AG: Insufficient Evidence To Charge Bernalillo County DA - The Associated Press
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas says there's insufficient evidence to prosecute the district attorney of the most populous county in the state for bribery or intimidation of witnesses.
But Balderas is criticizing Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg and the Albuquerque Police Department for their actions in connection with two pending investigations of Brandenburg's son.
Balderas says there were "identifiable leadership failures to which both agencies can take immediate corrective action."
In a letter sent Thursday to Police Chief Gorden Eden, Balderas called the referral of Brandenburg's matter to his office politically motivated.
He also says Brandenburg's conduct clearly created an appearance of impropriety.
Brandenburg grabbed national headlines when she charged two Albuquerque police officers earlier this year with murder in the 2014 shooting death of a homeless man.
Family Of Man Who Died Of Suicide Sues Albuquerque Police – The Associated Press
The family of an Albuquerque man who killed himself after a shootout with authorities is suing Albuquerque police.
Attorneys for the estate of Santiago Chavez filed a wrongful death lawsuit this week in U.S. District Court and claim Albuquerque police unnecessarily escalated a standoff in July 2012.
Police say Chavez took his own life after a 15-hour standoff with officers following reports he was tossing large rocks at motorists.
Authorities say Chavez and a SWAT officer exchanged gunfire but no one was struck in that exchange. According to police reports, officers sent tear gas into the home in an attempt to get Chavez but he remained inside until he killed himself.
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount in damages.
NM Governor Has No Plans To Call A Special Session - The Associated Press
Negotiations have failed again and Gov. Susana Martinez has no plans to call a special session to consider more than $260 million in funding for public works projects.
Martinez spokesman Chris Sanchez says the governor met twice Thursday with Senate Finance Committee chair John Arthur Smith in an attempt to forge a compromise.
Later in the day, the Senate Democrats renewed their call for a special session.
Lawmakers failed to agree on the capital outlay projects during the regular session.
The Senate had passed one version of a bill, but the Republican-controlled House amended it, shifting millions of dollars from some projects to roads.
Another sticking point has been a package of proposed tax breaks supported by the governor.
Mexico: 44 Migrants Held Captive Were Told They Were In US - The Associated Press
Mexican officials say a group of rescued migrants believed they had made it to the United States but were actually being kept in captivity by human smugglers.
Police in the Mexican border city of Nogales say the 44 migrants were rescued from two houses after being captive for 15 to 20 days. Their smugglers had told them they were already in Tucson, Arizona.
Authorities say one of the migrants alerted police after tricking one of their guards and escaping.
Several women were among those being held, but there are no reports of children also being detained.
It is unclear where the migrants are from. They told police the smugglers had charged them $6,000 each and had first taken them to hotels.
Workers Seal Storage Bunker At Nuclear Waste Dump - The Associated Press
Officials say workers have sealed off the first of two storage bunkers affected by a radiation leak at the federal government's underground nuclear waste repository in southern New Mexico.
The U.S. Department of Energy says about 85 percent of the containers packed with waste similar to the one that caused the leak have been isolated with the closure of the area known as Panel 6.
Workers used salt mined from another area of the repository, chain link and brattice cloth to build barriers on each end of the storage bunker. Air monitors have been installed.
Work to seal off a second bunker, where the radiation breach occurred, is ongoing. Officials say that should be complete in June.
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has been closed since the February 2014 leak.
Bodies Of 2 Men, 1 Woman Found In Separate Albuquerque Homes - The Associated Press
The bodies of two men believed to be father and son have been found inside a northeast Albuquerque home.
Albuquerque police say a woman also was found dead in another northeast Albuquerque home Thursday afternoon and investigators are trying to determine if the deaths are connected.
They say the men were found dead of apparent gunshot wounds.
Firefighters were sent to a home to investigate a fire, but found the dead men in different areas of the home.
Their names weren't immediately released. Neighbors say one of the men was in his 80s and other was in his 50s.
Police say a woman later was found dead at another house.
Her name and details on the manner of death weren't immediately released by authorities.
2 Dead After Colorado To New Mexico Chase Died From Suicide - The Associated Press and Daily Times
Authorities say a Florida man and his 14-year-old niece found with fatal gunshot wounds to the head after a wild car chase across Colorado and New Mexico both died from suicide.
San Juan County Sheriff's officials say a search of the man's car after Monday's incident turned up a stolen firearm out of Florida and spent shell casings.
They say 31-year-old Benjamin James Edwards III was a person of interest in the gun's theft and in the disappearance of his niece, also of St. Augustine.
The girl was reported missing May 4.
The chase began in Colorado after gasoline was reported stolen in Cortez.
It ended in northwestern New Mexico when Edwards reportedly lost control on a sharp turn. He and the girl were later found dead in the SUV.
California Man Sentenced; Failed To Register As Sex Offender - The Associated Press
A California man has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for failing to register as a sex offender in New Mexico.
