In a late Friday afternoon press conference, District Attorney Raul Torrez standing alone in the DA’s conference room announced that his office had negotiated a plea agreement with defendant Michelle Martens, the mother of 10-year-old Victoria Martens who was raped, strangled, murdered, dismembered and then burned in the bath tub of her home.

Elected officials often do late Friday afternoon press conferences to announce controversial decisions in an effort to deflect some negative press coverage, but it usually does not work very well with highly controversial decisions such as the one announced by District Attorney Raul Torrez.

The defendant Michelle Martens and two others have been behind bars now for two years awaiting trial.

THE PLEA AGREEMENT

Torrez announced that the most egregious charges against the defendant Michelle Martens including murder and rape were dismissed.

The plea agreement Torrez negotiated was to one count of child abuse, recklessly caused, resulting in the death of a child under 12.

The plea agreement guarantees a 12 to 15-year sentence.

Because Martens has cooperated and turned state’s evidence and given her significantly reduced mental capacity, there is a real chance the court will sentence her to 12 years and not the full 15.

Raul Torrez and his prosecutors agreed that Martens’ crime will not be classified as a serious violent offense, meaning she could see her sentence cut in half for good behavior and serve as little as 6 years if she is sentenced to 12 years.

The defendant will get credit for the two years of time already served because she has been in jail for two years pending trial, so it is possible that Martens could be out of prison in 4 years.

AN OVER INDICTED UNRAVELING CASE

District Attorney Raul Torrez is now taking considerable heat and experiencing tremendous public outcry regarding the plea agreement he and his office negotiated with the defendant Michelle Martens.

According to Torrez, the physical evidence and forensic evidence established the Defendant Martens and her boyfriend Fabian Gonzales, who was also charged with the murder, were not even present at the time of the child’s murder.

DA Torrez said APD officers did not have the psychological profile at the time of the initial investigation was completed and APD detectives thought they could “trust what Martens was telling them” when she admitted to the crime of killing her own child.

The state’s own forensic psychiatrist said Michelle Martins did not realize she was also incriminating herself when she talked to police.

The forensic psychiatrist Michael Welner, who worked with the District Attorney’s Office, said a combination of Martens’ passive and naive personality, the way officers presented themselves as on her side and the context of her daughter’s recent death, led Michelle Martins to admit to a crime she did not commit and admitting to having witnessed the crime she never saw.

Dr. Welner was quoted as saying:

“In the course of questioning her about specifics and going over details, the officers in the questioning revealed certain details within the case that Michelle later incorporated into her story. … Incorporating them into her story gave the impression of some legitimacy of what she was saying.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1191300/expert-martens-statements-to-police-were-contaminated.html

To complicate matters, Torrez announced in his press conference that a fourth yet unidentified defendant had been indicted as a “John Doe” for the child’s murder.

STUNNING ADMISSION

DA Raul Torres is quoted as saying during his press conference:

“With each new round of testing and each new piece of information, more and more doubt was cast on Michelle Martens’ direct involvement in the murder of her daughter Victoria … And we were forced to consider the possibility that Michelle Martens had falsely incriminated herself and [her boyfriend] Fabian Gonzales in this heinous act.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1191031/michelle-martens-pleads-guilty-to-child-abuse-faces-12-to-15-years.html

https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/mother-of-victoria-martens-accepts-plea-deal-awaits-judge-s-approval/1274041779

Torrez announced that he removed the two original prosecutors from the case and assigned more experienced trial attorneys by saying:

“It was my sense that we needed to have a more experienced team involved and we need to have dedicated resources. … I’m not going to second guess at this point what information they had access to.”

With his words and actions, District Attorney Raul Torrez admitted he and his office at the very least made the classic mistake and engaged in a level of prosecutorial overzealousness by “over indicting” a case based on witness statements and confessions before all the physical and forensic evidence had been processed and reviewed by his office.

All to often, especially when DNA evidence is involved, witness’s statements are found to be false and contradicted by DNA evidence.

Many defendants have sat on death row based on false eyewitness testimony and even confessions only to be released years later because DNA proves they did not commit the crime.”

