Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 123, No. 77 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
March 29, 2014
www.rdrnews.com
SATURDAY
Judge finds Campbell competent to stand trial RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
District Judge Freddie Romero ruled on Friday that 12-year -old Mason Campbell, the boy accused of shooting two classmates at Berrendo Middle School, is competent to assist with his defense and stand trial. However, Campbell’s attor neys told the court neither they nor Campbell’s family want the matter to go to trial. “The child understands
the charges and we are working on a resolution,” said defense attor ney Jason Bowles. The boy was represented on Friday by two attor neys — Bowles and attor ney Robert Gorence, both of Albuquerque. Police say Campbell, ar med with a shotgun, opened fire at the middle school on Jan. 14, seriously wounding two students before a staff member persuaded him to put down the firearm.
Campbell has been charged with three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and one count of bringing a firearm onto school property, said Chandler. The shooting at Berrendo Middle School took place in a gym where students had gathered to stay warm from the frigid weather outside before the start of class. Wounded were 12-year-old Nathaniel Tavarez and 13year -old Kendal Sanders. Both children are recover-
ing from their wounds. Special Prosecutor Matt Chandler agreed with the defense attorneys in asking the court to extend the mandatory 30-day period before a trial is required by an additional 60 days. Chandler also asked the court to set aside a 10-day timeframe in case the matter does go to trial. The court also decided to continue to incarcerate Campbell in Albuquerque for his own safety and due to overcrowding at the
Chaves County Detention Center. “The court recalls the last hearing we had on this matter, and we are concerned with what is in the best interest of the child,” Romero said. In Albuquerque, Campbell can interact with other children and continue to see the psychiatrist he has already been seeing. The court set Campbell’s next hearing date for 1 p.m. on April 29. If there is to be a trial, it
Bryce Hart, left, practices Wednesday with instructor Dwayne Worley at the Roswell Adult Center. Hart is preparing to compete in the International Taekwon-Do Federation World Championships, which will be held in Rome, Italy, in July.
Campbell will be tried as a juvenile in connection with the shooting. He was not charged as an adult because of his age, in accordance with New Mexico law.
No one under age 14 in the state can face adult sanctions, authorities said.
Goddard senior Hart qualifies for int’l Taekwon-Do competition event RANDAL SEYLER ROSWELL DAILY RECORD
Randal Seyler Photo
will take place in late June, but Bowles said he hopes the attorneys will be able to come to an agreeable disposition of the case without a trial.
Bryce Hart, a senior at Goddard High School, is one of a handful of Southeastern New Mexicans who have qualified to compete in the International Taekwon-Do Federation World Championships, which will be held in Rome, Italy, in July. Hart, a first-degree black belt, qualified in sparring and was chosen as an alternate in patterns competition. “This is really a tremendous opportunity for Bryce,” said his instructor, Dwayne Worley. Worley teaches Taekwon-Do at the
Roswell Adult Center in Roswell. Black belts from Eastern New Mexico Taekwon-Do spent March 15-16 in Houston, Texas, qualifying for the international championships. This is the equivalent of qualifying for the Olympic games of most sports, Worley said. Worley has been teaching Taekwon-Do in New Mexico since 1973, and he is planning fundraising events to help pay Hart’s way to Italy, and the trip is expected to cost about $4,000. “We hope to have a pancake breakfast here at the See COMPETITION, Page A3
Street closures set Ex-legislator Coll of Santa Fe dies at 82 for this weekend RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Two sections of roadway will be closed this weekend as the city continues its slurry seal pavement maintenance program. East Country Club Road from Garden Avenue east to the railroad tracks will close today. East College Avenue from North Main Street east to Atkinson Avenue will close on Sunday. Drivers should take alternate routes during the closures. Drivers should not drive on the wet asphalt-oil pavement. “Your patience and cooperation is greatly
appreciated,” said City Engineer Luis Najar.
The projects are part of a citywide pavement preservation operation that began March 19 and will continue through March 31. The city began its bi-annual slurry seal pavement maintenance that requires placing a mixture of asphalt, an oil emulsion, rock and sand on the street. The process takes several hours to dry and requires one day for each section of roadway.
