OPINION: Insiders: Secret justice system didn't deliver

Feb. 28—Miguel M. Chavez says justice wasn't served by the dismissal of criminal charges against eight people who helped destroy the Soldiers' Monument on the Plaza.

"It was frustrating because there were no real consequences," Chavez said in an interview.

His viewpoint is significant. Misgivings and all, Chavez was one of four "harmed parties" who signed a memorandum of agreement with the lawbreakers after interacting with them during a secret, daylong mediation session.

District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies labeled the process "restorative justice." By her assessment, vandals meeting privately with Chavez and a few other people designated as "harmed parties" would lessen an entire city's pain over the monument's destruction.

That isn't how it worked out, said Chavez, formerly a Santa Fe city councilor and county commissioner.

He said the district attorney's diversionary program seemed weighted toward the defendants who smashed the 152-year-old obelisk to pieces.

At least two people designated as "harmed parties" refused to sign the agreement with the eight vandals. Neither is identified in documents about the mediation.

As for the criminals, they said they attacked the Soldiers' Monument because it symbolized racism against Native Americans. They ignored that the obelisk honored Union soldiers who defeated the Confederate Army in New Mexico — heroism that helped abolish slavery.

Chavez attached his name to the mediation agreement, though with discomfort.

"I'm disappointed in the DA and wish she would have been more engaged," he said. "Obviously this process has to be better if it's attempted again."

In a separate interview, Carmack-Altwies said she did not participate in the mediation but defended its worth.

She said the defendants were held accountable for their crimes by each performing 40 hours of community service and paying some costs of the diversion program, an average of $1,900 apiece.

In turn, Carmack-Altwies dismissed the charges, including several felonies.

Light punishment it was. But Carmack-Altwies said the outcome was appropriate because the lawbreakers committed "nonviolent" crimes.

Forget that they used hammers, chains and other tools to demolish a monument that was the centerpiece of a National Historic Landmark. Because the defendants didn't physically injure anyone, their offenses were not violent under the law, Camack-Altwies said.

Another of the "harmed parties" disagrees with the district attorney's view.

"It was violent. What should have been a peaceful protest was turned into something else by extremists," said Elena Tercero.

Tercero, 43, has a lifelong bond with fellow panel member Chavez.

She is Chavez's daughter. They said they were recruited into service by the company that oversaw the mediation.

More commonalities bind the four harmed parties who signed the agreement. All of them have worked in politics or government.

Tercero, a certified public accountant, has a long record of employment in government agencies. She is the only one of the four who has not run for public office.

Her dad served multiple terms in city and county government.

The other two signatories are retired state District Court Judge Michael Vigil and Frank Montaño, who was a city councilor and school board member.

Apparent from the panel's composition is most people had no chance of being considered, regardless of how troubled they were by mob violence.

At least the four aggrieved parties who signed the agreement were versed in New Mexico history.

Tercero, the 1997 Santa Fe Fiesta queen, reigned over an event on the Plaza that celebrated peace. It hurt to see the same spot overrun by criminals.

Tercero said she would have preferred hearing from the eight defendants individually, rather than having to address the entire group.

"It didn't feel it was going to be a perfect process, and it wasn't," she said.

Carmack-Altwies cited safety as one reason the proceeding was confidential.

The district attorney said she received two death threats over her handling of the case. She filed a police report.

Beyond that, she said, defense lawyers told her some of the vandals also were threatened with death.

Any threat is one too many. But each month Carmack-Altwies and her staff prosecute people accused of horrible crimes — murder, domestic violence, rapes of children. Any threats against the accused should be investigated without the justice system descending to the dank basement of secrecy.

The lawbreakers who destroyed the obelisk don't bear all the the blame for the breakdown of justice.

Mayor Alan Webber engaged in his own secretive, predawn maneuver to uproot the Soldiers' Monument. It failed, but Webber claimed he had to do something to keep the peace in the volatile summer and fall of 2020.

Lawbreakers who later descended on the Plaza claimed they merely finished the job Webber started. It wasn't true. Webber didn't advocate for destruction of the monument.

Still, the mayor sided with his police commanders, who gave the lawbreakers a free run to do their worst on the Plaza. By stepping aside, police said they kept people safer than if they had enforced the law. That wasn't true, either.

Webber's administration started a train wreck in the legal system. Carmack-Altwies merely completed the derailment.

Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.