Just two years ago on June, 2, 2016, the murder charges against Donovan Maez, 22 and Christopher Cruz were dismissed when eye witness testimony was proven to be false.

https://www.krqe.com/news/charges-dismissed-in-jaydon-chavez-silver-murder/1019769798

The decision to assign more experienced trial attorneys to the case and dedicate more resources is indeed very noble and absolutely necessary, but it took Torrez a full 18 months to come to that conclusion.

Torrez does not have to “second guess … what information they had access to” seeing as he admitted he knew within a few months after taking office there were real problems with the case.

A MAYOR HAS NO ROLE IN A CRIMINAL PLEA AGREEMENT

Briefing a Mayor in civil case settlements where the city or its employees are named party defendants and involving settlements in the millions of dollars, such as deadly use of force and deadly force cases involving APD, is necessary because it is the Mayor who is held ultimately responsible for preparing the city’s budget.

However, when it comes to prosecuting criminal cases, it is the District Attorney that has the exclusive authority to determine whether a case is to be charged.

It is the District Attorney who has the authority to negotiate and agree to plea and disposition agreements.

Torrez said he talked with Mayor Tim Keller, Police Chief Michael Geier, the deputy chiefs and officers about what the evidence revealed and issues he found with the Marten’s criminal case.

Torrez is quoted as saying:

“I’ve had extended conversations with APD and the mayor’s office about some of the issues that came to light in this case. … It’s my hope that we can all improve in the criminal justice system based on some hard lessons that need to be learned about these cases.”

What is glaring is that Torrez has had the case for 18 months.

Mayor Keller and Chief Geier have been in office for only 7 months.

Torrez did not disclose if he ever discussed with former Mayor Berry or former Chief Gordon Eden during their last full year in office the problems with the case nor APD’s failures in investigating the case.

Former Chief Eden for his part refused to comment to the media saying he was retired.

It is totally appropriate for a District Attorney’s Office to discuss a pending criminal case and the evidence with the APD command staff and its personnel and the victims and witnesses in a case, but not civilians such as the Mayor.

The appropriate protocol would have been for the APD command staff or chief to brief Mayor Keller on the Marten’s case and not District Attorney Raul Torrez.

District Attorney Torrez is seriously mistaken when he says he needed to talk with the Mayor and discuss with him in private evidence in a pending criminal case and what that evidence revealed in order to improve the criminal justice system.

Torrez did not disclose if he sought Mayor Keller’s approval of the Marten’s plea and disposition agreement, nor if the Mayor gave his approval of the plea, which would have been the ultimate reason for Torrez really wanting to talk with Keller.

TORREZ COMMENTS OF EHTICAL RESPONSIBILITY RINGS HOLLOW

Torrez said he feels that his office did the right thing in negotiating the plea agreement and dropping the most serious charge of murder.

Torrez said that while Martens is not innocent, she is not a murderer and said:

“She did contribute to a situation that allowed her daughter to be killed, and she needs to be held accountable for that. … This gets into fundamentally the role of the prosecutor in the community. … It touches directly on our ethical obligation to hold everyone accountable for what they did, but to make sure we’re only pursuing cases and charging people for what they’ve committed.”

Torrez defense of the plea agreement based upon ethical consideration and the fundamental role of a prosecutor rings very hollow seeing as just one year ago Torrez was blaming the Judiciary for Albuquerque’s rising crime rates and questioning the sentencing and leniency of the courts in criminal cases.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1025697/judges-court-deadlines-arent-to-blame-for-rise-in-crime.html

A year ago, Torrez claimed that our judicial system was broken stating the decisions by the judges to dismiss cases were “absurd”.

Torrez had his District Attorney Office issue a report that outlined the so-called problems he perceived since the issuance of the Case Management Order in February 2015.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1025697/judges-court-deadlines-arent-to-blame-for-rise-in-crime.html

Main points in the DA’s report were that defense attorneys were “gaming” the court mandated discovery deadlines to get cases dismissed by demanding evidence they were entitled to under the law and the Rules of Criminal Procedure and asking for trials instead of entering into plea agreements.

Torrez went so far as to say that defense attorneys were getting their clients off and getting cases dismissed on technicalities.

Torres proclaimed defense attorneys were “gaming the system” to get their clients off.

Torrez claimed he was frustrated with elected District Court Judges blocking his efforts to keep dangerous criminals in jail.

