AG intervenes to ask for release of withheld pretrial services records

Apr. 24—Does the public have a right to know how many times defendants have violated their court-ordered GPS ankle monitor restrictions or other release conditions?

The 2nd Judicial District Court administration says no, citing state law and a 2022 state Supreme Court ruling. But state Attorney General Raúl Torrez contends the state court administration's recent refusal to produce such pretrial release information to a television reporter appears to violate state public records law.

"Pretrial services, which exists to protect the community from dangerous criminal defendants and to ensure their appearance at court proceedings, is not exempted from public scrutiny," Torrez wrote in a letter sent to the court Tuesday afternoon.

During his six years as Bernalillo County district attorney, Torrez was a vocal critic of the pretrial supervision system and questioned its effectiveness and the public safety risk of releasing dangerous suspects or repeat offenders on conditions instead of holding them in custody pending trial.

Now, as he heads the New Mexico Department of Justice, the pretrial services controversy has surfaced again in a different way. And it could end up in court.

Torrez's agency is tasked under state law with enforcing the state Inspection of Public Records Act, which requires open access to almost all public records in state and local government, with a few exceptions.

In the letter to Katina Watson, the court executive officer and records custodian for the Albuquerque-based 2nd Judicial District Court, Torrez says his office will "institute an enforcement action" if the records requested by KRQE-TV reporter Larry Barker aren't produced by May 15.

Watson couldn't be reached late Tuesday afternoon.

Torrez's letter to Watson cited "shocking" testimony that emerged during the October 2023 murder trial of Devin Munford, who was out on conditions of release in 2021 and wearing a GPS monitoring device when he killed Devon Heyborne. A pretrial services court employee testified Munford violated his GPS restrictions, which would limit where he could travel, more than 100 times in the weeks leading up to Heyborne's murder — "and neither law enforcement nor the District Attorney's Office was notified."

"This shocking revelation, which was not previously disclosed to either law enforcement or the community at large, is a matter of profound public concern," Torrez wrote to Watson.

In the public records case, Torrez's letter states there was no legal basis for denying the lawful request by reporter Larry Barker "for additional information about other occasions when the community was placed at risk."

Munford was convicted of first-degree murder for firing a shotgun through the door of an Albuquerque apartment, killing Heyborne. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 25 years.

Court officials have said the system since has been improved to provide after-hours supervision of defendants on GPS monitors.

New Mexico voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2016 that largely eliminated the former system of money bail bonds, giving judges the authority to order defendants held without bail pending trial if certain conditions are met, or allowing defendants to be released pending trial with conditions.

The court's pretrial services division oversees the defendants placed on pretrial release with GPS monitors and is tasked with keeping track of infractions and violations.

The Legislature in May 2022 enacted a law that sharply restricted release of location data of defendants on GPS monitors if requested by law enforcement officers without a warrant. Administrator Watson told Barker in a denial letter that GPS data, under that law, "shall not be made part of any public record unless admitted as evidence during a criminal trial." Defense attorneys objected to release of GPS records of clients on pretrial release, arguing privacy and medical issues were involved.

Barker's request focused not on location records but on other pretrial services information, such as alerts from GPS devices to pretrial services, and all notifications to the court and the District Attorney from pretrial services staff regarding violations related to defendants' tampering with GPS devices or going outside of GPS zones.

Torrez's letter stated that Barker, an investigative reporter, did not request private information, such as medical records.

The court administration, in its denial letter to Barker, relied on the state law and also cited an August 2022 Supreme Court ruling. Generally, the court ruled, pretrial services records are confidential and shouldn't be made part of any public records unless admitted in a court proceeding.

Torrez told the Journal that the Supreme Court justices "exceeded their authority" by going further than the "limited shield" provided to defendants by state law. The ruling came as a surprise, wasn't in response to a particular appeal, and was issued without giving all parties an opportunity to address the issue beforehand, he said.

Moreover, his letter added, the 2022 law "does not cloak pretrial services in secrecy or authorize the courts to exempt all pretrial services records from inspection by the public."

The Supreme Court ruling came two weeks after a state district judge decided that GPS records involving two defendants were a public record.

Torrez said he hopes Watson will reverse her prior decision on Barker's request. But Torrez suggested that if not, the Legislature and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham should also reexamine the issue to ensure the court's administration of the pretrial services program "doesn't occur behind closed doors where we get limited information and access."