White said.
    "It was a scheduling nightmare that kind of fell through the cracks because they wouldn't transport the guy," White said.
    Garrett said he had only a day's notice for the order to transport Bright from Bernalillo County to Edgewood.
    "We had manpower issues," he explained.
    He added that the order stated the reason for the transport as an order to show cause, not a trial. At first blush, the transport order didn't rank high in importance to Garrett.
    After receiving more information, Garrett revised his opinion.
    "It was something a little more significant and a little more important," Garrett said.
    If the transport hadn't fallen through, White said he "could have held (Bright's) feet to the fire appropriately."
    White said he feels it is Garrett's job to say he can or cannot transport a prisoner, but that it is not Garrett's job to decide the merit of the cause of the transport.
    As for the contempt of court charge, White said Bright may never be seen on those charges. Bright has numerous other warrants that will keep him busy.
    White said he has only had to order a transport a few times in his five years as Edgewood's judge, and he doesn't expect to see the same issue arise before Edgewood has its own police department, which is expected to be running in 2008.
    "In a way it's fairly remarkable that we haven't had more problems (with the State Police) ... it's an uncomfortable fit and it's kind of a cobbled-together system," he said.
    For now, Garrett said, he and White have agreed that future transport requests will be more detailed and provide a longer lead time for State Police.