A District Court analysis found that it was the District Attorney’s office that was voluntarily dismissing more than twice as many cases as the judges were dismissing.

COMMENTARY

Perhaps District Attorney Raul Torrez has learned in a year that the courts have as much of an ethical responsibility as he does to see that justice is served when he asks the courts to approve plea and disposition agreements his office negotiates in cases like the Martens case.

What is extremely problematic is that it appears DA Torrez attempted to bring Mayor Tim Keller into the process for reviewing and approving plea agreements.

Any criminal defense attorney worth their salt and with a client facing an upcoming trial for murder will want to know what was said to and what role the Mayor’s office had in a plea and disposition agreement made in a case involving defendants where charges were dismissed such as the Martens case.

Briefing Mayor Tim Keller, Chief Geier and the Deputy Chief’s on the evidence in a pending case that did not occur on their watch amounts to nothing more than DA Torrez trying to spread the blame around to as many people as possible to avoid being held responsible for a botched prosecution and to be able to say he was given approval and consent from others for a plea agreement he negotiated.

Finally, things are looking up for our city and our state economies when it comes to employment.

Things are looking down when it comes to our children’s wellbeing.

GOOD NEWS: UNEMPLOYMENT DOWN

In 2009, New Mexico’s unemployment rate was above 7% and then went to 8% and beyond at the start of 2010.

In February, 2018 New Mexico’s unemployment rate was 5.8 percent.

Albuquerque’s unemployment has also dropped to 4.2 percent.

The number of jobs is growing to nearly the pre-recession peak and the city’s gross receipts tax collections are increasing.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1190787/abqs-economy-gaining-steam.html

The NM Department of Workforce Solutions reports that the Albuquerque area had 7,300 more jobs, or 1.9 percent growth, compared with a year ago.

That translates to a total of 397,000 jobs, less than 1 percent below the peak of 400,200 jobs in November 2007.

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/2018/06/18/ABQ-Economy-Almost-Back-to-the-Starting-Line

Not surprising is that it is the construction industry that has been a big driver of job growth in Albuquerque and that has always been the case with a recovering economy.

Notwithstanding the growth in the construction industry, Workforce Solutions reported that the biggest jump in May over a year earlier came among professional and business service jobs, which grew by 6.3 percent.

Professional and business service jobs includes a wide range of employers, from architectural services, national lab jobs, real estate and legal to call center positions.

There has also been a 4.4% increase in Albuquerque’s gross receipts tax revenue from business activity meaning more money will be available to pay for government essential services.

Just year ago, according to the state Department of Workforce Solutions, the state’s unemployment rate was 6.3 %.

In February, 2018 New Mexico’s unemployment rate was 5.8 percent.

New Mexico’s unemployment rate fell to 5.1 percent in May.

www.abqjournal.com/1161413/nm-unemployment-dips-to-5-6-percent.html

BAD NEWS: NM LAST IN CHILD WELL BEING

Offsetting the good news regarding the decline in the state’s unemployment rates is that for the first time in five years, New Mexico has fallen to last among states when it comes to the economic, educational and medical well-being of its children, according to a nonprofit that tracks the status of U.S. kids.

The most troubling in the 2018 Kids Count Data Book is New Mexico’s steep drop in ranking for health care measures which previously a bright spot for the state.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/education/report-new-mexico-ranks-last-in-child-well-being/article_0f6865fc-d34a-5050-9f74-21680e98a2a5.html

According to the 2018 Kids Count Data Book, 30 percent of New Mexico’s children were living in poverty in 2016, compared to 19 percent nationwide that year, the earliest figures available.

In educational measures, the report says 75 percent of the state’s fourth-graders were not proficient in reading in 2017, compared to 65 percent nationally, and 80 percent of eighth-graders were not performing up to par in math in 2017, compared to 67 percent across the U.S.

New Mexico steadily decreased its number of uninsured children between 2010 and 2015, to 4 percent from 10 percent.

But in 2016, that figure edged up to 5 percent.

COMMENTARY

It’s been over 10 years, but perhaps finally Albuquerque and New Mexico are recovering from the great recession.

There is a direct correlation between a family’s overall income and child wellbeing.

With employment going up, child wellbeing should also go up, but it will take more.

