Monday, July 02, 2018Not A "Serious" City"? Emotions Boil As Victoria's Murder May Go Unpunished; APD And DA Atop Cracked Justice System, Plus: Rally For Border Families; A "Stunning" Contradiction As NM Children Languish?
And so it was when BernCo District Attorney Raul Torrez informed that one of the most shocking and horrid cases of child abuse and murder in state history may fall through the massive cracks in the local criminal justice system. It could mean no one is held accountable for the murder, rape and dismemberment of 10 year old Victoria Martens, furthering the meme that New Mexico is unable and/or unwilling to deal with the wave of child abuse that has accompanied the downsized economy and the ensuing drug epidemic. Torrez could have had that news conference on a Sunday at 4 a.m. but nothing could disguise the shock and outrage over the new developments. It poured forth on social media, centered on the plea bargain deal Torrez made with Victoria's mother, Michelle Martens. Even though Torrez reported the evidence now shows she did not kill her daughter and could not be charged with murder, citizens still engaged were not pacified. Never mind the legaleze. They viewed the mother's neglect--going in search of drugs and leaving Victoria alone in the apartment with drugged out Jessica Kelly--as making her an accessory to the ghastly murder. The prospect that she may serve only a few years in prison and that the entire case could be lost only heightened their fury. Even veterans of La Politica were stunned by the incompetence of the ABQ police department and the reticence of the District Attorney to come forth sooner with the news that DNA testing done a year ago showed the case against two prime suspects--Michelle Martens and Fabian Gonzales--was crashing. Only on Friday--nearly two years after the August 2016 slaying--did the authorities call on the public to help them locate who they described as a "John Doe," a fourth, unidentified suspect whose DNA had been found on Victoria's body. Two wasted years of going down rabbit holes. Now they want the public's assistance? And if they don't get John Doe criminal defense attorney John Day says good luck getting a conviction of Jessica Kelley, the lone remaining defendant charged in the dastardly slaying. Law enforcement expert Dennis Maez unpacked the APD baggage on Facebook: This isn't rocket science. It's basic police work, check the alibis and verify the story that's given to you. The problem, it seems to me, is a lack of supervision, plain and simple. Absolutely arrest the people at the scene, interview them, file charges adequate to hold them, then investigate. Don't make the evidence fit the crime, find the real facts and go from there. Jessica Kelly's attorney is going to have a field day attacking the investigation. Kelley is still charged with the murder while Martens and her boyfriend Fabian Gonzales had their charges reduced when Torrez said evidence reveals they were not at the murder scene, even though Michelle Martens told police they were. NOT A "SERIOUS" CITY? There is not only frustration over the epic failure of the city and state to protect its most vulnerable, there is exhaustion. That led to comments like this from one of our Senior Alligators who has seen more than he cares to: Law enforcement in ABQ isn't serious about fighting crime. All they want to do is manage it. They let criminal activity go unchecked. And Raul Torrez is no Eliot Ness. He' more like the Mayor of Gotham in Batman. ABQ is not a serious city. All you have to do is look at how we handled ART. We are led and governed by a pack of political peacocks and poseurs--none of whom are serious abut anything other than their own political vanity and ambition. Which is why no one outside of our state--or its major city--take anything about us seriously. Strong stuff that you won't see in any of the Chamber of Commerce brochures, but it's sure to be reinforced when the headlines blare across the globe over how a 10 year old girl in Albuquerque, New Mexico can be murdered, raped and butchered in a bathtub but can have no justice. A STUNNING CONTRADICTION
Writing on Facebook Melissa Ariel called the contrast between those news stories and the Saturday rally a "stunning and disappointing contradiction." Yes, Civic Plaza was packed. . . Meanwhile, we still have tens of thousands of kids in the same situation they were in before. And the concerned classes have moved on to the next issue du jour. . . I suspect that it is not going unnoticed in many corners of New Mexico that these 2,300 children on the border are getting far more concern from certain sectors than (murdered children) Jeremiah Vasquez, Omaree Varela, Victoria Martens, and the thousands of NM kids in foster care or abusive homes who get no help even after 10, 25, or more calls to CYFD. Naturally there will be the argument that it is a false equivalency to compare the border children to our own stricken population. Regardless, the question again arises of whether New Mexico can summon the same passion in evidence at the Civic Plaza rally to reverse the dismal conditions of so many of its own. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2018 |
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