Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 124, No. 47 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
February 24, 2015
Tuesday
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Roach DUI case moved to district court
By Jeff Tucker Record Staff Writer
A drunken driving case against the former face of Roswell that had been set to go to trial this week in Chaves County Magistrate Court has been bumped up to Chaves County District Court. A hearing on a defense motion to suppress evidence against Renee L. Roach had been scheduled Monday in Chaves County Magistrate Court, with Roach set to stand trial Thursday. However, the prosecutor on Friday dismissed charges of aggravated driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs and failure to maintain traffic lane in magistrate court and is re-filing the charges in district court.
Fifth Judicial District Assistant District Attorney Anderson Hatfield explained authorities fully intend to pursue the drunken driving case against Roach. State police said Roach, 41, of Roswell, was driving on Roswell’s southside late Sept. 2 with blood-alcohol concentrations of 0.19 and 0.18 percent, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08, making the DUI charge an aggravated offense. “The state is fully committed to prosecuting this fully and fairly, just like all of its other cases,” Hatfield explained Monday. “This case involves a charge of driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs. Like I tell juries, these cases are real simple. You’ve got two questions: One, were they driving? Two,
were they intoxicated?” Hatfield said Roach’s case was moved from magistrate court to district court for “judicial economy.” He explained cases heard in magistrate court may be appealed to district court. Hearing Roach’s case in district court could eliminate the need for an appeal in district court, Hatfield explained. “Procedurally, what’s happening in this particular case is the default rule in Chaves County is that misdemeanors, which are crimes punishable by less than a year, get adjudicated primarily in magistrate court,” Hatfield explained. “Why do we do that? Because magistrate court moves so quickly that we can adjudicate the vast majority of cases that we have. This case, however, was going to
be appealed, regardless of what happened at the lower court. So instead of the fast-track misdemeanor court, it got jumped up to a more slow-moving, felony oriented court. “It’s just the most efficient way to resolve this particular case. For a case like this, where it’s really in everyone’s best interest to have a definitive resolution, we prefer to have it heard in district court.” Hatfield said hearing Roach’s case in district court would also eliminate the need for De Baca County Magistrate Judge Buddy J. Hall to travel to Roswell to preside over the case. Hall is presiding over Roach’s case after Chaves County Magistrate Judge K.C. Rogers recused himself and after Chaves County Magis-
trate Judge John Halvorson was excused for health reasons. “It will speed things up,” Hatfield said. “This will speed up the final disposition in the sense that if we had gone to the mat in magistrate court, and then gone again in district court, the wheels of justice would have turned even more slowly. “But this has more finality in the sense that an adjudication of guilt or innocence, those facts will stay frozen in the record. So in district court, the facts get frozen over the course of the trial period, whereas in magistrate court, we start all over. We essentially moved forward in time.” Roach’s attorney, S. Doug Jones Witt, at a hearing ThursSee DWI, Page A3
Texas boy killed in rollover crash
A buzz with the fuzz
Staff Report
An 8-year-old boy from Fort Stockton, Texas, was killed and two other people were injured in a rollover crash Sunday morning north of Roswell. State police said Daniel Lopez was ejected from a vehicle and later pronounced dead at the scene of the single-vehicle accident along U.S. Highway 285, near milepost 149. Police said the initial Bill Moffitt Photo
Members of the Roswell Police Department enjoy a cup of coffee at the Tequeria Jalisco Restaurant, 1622 S. Main St., during the first “Coffee with a Cop” Monday morning. The RPD plans to hold the event on a monthly basis to give the public a chance to talk to officers about their concerns or just to chat. Shown here are RPD officers Karen Vaderweele, Joe Mason, Charlie Drake and Grant Longberg. The Roswell Daily Record will announce the next meeting. The information is also available at the RPD’s website at roswellpolice.com.
Hearing date set for reckless driver case
Staff Report
A hearing has been set at 9 a.m. Monday, March 9, in Chaves Country District Court for Jonathan Caraveo, the 27-year-old Artesia man accused of causing a violent three-vehicle collision on North Main Street. The case has been moved from magistrate court, which hears mostly misdemeanor offenses, to the district court, which hears felonies. The most serious of Cavaveo’s two charges is causing great bodily injury by vehicle, a third-degree felony that carries a sen-
tence of up to three years in prison. Cavaveo’s other charge is no proof of insurance, a misdemeanor that carries a fine up to $300. On Feb. 13 Cavaveo entered a plea of not guilty. A third charge of reckless driving was dropped by the Chaves County District Attorney’s office. Caraveo had waived his preliminary hearing in magistrate court and has requested that a six-person jury hear his case. His defense attorney is Kevin Hanratty of Artesia. According to a criminal complaint filed in Chaves County Magistrate Court
on Jan. 7, Caraveo was driving a red Toyota Tacoma pickup truck at a high rate of speed into oncoming traffic and proceeded through a red light before striking two vehicles, a white Chevrolet SUV and a grey Toyota Camry. The collisions resulted in four people being injured and transported to local hospitals for treatment. Investigating officers were unable to locate insurance for Caraveo’s vehicle at the scene of the incident. The accident occurred during the lunch rush hour. Witnesses as far south as the “Y” intersec-
Caraveo tion at South Main and Southeast Main streets reported on Facebook seeing a red truck speeding north in the incoming lanes.