The debate over using a small portion of the state’s $17 billion Land Grant Permanent fund for early childhood education, care and intervention will no doubt be a major issue in the Governor’s race, and it needs to be.

Albuquerque’s Economic Development Department needs pay far more attention to Albuquerque’s growth industries if the city is going to continue turning our economy around.

Our next Governor with a little luck will be dealing with a continuing improving economy and a surplus in tax revenues thanks to oil and gas production.

Notwithstanding, come January 1, 2019 with the swearing in of a new Governor, the Governor and our new Albuquerque Mayor need to work together as much as possible and come up with a viable solution to diversifying our economy with less reliance on federal government spending.

Further the Governor and Mayor Keller should give major attention to use of the State’s Land Grant and Permanent Fund to finally solve many of our early childhood education, care and intervention problems.

Kudos are in order for Mayor Tim Keller for targeting dilapidated commercial buildings and recognizing that the city does indeed have considerable leverage when it enforces existing city ordinances.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1189609/city-targets-dilapidated-commercial-buildings.html

The Keller Administration targeted the vacant strip mall at the intersection of Juan Tabo and Central that was once home to a Furr’s Supermarket, later a Vietnamese restaurant and then bingo parlor at one time.

For the last 10 years, the strip mall has been vacant and nothing but an eyesore that had become a magnet for crime and brought property values down.

For years, the empty building was a source of constant complaints from neighbors and property owners as well as calls for service to APD to report break ins.

Mayor Keller even got into the act by posting a red “substandard building” notice on the front of the vacant strip mall.

Keller then went on to post as substandard structures at Eubank and Central and on Silver to post notices.

According to a city spokesman, 30 dilapidated commercial structures have been identified for future enforcement actions.

Frankly, there are hundreds more vacant commercial properties not to mention vacant residential homes in Albuquerque where the owners have been derelict in not maintaining and that have deteriorated to the point the properties cannot be repaired and where structures need be torn down for public safety reasons.

The city enforcement actions taken against the commercial properties are part of a “pilot project” program aimed at tackling dilapidated commercial buildings.

Supposedly, the pilot program will be reviewed after two years to determine success.

The city for close to 30 years has always had zoning enforcement and building and construction code ordinances to address substandard commercial properties.

One major problem has been the lack of commitment by the Albuquerque City Council during the last 8 years to exercise their condemnation authority and failure to fund the Safe City Strike force.

There are a number of city ordinances that define substandard buildings that allow the city to inspect, post and clean up and board up and place liens on commercial properties as well secure court orders in District Court against property owners and ultimately use of condemnation authority.

New Mexico also has some of the strongest nuisance abatement laws in the country that were at one time enforced by the city attorney’s office and the Safe City Strike Force.

Another major problem was a reluctance on the part of the previous Berry administration to enforce the existing ordinances out of fear of alienating strong supporters within the construction industry and Republican property rights advocates who have always had a disdain for any condemnation actions by the city even when done for the public safety when properties become a nuisance to the point of endangering public health, safety and welfare.

THE EYE OF NAIOP IS UPON YOU

Not at all surprising, the New Mexico chapter of NAIOP (National Association of Industrial Office Parks), a commercial real estate development association, said the group hasn’t taken a stance on the “pilot project” but will keep an “eye” on the pilot program.

It is likely NAIOP will do far more than just keep an eye on the pilot project and no doubt will want to see it fail.

NAIOP has a lengthy history of opposing commercial and residential zoning, construction and inspection codes and planning inspections viewing them as unreasonable government interference costing its membership money.

Last year, the city council proposed an ordinance to address the registration and maintenance of substandard commercial properties.

The ordinance governing commercial properties was going to require all owners of vacant commercial properties to register with the planning department, but the ordinance was totally abandoned when the city council folded like a cheap suit after outcry from the commercial property development industry, especially NAIOP.

For upwards of 16 years, there has been a city ordinance that requires owners of vacant residential properties to register the properties with the city’s planning department and which also required the residential property owners to secure the properties and maintain vacant properties.

Originally, the Planning Department took the position that the vacant building registration ordinance equally applied to commercial properties but that all changed 8 years ago with the election of a Republican mayor.

For a period of 8 years, from 2001 to 2009, NAIOP’S membership took strong issue with enforcement of the building and zoning codes and enforcement actions against commercial properties that became substandard with those actions taken by the Safe City Strike Force.