Prosecutors say 37-year-old Eric Leo Alexander of Anaheim received a 46-month prison term Thursday and will be on supervised release for five years.
Alexander was arrested in Anaheim in January 2014 on a criminal complaint and extradited to New Mexico.
Prosecutors say Alexander didn't register as a sex offender in New Mexico's Dona Ana County while living in Las Cruces in September 2013.
He was convicted of the charge last September.
Authorities say Alexander was convicted of sexually assaulting a minor and sentenced to four years in a California prison.
He was released in August 2013 and registered as a sex offender in California only.
Former Officer Appeals Firing Over Excessive Force Arrest - The Associated Press and KOAT-TV
The Albuquerque personnel board is holding off on deciding whether to rehire an officer who stood by while his partner reared back and kicked a suspect repeatedly during an arrest.
KOAT-TV reports the Albuquerque Police Department is defending itself against a police brutality lawsuit stemming from the February 2011 incident, and Officers John Doyle and Robert Woolever are both appealing their firings.
Doyle kicked the suspect, but Woolever was fired for not intervening and for omitting part of the story from his report.
A city lawyer said APD was within its rights when it fired the officers.
Former APD officer Thomas Grover is defending Woolever, and said upholding the firing sends a message to law enforcement that they should let bad suspects go instead of chasing them.
New Mexico Health Officials Investigate Salmonella Cluster – The Associated Press
New Mexico health authorities are investigating a cluster of salmonella cases in the Albuquerque area, including possible exposures linked to sushi.
The state Department of Health reports six confirmed cases between April 4 and May 1, with five of the six people having reported eating sushi containing raw fish.
Salmonella is a leading cause of food poisoning nationally. The most common sources of salmonella infection are undercooked poultry, eggs, and meat. Pet birds and reptiles as well as other pets with diarrhea can transmit salmonella.
According to the Health Department, federal agencies and other states also are investigating illnesses associated with the same salmonella strain.
All six New Mexico cases involve adults, including one who has been hospitalized. Five live in Bernalillo County and one lives in neighboring Sandoval County.
Mayor Reacts To Charges Against Teacher For Throwing Books – The Associated Press
The Santa Fe mayor has cautiously weighed in on criminal charges against a middle school principal and teacher in a book-throwing incident that has pitted school officials against police.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Mayor Javier Gonzales said Thursday that he didn't want to judge a situation still under investigation but wants any possible crime against a child to be investigated.
Gonzales called the safety of Santa Fe's children "paramount."
De Vargas Middle School teacher Marcy Slaughter is accused of throwing paperback books at four students, hitting two of them, after they disobeyed her orders on April 30.
Police charged Slaughter with felony child abuse and Principal Marc Ducharme with misdemeanor obstruction for not reporting the incident.
Superintendent Joel Boyd called the charge against Ducharme "perplexing and aberrant."
Police: Albuquerque Woman Posed As Firefighter, Shoplifted – The Associated Press
Police say an Albuquerque woman who posed as a firefighter has been arrested for shoplifting.
KRQE-TV reports that a criminal complaint says Ashley Smith was detained Wednesday after walking into an Albuquerque Home Depot and stole around $1,000 worth of electric wiring. Police say she was wearing a Santa Fe County Firefighter uniform.
Officials say Smith is not a firefighter and has a history of theft and drug arrests.
She is facing a shoplifting over $500 charge.
It was not known if she had an attorney.
Sheriff: Human Remains Found Aren't Those Of Search Subject - The Associated Press
Bernalillo County authorities say searchers have found skeletonized human remains in the Sandia Mountains but that the remains are not those of a missing woman who is the subject of a search.
Sheriff's Lt. Pete Golden says the remains found late Thursday could be from a person who went missing about a year ago.
Golden says the condition of the remains means the state Office of the Medical Investigator will have to identify the them.
Crews on Wednesday began searching in the mountains overlooking Albuquerque for 24-year-old Brittany Johnson after her car was found in the Sandia Crest area.
Her family had reported her missing Saturday.
Investigators learned Thursday that a hiker reported finding her vehicle's keys Saturday on a trail and placed them on the parked car.
4 Plague Cases, 10 Tularemia Cases In New Mexico This Year – The Associated Press
The New Mexico Department of Health says four cases of plague and 10 cases of tularemia have been reported in animals around the state since Jan. 1.
Plague cases include one cat from Bernalillo County and one dog, a rabbit and a mouse from Santa Fe County.
Tularemia cases include one cat from Los Alamos County, a dog from Taos County, three dogs and a rabbit from Santa Fe County and three dogs and one rabbit from Bernalillo County.
Both plague and tularemia are bacterial diseases of rodents and rabbits.
Plague is generally transmitted to humans through the bites of infected fleas while tularemia can be transmitted to people by the bite of infected ticks or deer flies.