Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In 2017, Leewright was taken into a custody after he threatened people with a machete outside of the Smith's and Family Dollar at San Pedro and Lomas.
“He pulled his machete out and swung it at the security guard,” a witness told KRQE News 13 in March 2017.
Police body camera video captured a victim telling police that he went to confront Leewright when he was threatened.
“So I went to go confront him and that's when he pulled out the machete on me and said he was going to slit my stomach and take out the pork,” said the security guard.
Leewright would later plead guilty in the criminal case tied to the machete incident. Court records show he took a deal on aggravated battery charges and an additional charge of failing to register as a sex offender.
While he pleaded guilty in that case, court records show Judge Charles Brown sentenced Leewright to 140 days time-served and probation. The sentence meant Leewright was released on the day of his sentence, receiving no extra jail time.
Since Leewright’s September 2017 release, court records show he’s had three run-ins with APD, including the most recent October 4 incident where police accused Leewright of chasing a 911 caller while armed with a knife.
When the District Attorney’s Office earlier this month asked for a 22-year-old man facing auto-theft charges to be held in jail until trial, a judge denied the motion, determining he was not a danger to the community.
But a little over a week later, police say Charles Taylor kicked in a woman’s door in broad daylight before beating her, tying her up and raping her at a southeast Albuquerque apartment complex.
Taylor’s defense attorney says the judge made the right decision to release him, while the 2nd Judicial District Attorney Raúl Torrez called the case another example of a “fundamental disagreement” about who qualifies as “dangerous” and should be held until trial.
When Taylor stood before state District Judge Charles Brown on April 10, he was facing charges of receiving and transferring a motor vehicle and, on the public safety assessment, was recommended for release to pretrial services with maximum supervision meaning drug and alcohol testing by request and avoiding all contact with witnesses or offenders. Brown also authorized the use of GPS tracking but it was not utilized by pre-trial services.
. . . .
Last year, Torrez said his office sought preventative detention in 16 percent of cases and were denied about half the time. Of those released, he said 33 percent picked up a new charge.
“When you have one-third of the people not detained committing new crimes, something is wrong,” he said. “Something isn’t working.”
Evonne Jaramillo was arrested Friday afternoon after she failed – at least for the third time – to show up for a scheduled court hearing on the murder and conspiracy charges she faces in the death of her boyfriend’s elderly aunt, Josephina Ortega.
Police say Jaramillo and her boyfriend, Craig Smith, went to Ortega’s home near Indian School and Juan Tabo last May, zip-tied the 86-year-old woman’s hands together and placed a plastic bag over her head. Police say the woman suffocated. Cash and jewelry were reported missing from her house.
A grand jury indicted the couple in April, and Jaramillo was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, kidnapping, aggravated burglary and tampering with evidence.
She was ordered to come to court for a detention hearing but failed to appear, prosecutor John Duran said Friday. He said officials believed she was in rehab at the time. Court records aren’t clear on this hearing.
She was also scheduled to appear for an arraignment and detention hearing on April 11, and again failed to appear.
At this point, an arrest warrant was issued and she was picked up on April 17.
At her next hearing on April 23, prosecutors asked that she be held in jail pending trial based on the charges.
State District Judge Charles Brown rejected that request and released her from jail that day on her own recognizance, meaning with no bond posted, with instructions to be put on pre-trial services monitoring, stay in contact with monitoring staff and to seek legal counsel.
. . . .
District Attorney Raúl Torrez, through his spokesman, said Brown’s decision was “frustrating.”
“It’s a person charged with first-degree murder. That level of dangerousness alone is a reason we seek preventative detention,” said Torrez’s spokesman Michael Patrick. “There was enough there that we felt she represented a danger to the community, and now that she’s (failed to appear) four times, it kind of reinforces our position.”
Judge Charles Brown is a district court judge in the Second Judicial District of New Mexico. He was appointed by Governor Bill Richardson in August 2007. He was retained in 2014 for a term that expires on December 31, 2020. Brown was retained to the 2nd District Court with 73.1 percent of the vote on November 4, 2014.
You have about 801 days before his re-election comes up.
It's easy to take potshots at state judges, but we know for a fact in many cases (including that awful 3rd-world child abuse near Amalia) that it's the DA's incompetent prosecution that forces the judge's hand.
Before you tell me "Zoidberg, that never happens, you dolt" think back to the Victoria Martens case and tell me every DA in this state runs a tight ship.
I'll be the first to sign on to the joke:
"What do you call someone who graduates first in their law school class?"
"An attorney."
"What do you call someone who graduates last in their law school class?"
"Your honor."
But this state's DA offices have let some real whoppers go by. I bet there's at least one law enforcement official who'd privately agree with me that this factor alone has been the single biggest contributor to the local crime wave of the past couple of years.
It's not always the teacher's fault when their kids keep flunking.
Yes, it's very believable. Apparently our new DA hasn't cleaned house all that well, because of another prosecutor oopsie. Even that article makes it not sound like it's the judge's fault.
Next time this guy murders somebody, don't blame society. Don't blame his defense attorney. Don't blame APD or BCSO. And don't blame the judge.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