SAFE CITY STRIKE FORCE SUCCESS

From 2002 to 2009, the Safe City Strike Force was formed to combat blighted commercial and residential properties.

Thirty (30) to forty-five (40) representatives from the Albuquerque Police Department, the Albuquerque Fire Department, the Fire Marshal’s Office, the Planning Department Code residential and commercial code inspectors, Family Community Services and the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office participated and comprised the strike force.

Seventy (70) to one hundred fifty (150) properties a week, both residential and commercial properties would be reviewed by the Safe City Strike Force.

The Albuquerque City Council would be given weekly updates on the progress made in their districts on the nuisance properties identified by the Strike Force.

The Safe City Strike Force routinely prepared condemnation resolutions for enactment by the Albuquerque City Council to tear down substandard buildings, including commercial buildings.

Over 8 years, the Safe City Strike Force took civil enforcement action against some 6,500 properties, both commercial and residential.

The success of the Safe City Strike Force was clear and unmistakable:

For 8 years, the Safe City Strike Force took enforcement actions against 48 motels along central and demolished 8, took aggressive action against violent bars, closed down 4 bars and demolished 2 bars, closed 2 west side flea markets where stolen property was being sold, took enforcement actions against 20+ convenience stores, not to mention taking code enforcement actions against hundreds of residential properties that had become magnets for crime with homes used for crack houses, meth labs and illicit drug dealings, and demolished and entire strip mall and 2 vacant restaurants.

In 2010, the previous administration began to dismantled and reduce funding for the Safe City Strike Force which is not at all surprising given that then Mayor Berry was construction contractor.

Mayor Berry was considered NAIOP old reliable go to guy, especially for construction projects like the disastrous ART Bus project which many NAIOP members benefited from and did work on the project.

At the beginning of 2018, the Safe City Strike Force had one employee, its director, and the Safe City Strike Force exists in name only.

KELLER COMMITMENT TO REINSTATE SAFE CITY STRIKE FORCE

Mayor Tim Keller made a firm commitment to reinstate the Safe City Strike Force when he requested $3.9 million for the city’s Code Enforcement Department and the Safe City Strike Force in the adopted 2018-2019 budget.

$ 1.5 million in additional public safety spending was added by the city council.

The Safe City Strike Force and the Planning Department received a funding bump up to $425,000 for the incoming fiscal year.

$125,000 has been allocate to hire two additional code enforcement specialists.

$300,000 has been allocated to secure or demolish neglected structures.

COMMENTARY

The $300,000 for board ups of blighted properties is a good start, but significantly more will be needed to address the approximate 3,500 substandard properties throughout Albuquerque.

In 2009, the Safe City Strike Force had upwards of $1 million dollars consisting of federal grants and city council allocations.

Funding the Safe City Strike Force may not be a construction project like the ART Bus project, a library or fire station that Mayors and city councilors always love taking credit for, but it would go a long way to getting rid of blighted commercial and residential properties, which only sully entire neighborhoods and put residents in danger and bring property values down.

Given the approximate 3,500 substandard commercial and residential structures in Albuquerque, it should not be just a two-year pilot program but a complete and total reinstatement of the Safe City Strike Force.

Mayor Tim Keller is commended for his commitment to reinstating the Safe City Strike Force and his “pilot project”.

Last month New Mexico State Auditor Wayne Johnson with great fanfare announced he will conduct a “special audit” examination of the Bernalillo County criminal justice system.

Johnson wants a special audit to include seven state agencies: the District Court, Metro Court, the Albuquerque Police Department, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, the Metropolitan Detention Center, the Public Defender’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office.

State District Court officials are now seeking the Attorney General’s opinion on whether the state auditor’s plan to examine Bernalillo County’s justice system “exceeds the authority and power” of the State Auditor’s office.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1189607/court-seeks-ags-opinion-on-audit-plan.html

In a letter to Attorney General Hector Balderas, 2nd District Chief Judge Nan Nash and Court Executive Officer Jim Noel said they believe the state auditor’s plan to examine the system through a series of audits “invites needless waste of tax payer money” and may exceed his authority.

