District Attorney candidates face off in forum ahead of competitive race

Candidates for what promises to be the most competitive Doña Ana County race in the election cycle faced off in a forum at a packed City Hall chambers last week.

Four Democrats and a Republican candidate for the Third Judicial District Attorney answered questions from the audience in a forum co-sponsored by The League of Women Voters of Southern New Mexico, the Doña Ana County Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern New Mexico Bar Association.

Current District Attorney Gerald Byers is seeking a second term. Byers will face Democrat challengers Shaharazad Booth, Ramona Martinez and Fernando Macias in the June primary. The winner will face Republican Michael Cain in November.

More: New Mexico Primary Election: Doña Ana candidates file for local, state, federal races

Candidates sound off on how they would prosecute cases efficiently

Many questions at the forum involved the approach that each candidate may take in ensuring timely prosecution in cases, if they are prosecuted at all.

"I'm not here to discuss how to prosecute one case, I'm here to discuss how we prosecute 3,000 cases and the ability to organize an office in such a manner that it can help reduce crime in the community," said Macias, who touted his experience as a district judge, a public defender as well as organizational experience as Doña Ana County manager.

According to Macias, approximately 9,000 individuals go the Doña Ana County Detention Center. He said 492 of them had been there at least three times in the last 12 months.

Macias and Byers said that cases that involve individuals with multiple offenses should be prioritized.

"It would be ludicrous for anyone to think that someone should place more importance on a fourth-degree felony than a second-degree rape case," Byers said. "Currently the way cases are triaged and assigned, we place priority on high priority cases and those frequent flyer offenders."

Martinez and Booth stated that if there were more attorneys in the district attorney's office, more cases would be prosecuted.

According to Byers, the office currently has 19 attorneys on staff. Multiple candidates believe the number should be doubled.

"What we need to do is fully staff the office and get the funding that we need through some of the lost grants," Booth said. "Once you are able to fully staff the office, you prioritize every single case that comes across and treat each person with the priority and love they deserve."

Martinez, a graduate of the University of New Mexico Law School, said she would recruit statewide.

"Farmington has 17 attorneys and Santa Fe has 30 and we probably have maybe half of the number of attorneys and we are the second largest county," Martinez said. "We triage the office and triage the cases, and you put in a new leadership structure."

Cain said that charging a case properly has been an issue in the District Attorney's office.

"I understand how crimes can be undercharged and over charged," said Cain, who is currently a defense attorney in Las Cruces. "There has to be an appropriate analysis, applying the facts of each case to the law so the crime is charged appropriately and for the office to be functional and competent to the level that we can successfully prosecute those cases."

Cain and Macias would each support returning to a preliminary hearing system, or mini trial, rather than a grand jury system before an individual is charged. Byers indicated a preliminary hearing would only lengthen the duration of a case.

"The chief deputy district attorney evaluates cases that we bring to a grand jury," Byers said. "One of the things people need to understand with the difference between a grand jury and preliminary hearing is that it takes time."

Byers defends record on transparency, case dismissals

At one point during the forum, Byers wanted a chance to respond to candidates who "essentially attack the incumbent" on a question regarding transparency.

Byers was told by the moderator he could respond during his closing remarks. Candidates mentioned a lack of transparency from his office after a recent media report detailed Byers' office denying multiple requests for case dismissals.

"It doesn't take much to engage effectively with the public and it doesn't take a lot to be honest with people in terms of strengths of the case or the weakness of the case," Macias said.

Booth and Martinez each stressed improved record keeping in the District Attorney's office, as well as visibility in the community.

"Keep records to track and answer the community that entrusted you with these cases," Booth said. "Being honest with victims at the onset saves you a lot of problems. Don't promise things you know you cannot achieve."

In response to case dismissals, Byers cited the implementation of New Mexico Supreme Court rule LR 3-303, or Case Management Order. The CMO is meant to decrease the load of criminal cases and stimulate quick resolutions. It was implemented in the Third Judicial District as a pilot project to study the effects of the CMO.  The CMO is a set of rules regarding time limits in the district court. The rule applies to all criminal cases in the district court.

Case management was also implemented in Albuquerque but the expectation is it will soon be statewide.

"The way the case management rule is implemented, it is designed to shuck cases," Byers said. "That is straight out of our chief district court judge, who has said the Supreme Court's driving ambition and purpose is, nobody is in jail and minimal dockets. If you look at the how the cases are dismissed and the manner they are dismissed, it mirrors what was done in Albuquerque."

Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on X @jpgroves.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: District Attorney candidates face off in forum ahead of competitive race