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Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

Vol. 124, No. 39 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday

February 14, 2015

SATURDAY

www.rdrnews.com

Doggy Savior acquitted on all charges in pitbull attack By Jeff Tucker Record Staff Writer

The operator of a Roswell-based canine rescue group charged in connection with the June dog mauling of a Roswell boy was acquitted by a jury Friday on all charges. The six-person jury deliberated about an hour Friday after the day-long trial before finding Sammye S. LaFlar not guilty of three petty misdemeanor counts of dogs running/found at large and three misdemeanor counts of failure to vaccinate dogs. Each of the charges had a maximum possible penalty of 180 days in jail and a $500 fine.

LaFlar, 59, of Roswell, is operator of the Roswell-based canine rescue group Doggy Saviors. She was charged following the June 11 dog attack of 9-year-old Colby Prince of Roswell. “I’m glad the little boy is OK,” an emotional LaFlar told the Daily Record after the verdict. “I think it was a very horrible incident that happened to him and I hope he gets OK. I hate that this happened to him and that he’s going to be afraid of dogs. I’m afraid there’s not anything anybody can probably do about that. I feel bad for him.” LaFlar’s lawyer, Ruidoso attorney Gary Mitchell,

repeatedly argued in court Friday that LaFlar was not personally responsible for dogs rescued under her name, or under the authority of Doggy Saviors, from Roswell Animal Control Services. The dogs were subsequently transferred by Doggy Savior volunteers to the barn of Billy D. Fugate at 5196 Vista Lane. Authorities testified Friday at least two of the mixed-breed pitbulls escaped their confinement the morning of June 11 and attacked Colby at his nearby home. Mitchell argued the controversial Animal Welfare Alliance, the Roswell-based umbrella organization for Doggy Saviors, was respon-

sible for the dogs that were rescued from the animal shelter at 705 E. McGaffey St. and taken to Fugate’s barn. Mitchell said AWA was also responsible for the dogs’ vaccinations and having them spayed or neutered. “You have to look at who is the owner of those dogs,” Mitchell told the two-man, four-woman jury in closing arguments. “That’s AWA in this instance. Sammye didn’t actually take the dogs out. She didn’t take custody or care for them. She’s not the owner. She didn’t have control of them. And she certainly didn’t allow them to run loose.” Chaves County chief deputy prosecutor Michael

Jeff Tucker Photo

Sammye S. LaFlar and her attorney, Gary Mitchell, leave the Chaves County Courthouse Friday after a jury found LaFlar not guilty of six charges in connection with a June dog mauling. Murphy prosecuted the case before Chaves County

Magistrate Judge K.C. Rogers. “We have to respect the jury’s verdict,” Murphy said after the trial. Murphy argued LaFlar was responsible for the dogs because they had been released from the animal shelter under her name and authority. “This case is about responsibility,” Murphy told the jury in closing arguments. “The person responsible is the person whose name or stamp is on the release form of each of those three dogs.” Roswell police Detective Jeff Prince, the father of Colby Prince, provided See TRIAL, Page A3

ENMU-R instructors chosen for national honor

Showing love to new mothers

Staff Report

Mary Morgan Photo

East Grand Plains Elementary teachers Nichole Chambers (center) and Brittany Griffin (left) handed out handmade valentines to new mothers at Eastern New Mexico Medical Center Friday with the EGP Student Council and Brook Linthicum (right) the head of marketing at ENMMC.

Two instructors at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell have been selected to receive 2015 Teaching Excellence Awards from the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development. Each year, instructors in each division are asked to nominate one instructor to receive the award. From these nominations, the Faculty Evaluation Committee selects two faculty members for national recognition. This year, Kimberly Childress, university studies instructor, and Darlene Klassen, mathematics instructor, have been selected. Childress is the lead instructor for university studies classes and developed the online class shell and syllabus to meet Quality Matters standards. “Kim encourages students to share individual expe-

Klassen riences and often guides students through self-discovery to find solutions and build critical thinking skills,” said Joan Arnold, dean of Liberal Arts. “Ms. Childress is available to students during office hours, online and by appointment spending quality time in her online courses.” Klassen is the lead instructor for mathematSee ENMU-R, Page A3

A Cupid connection Life Purpose Karate blends punching with ‘purpose’

By Rey Berrones Vision Editor

Roswell is blessed to possess a number of cultural gems which enrich the lives of the city’s residents. Among these is the Roswell Symphony Orchestra.
 For decades the RSO has entertained audiences with its concerts. Each event has required countless hours from organizers to bring this wonderful art form to Roswell. These organizers dedicate their time to arrange these performances because of their love for the music and do so not to make money, but to spread that love of music to others in our community.
 On Valentine’s Day, the