Johnson has the bright and very mistaken idea that he has the authority to audit and entire criminal justice system, especially judge’s decisions to deny prosecutor’s efforts to detain people in jail pending trial.

It should not come as any surprise that the 2nd Judicial Court is now questioning Johnson’s authority or is empowered by law to do his special audit in that the audit is not a financial audit dealing with the expenditure of taxpayer money which is all that is allowed by law.

STATE LAW IS CLEAR

In accordance with the New Mexico Audit Act, §§ 12-6-1 to 12-6-14, NMSA 1978, the New Mexico State Auditor’s office has only two statutory purposes:

“(1) to ensure that the financial affairs of every agency shall be thoroughly examined and audited each year by the state auditor, personnel of the state auditor’s office designated by the state auditor or independent auditors approved by the state auditor
(2) cause the financial affairs and transactions of an agency to be audited in whole or in part. (Section 12-6-3, NMSA 1978.)”

These two statutory purposes grant the State Auditor the authority to conduct both financial and special financial audits to identify financial irregularities, waste, fraud and abuse by the government entities.

The state statutes do not empower the authority to analyze an entire criminal justice system and the inherent powers granted to other elected officials such as judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials, all who are included in the special audit.

The Office of the State Auditor conducts and oversees audits of approximately 1,000 government entities, from large state agencies to small political subdivisions.

The authority of the office is to review the financial affairs of government agencies, including contracts, purchases agreements and make sure that the government agencies are not engaged in fraud, waste and abuse of government and taxpayer funds.

While the State Auditor performs mandatory audits each year of city, county and state agencies, due to the Office’s limited resources, a majority of the financial audits are conducted by independent public accounting firms (IPAs) whom partner with the Office.

The State Auditor requires the government agencies that are audited to foot the bill for the independent public auditing firms.

The State Auditor does not have any prosecutorial authority and when criminal wrong doing is found in an audit, it is turned over to the appropriate state or federal prosecuting agency.

JOHNSON CONTINUES TO VILIFY CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

In announcing his special audit last month, Johnson said:

“As auditors, we can look at each piece of the system and how those pieces mesh together. … We can help mend the cracks that lead to horrible crimes … When judges and prosecutors don’t have all the facts because the systems aren’t communicating, criminals … fall through the cracks. The consequences are devastating for people’s lives and for the City of Albuquerque as a whole. We can do better.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1175867/state-auditor-announces-plans-for-criminal-justice-review.htm

In other words, Johnson “special audit” has nothing to do with financial matters but more to do with grinding his political axe and show his continued ignorance and contempt for our criminal justice system.

When Wayne Johnson ran for Mayor last year, his speeches and commercials took to a whole new level pandering to upset voters and to appeal to their worst fears to get votes, especially when he said he would end Albuquerque’s sanctuary city status.

His efforts as a Bernalillo County Commissioner to end the county’s immigrant sanctuary status failed miserably.

The most disturbing part of Mr. Johnson’s candidacy for Mayor was his intentional promotion of ignorance of our criminal justice system, our constitutional rights of due process of law and the presumption of innocence.

Going after and complaining about elected judges for their rulings, which Johnson wants to do with his audit under the guise of “mending the cracks”, is a red flag of ignorance of our criminal justice system.

Johnson’s special audit is just plain pandering to appeal to people’s worst fears to get votes or even worse, lying to the public.

Attacking our Judicial system and judge’s rulings is a familiar tactic of President Donald Trump and is a lesson learned by Johnson to “gin up” his conservative base in Albuquerque.

It is so easy to ignore our U. S. Constitution when you are pandering and running for Mayor and for that matter running for State Auditor and essentially say “catch them and lock them up and throw away the key”.

It is an abuse of office and authority for any elected official to undertake functions of an office that are not in fact authorized by law.

Wayne Johnson needs to read and fully understand the state laws that outline and limit his authority as State Auditor.

Conducting an auditing of a criminal justice system process that is not financial in nature is not within his powers and authority as State Auditor and a clear abuse of power.

COMMENTARY

No doubt Wayne Johnson is really hoping the audit will help him get elected State Auditor on November 6, 2018.

The Metro Court, the Albuquerque Police Department, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, the Metropolitan Detention Center, the Public Defender’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office should all join in with the District Court and challenge the authority of the State Auditor to stop his special audit.