SANTA FE — Former state Rep. Max Coll of Santa Fe, longtime legislative budget committee chairman, has died at age 82. Sen. Peter Wirth, a family friend, said Friday that Coll died Thursday night after suffering a stroke last week. Coll, who began his bifurcated political career as a Republican in one of the most conservative areas of New Mexico and ended it as a liberal Democrat, according to Rob Nikolewski of newmexico.watchdog.org. Coll served in the House for 32 years, retiring in 2004. He had been chairman of the Appropriations and Finance Committee since 1987. Coll began representing a Santa Fe district as a
Coll
Republican in 1981, and became a Democrat two years later. In a hint to his eventual political right-to-left transition, Coll in 1972 co-sponsored the New Mexico Equal Rights Amendment. He left the Roundhouse in 1974 to complete a law degree from the University of New Mexico and moved to northern New Mexico upon graduation, according to the
Millions of jars of peanut butter dumped ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Nearly a million jars of peanut butter were dumped at a New Mexico landfill this week to expedite the sale of a bankrupt peanut-processing plant that was at the heart of a 2012 salmonella outbreak and nationwide recall. Bankruptcy trustee Clarke Coll said he had no other choice after Costco Wholesale refused to take shipment of the Sunland Inc. product and declined requests to let it be donated to food banks or repackaged or sold to bro-
kers who provide food to institutions like prisons. “We considered all options,” Coll said. “They didn’t agree.” MelindaJoy Pattison, executive director of the Food Bank of Eastern New Mexico, on Friday called the dumping of the peanut butter “horrendous.” She said as long as there was nothing wrong with the peanut butter, her operation would have found a way to store it, remove the labels and distribute it to the people who depend on the food bank.
HIGH 75 LOW 47
TODAY’S FORECAST
“Those trucks carrying it to the dump went right by the front door of my food bank,” she said. “It wasn’t like it would have been out of the way.” Pattison said peanut butter is a major source of protein and a staple for hungry people. Her food bank places single-serve peanut butter cups in packages it gives to children whose parents rely on its services. “For it to just be deliberately thrown away is disappointing,” she said. Costco officials did not
• YNEZ TAYLOR
website. By 1980, Coll had the itch to return to the Legislature and was elected that fall as the state rep in Santa Fe’s District 47 as a Republican. Gone was the buzz-cut, as Coll let his curly hair grow out and, in time, he even sported a stud in each ear lobe. Born in Roswell, Coll represented a Chaves County district from 1967 to 1974. Wirth described Coll as an “extraordinary public servant.” An avid rafter, Coll once likened serving in the Legislature as a “whitewater rafting trip with thrills, a few spills and wonderful friendship and thrilling side canyon hikes.” Coll served the people of New Mexico as a “citizen legislator” in the state House of Representatives, and he was honored with a
Santa Fe Living Treasure award in 2006, according to the website sflivingtreasures.org.
He was a supporter of many causes, including; equal rights for women, public art, natural resources, fiscal responsibility, civil liberties, a fair tax policy, universal health insurance, HIV treatment, open government, quality education, state museums, the interests of children the elderly and those in need, according to the website.
“Beginning in his native Roswell and then for 32 years in Santa Fe, he worked tirelessly for causes and issues he believed would make life better for everyone,” states the Living Treasures website. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
retur n telephone calls seeking comment. But court filings indicate the product was made with $2.8 million worth of Valencia peanuts owned by Costco and had been sitting in the warehouse since the company shut down and filed for bankruptcy last fall.
After extensive testing, Costco agreed to a court order authorizing the trustee to sell it the peanut butter. But after
AP Photo
Peanut butter is disposed of Friday at the dump in Clovis. Nearly a million jars of peanut butter are being dumped at a New Mexico landfill to expedite the sale of a bankrupt peanut-processing plant that was at the heart of a 2012 salSee PEANUT, Page A3 monella outbreak and nationwide recall.
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CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B5 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B3
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2
HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8