RSO will present a special love letter to the community with its special Valentine’s themed concert entitled “A Cupid Connection.” 
 “It is on Valentine’s Day, and all four of the pieces have a connection to love,” said Kate Graham, operations manager for the RSO.
 The concert will open with an overture from a Weber opera about a couple in love that have to overcome great odds to be together.
 It continues with a bassoon concerto written by a composer most famous for his opera compositions — Rossini. Graham said, “How could this piece not have a lovely flourish of See CUPID, Page A2

By Randal Seyler Record City Editor

Ken Bertin is a martial arts instructor with a purpose. Bertin, 48, is a fourth-degree black belt karate instructor, and he has started a new class, Life Purpose Karate, which is hosted by Grace Community Church in Roswell. “We started the program at the beginning of February 2015, and we’ve got almost 40 participants now,” Bertin said. “We started out with 28 on the first night, children and adults. The youngest at this moment is age 5.” Bertin, who works at the Daily Record as an

advertising representative, has 30 years of martial arts experience, and 25 of those years he spent as a martial arts instructor. “Twenty of those years were here in Roswell,”: Bertin said. “I have owned a professional martial arts school in Roswell for the past 20 years, but not always under the same name. Real American Karate was the name of the one I was under the longest time.” After a divorce, Bertin re-opened a karate school with a partner as the Urban Warrior Center, which was located in the Monterrey Shopping Center for the past five years. “Now I am teaching as a nonprofit community pro-

Randal Seyler Photo

Fourth-degree black belt Ken Bertin, left, leads his class in kicking drills as part of the new Life Purpose Karate program, sponsored by Grace Community Church in Roswell. gram, in conjunction with the Life Purpose coach- gram’s website, Life Puring at Grace Community pose Karate’s mission is Church,” Bertin said. “It’s “to empower students to the next step, and I see it be difference-makers in as a great evolution.” According to the proSee ARTS, Page A2

Teen’s Super Bowl wish comes true, meets favorite player By Jeff Jackson Record Staff Writer

Two weeks ago a wish came true for 16-year-old Cesar Perez, a dream of going to the Super Bowl and he even met his favorite football player. Perez, his parents Cesar and Aracely and sister Gaby were given four tickets to watch the Seattle Seahawks play the New England Patriots on Feb. 1 in Glendale, Arizona, through the Make-A-Wish foundation. “It was awesome. I had a lot of fun over there. I didn’t even know what to expect,” said Cesar Jr., a Dallas Cowboys fan and Roswell High School stu-

dent. “It was way different from a regular game. I’ll probably remember this my whole life. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Almost a full two years ago, at 14, doctors told Cesar that he had a form of cancer, lymphoblastic lymphoma, and he has been taking chemotherapy treatments since then. After missing out on the 2014 Super Bowl in East Rutherford, N.J., Cesar was one of 12 patients ­— Make-A-Wish calls them “Wish Kids” — to be selected for this year’s football spectacle with all expenses paid. A social worker at the MD Anderson Cancer C enter in

Today’s Forecast

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Houston, where Cesar and Aracely had been going for his treatments before he was transferred to Lubbock, put the family in touch with Make-A-Wish but their application for the 2014 game was submitted too late for consideration. “It also helps the kids think of something positive rather than just their treatment,” Aracely said. “But this year they called me maybe about seven months ago to tell me that he did qualify, and we started the countdown from there. He was really excited, and we were hoping the Cowboys would go but they didn’t. He was so upset that game when they lost (in the

playoffs to the Green Bay Packers.)” When Aracely received the call from Make-A-Wish she could hardly contain herself and later told Cesar, who was not home when the call came. “Whenever I told him his face just lit up and he couldn’t believe it that they said OK, we got confirmation and they’re gonna let him go to the Super Bowl this year. “They called just to see how the kids are doing as they get closer. They actually have a doctor, an oncologist, ready in case he was to go to the doctor up there in case anything happens. They said, ‘the only thing we

See WISH, Page A2 Index

Today’s Obituary Page B4

• H. Ross Tenneson

need is a signature from a physician’ just to make sure he’ll be available in case he needed. And once he signed they called me they said, ‘Yes, you guys are going’ and I said we’ll start getting everything ready,” Aracely said. “The Super Bowl is one of the biggest wishes kids make, this and the World Cup and the World Series.” Cesar and Aracely spent four days in Arizona for Super Bowl festivities, and even received a supplemental check from MakeA-Wish for their incidental expenses. “It was unbelievable,”

Classifieds...........B6 Comics..................B5 Entertainment. ....A8 Financial..............B4

General...............A2

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