Attorney General Hector Balderas, a former State Auditor himself, should write a letter of instruction to State Auditor Wayne Johnson telling him to cease and desist with his audit of the Second Judicial District criminal justice system and explain to him it is not appropriate nor authorized by law.

Another option would be for Attorney General Hector Balderas to open an investigation of his own of State Auditor Wayne Johnson for abuse of authority and discretion of his office.

In the meantime, voters need to recognize how dangerous Wayne Johnson is to our criminal justice system and vote for Brian Colon as our new State Auditor come November 6, 2018.

DATELINE: LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders disclosed to the press that on a Friday night she was asked to leave a small Lexington, Virginia restaurant known as the Red Hen.

Huckabee Sanders claimed she was at the restaurant for a nice evening dinner out with her husband and 4 of their friends.

Huckabee-Sanders claimed the Red Hen’s owner asked her to leave because of her role publicly defending President Donald Trump’s policies including a ban on transgender people serving in the military and forced separations of families caught crossing illegally at the U.S.-Mexican border.

Sanders said she and her husband “politely left” after the owner asked her to leave.

Soon after Sanders shared her side of the incident during a White House press briefing, President Trump jumped to her defense on twitter saying:

“The Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders.”

Confidential sources with the Washington Post and the New York Times are reporting that White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders was in fact asked to leave by the owner the restaurant because she was leading a Bible study class with the other 5.

It was reported that the Bible group became a disruption to the other clientele in the restaurant, the owner felt he had no choice but to ask her to leave the premises.

The owner of the restaurant was quoted as saying:

“It was the strangest thing I ever seen in all the years I have owned my restaurant. To the shock and dismay of all my other clientele and employees in the restaurant, this group of six lead by Huckabee-Sanders stood up, swaying their arms and hands in the air while chanting “I believe in the Trump Almighty” and “In the Donald we trust”.

When asked to show proof of what happened, the restaurant owner said that in all the commotion to leave, Huckabee Sanders left and autograph book of “The Art of The Deal” that was being used as a Bible for study.

The book left by Huckabee-Sanders had written in it “The Trump Ten Commandments”.

The Trump 10 Commandments are in Trumps own handwriting and written in orange tanning solution mixed with bright yellow hair dye.

Confidential sources for The New York Times and Washington Post have also confirmed that White House insiders are claiming regular Bible Study courses are also being conducted at the White House on the Trump 10 Commandments.

The Trump Ten Commandments are reported to be:

1st TRUMP COMMANDMENT: Thou shall have no other Gods before Trump.

The one and only person allowed to teach this Bible Study course is Trump himself because he believes he is God. Attendees are having a hard time reading their autograph copies of the “The Art of the Deal” because all the pages are stuck together with smears of the “special sauce” from McDonalds used on Big Macs.

2nd TRUMP COMMANDMENT: Thou Shall Not Make False Idols That Are Not Trump.

White House sources who decline to be identified claim all White House staff carry 3-inch gold plated statues of Trump with “small hands” that they are required to worship each day. No other idols are allowed in the White House. Rudy Giuliani has lead this Bible study on this commandment for a small fee of $1,000 per hour asking his money be funneled through the Michael Cohen law firm. While Giuliani lectures, Trump himself stands in front of the mirror saying prayers to himself while eating Big Mac cheese burgers in the private quarters, all the while FOX News provides a backdrop on TV.

3rd TRUMP COMMANDMENT: Thou Shall Not Take The Name Of Lord Trump Your God In Vain.

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson use to teach this class until he was fired by Trump while Trump sat on a toilet because Tillerson referred to Trump as a “moron”. Chief of Staff John Kelly took over, but his position is in doubt after denying he called Trump an “idiot”. John Bannon is said to be thinking about applying for the opening once Kelly is fired.

4th TRUMP COMMANDMENT: Remember the Sabbath Day, To Keep It Holy, Unless Every Day Is The Sabbath.

This Bible study class has been cancelled until further notice from the President in that in his eyes every day at the White House is the sabbath day to worship Donald Trump.

5th TRUMP COMMANDMENT: Thou Shall Honor Your Father Trump and Your Step Mother.

Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. are all trying to teach First Lady Melania Trump this commandment but she keeps using the old notebooks from the three former Mrs. Trumps.