Council reviews its work in 12-hour session By Jeff Jackson Record City Editor
After meeting for a scheduled 12 hours Friday and Saturday, the top achievement for the Roswell City Council was better communication, Mayor Dennis Kintigh believes. No actions were taken in the workshops held at the Chamber of Commerce, but there was still plenty of work for the city leaders. “I think the biggest thing here is communication,” Kintigh said Monday in reviewing the workshop. “The staff, through (the city manager and other presenters) communicate to the council what our current situations are, what our current challenges are. Infrastructure’s a big challenge, a big issue, and we as a council communicate with each other as to what our perceived priorities are and communicate those back to staff. If we’re going
to go forward we all have to know what direction we’re going. We want to pull the rope in the same direction.” Over the two days, the council studied and listened to a 10-phase program that covered everything from budgets to burgers, expenditures to unique dining in the “state of the city” as described by Kintigh. “I think it was great. All of the response from the councilors at the end of the day was that, that was great and I anticipate this becoming an annual event where we do a two-day workshop, kind of a “state of the city” if you will,” Kintigh said. “Next year we’ll move it to right after the municipal election. The municipal election is next March. There will be five councilors up for election, so the idea would be to have it right after that so that whoever is new in office can come up to
The Roswell City Council convenes Saturday in the second day of a two-day study session at the Chamber of Commerce. Mayor Dennis Kintigh says he would like to see the same types of comprehensive non-voting meetings conducted annually. speed because this is the standing the city’s $110 kind of stuff that we need m i l l i o n b u d g e t , w h i c h to have, just things like includes federal and state budget. How does a bud- monies, and prioritizing get work? Learning how we projects and buildings. “You’ve got to manage can go through the budget, a budget. We’ve got these what are all these different funds?” See REVIEWS, Page A2 A large topic was under-
Today’s Forecast
Today’s Obituaries Page A6
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investigation revealed a 2005 Ford pickup was traveling north on the highway Sunday morning when it struck a portion of ice on the roadway. Police said the pickup crossed the median into oncoming traffic and rolled, ejecting Lopez and injuring two other occupants. State police officers responded to the scene at about 10 a.m. Sunday. The crash remains under investigation.
Suspect found in Carlsbad closet Staff Report
A man wanted by police on numerous Chaves County arrest warrants was found last week hiding in the closet of a home in Carlsbad. State police said Kenneth Allison, 48, was arrested and booked into the Eddy County Detention Center in Carlsbad after he was found Thursday. Police said Allison had numerous arrest warrants out of Chaves County for 18 counts of forgery, receiving or transferring stolen property and failure to pay child support. Police said Allison is also a suspect in other burglaries and a suspect in a recent arson that occurred in Chaves County. State police said they had been searching for Allison for three weeks and had conducted numerous operations targeted at capturing him. State police said officers on Thursday were watching Allison’s vehicle at the home in Carlsbad when a woman was seen driving
Allison his truck away from the home. Police said officers made contact with the woman after she stopped at a convenience store near the residence. Police said the woman and truck were detained for further investigation. State police officers then made contact with the homeowner where Allison’s truck had been. Upon questioning, police said the woman consented to officers searching her home for Allison. Police said Allison was found hiding in a closet and was arrested.
Learn to spot a storm Submitted by RPD
Staff Photo
• Shirley Mae Smith • Ella Cordellia Lynch • Roma Louise Wilcke
• Leonor Rubio Baca • Billy “Bill” Callaway Sr.
Roswell/Chaves County Office of Emergency Management and the Pecos Valley Amateur Radio Club will be hosting the annual Skywarn storm spotter classes March 11 at the Daniels Leadership Center on the New Mexico Military Institute campus. The free classes are taught by the National Weather Service and will include severe weather safety, terminology and severe-reporting criteria. Students will receive a toll-free number to call to report severe weather. Certified weather spotters are often called upon during
severe-weather emergencies, as well as in preparation for anticipated severe weather. Even with the latest technology, spotters are still critical to the Weather Service because of certain inherent limitations in radar and other reporting equipment. Trained spotters must attend a class every two years to be considered current in their training. The classes are open to the public. The two-hour classes will be offered at 1:30 p.m. and again at 6:30 p.m. There is no charge and advanced registration is not needed. For more information, contact Emergency Manager Karen Sanders at 575-624-6740.
Index Classifieds...........B6 Comics..................B5 Financial..............B4 General...............A2
Horoscopes.........A8
Opinion.................A4
Lotteries. ............A2
Sports. ................B1
Nation..................A6
Weather...............A8