6th TRUMP COMMANDMENT: Thou Shall Not Kill, Unless You Are President Trump.

This Trump Commandment has its origins from when Trump said “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” Michael Cohen, the president’s fixer, continues to teach this commandment until he is indicted for taking anyone out at Trump’s order to fix a problem. President of the National Rifle Association Wayne La Pierre offers a substitute class for credit entitled “People Kill People Not Assault Rifles”.

7th TRUMP COMMANDMENT: Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery, Unless You Have A Really Good Prenuptial.

Stormy Daniels teaches this commandment class using over 3,000 rough drafts of confidentiality agreements Trump has used to settle all his affairs. Daniels is said to also use at least 3 original prenuptial agreements Trump has signed from his previous marriages. Stormy Daniels is also said to use a pole as she spins around answering any and all questions during the class.

8th TRUMP COMMANDMENT: Thou Shall Not Steal And Not Say It Is A Campaign Donation.

Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, was teaching this class until he was thrown in jail for witness tampering. As a backup, the White House has asked over 3,000 students of Trump University to teach this commandment. However, there are no takers with all awaiting refunds from the settlement in the fraud lawsuit filed against Trump.

9th TRUMP COMMANDMENT: Thou Shall Not Lie, But Make Sure You Lie When You Get Caught.

The only ones that are allowed to teach this bible study are Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kellyanne Conway contingent on their availability.

10th TRUMP COMMANDMENT: Thou Shall Not Covet What Is Trumps.

Kim Jong-Un and President Donald Trump are trying decide who will lead this study class as they await word who gets the “Nobel Peace Prize”. Rumor is that two awards have already been cast in radioactive “yellow cake” by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, one in the shape of “LITTLE BOY” and the other in the shape of “FATMAN”. (Least anyone forget, “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” are the nicknames given to the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan that ended World War II.) The Nobel Prize committee is said to be conflicted as to who gets the “FAT MAN” trophy and who gets the “LITTLE MAN” trophy calling it the closest call they have ever had in recent history making the awards. The Nobel Committee is hoping to take the measurements of Kim’s and Trump’s hands as a tie breaker.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders was last seen leaving the White House followed by 25 secret Service agents all carrying White House carry-out bags going to the nearest McDonald’s.

This is a continuing story and further reports will be made as the White House tweets continue.

DISCLAIMER: FOR THOSE WHO TEND TO BELIEVE ANYTHING ON FACEBOOK AND THE INTERNET THEY READ, THE ABOVE NEWS RELEASE IS NOT TO BE CONSIDERED ANYTHING RELATED TO THE TRUTH.

On June 6, 2018, KOB ran the first poll conducted and released by Carrol Strategies that showed Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham with 50.5%, Republican Steve Pearce with 42.1%, Libertarian Bob Walsh with 3.1% and Undecided at 4.3% in the race for Governor.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/06/20/first-poll-released-for-november-general-election/

A new Survey USA/KOB poll released June 25, 2018 now has Michell Lujan Grisham leading Steve Pearce by 13% in the race for New Mexico governor.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/lujan-grisham-widens-lead-over-pearce-in-new-poll/4963872/#.WzJIDbcsQwY.facebook

This second KOB 4 poll has Lujan Grisham again in the lead with 51%, Republican Steve Pearce with 38%, Libertarian Bob Walsh with 3% and 8% of voter’s undecided.

Within days after June 5 primary, Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham began running her TV commercials that were very positive and reintroduced herself again to the voting public giving a very compelling personal background regarding her family.

Within a few days after the first poll showing Steve Pearce behind, Pearce began running his “feel good about me ads.”

The one feel good ad he ran in the primary was “I was born a poor white guy ad” as he struggled as an infant of tender months to overcome obstacles to live in Texas.

COMMENTARY

The election is in four months away, which is an eternity in politics.

It is likely Michelle Lujan Grisham began running commercials so early to protect and preserve her overwhelming landslide in the primary and to keep Democrats motivated and to protect the lead she already has.

The next faze now will be for Pearce to start unloading all the negativity he can on Michelle Lujan Grisham.

No matter what voters say about them, negative ads work and for Pearce to have any hope of closing the gap, he will have to go negative.

Brace yourself for one expensive and nasty general election race.