Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 124, No. 111 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
May 9, 2015
Saturday
www.rdrnews.com
Legal fees mounting in NMMI vs. NMMI By Jeff Tucker Record Staff Writer
A still-to-be-resolved lawsuit between New Mexico Military Institute and its former alumni association has cost the military school more than $460,000 in legal costs, in a legal dispute over about $5 million of alumni association assets. Between NMMI’s initiation of the lawsuit in June 2013 and March 2015, the military school paid $468,174 in legal fees, all paid to Hinkle, Hensley, Shanor & Hensley of Albuquerque, according to records obtained from the
military school Friday. The nearly 2-year-old legal case is ongoing, although apparently nearing a conclusion. More legal bills are expected, said Col. Judy Scharmer, NMMI’s chief financial officer. Lawyers for NMMI briefed NMMI’s board of regents during an executive session of the regents last week. Another court hearing is scheduled at 9 a.m. June 11 in Roswell district court. Dan Whitfield, executive secretary of Institute Alumni Association, formerly the New Mexico Military Institute Alumni Foundation, told the Daily Record recently the alumni associ-
ation has spent $750,000 to $800,000 in legal fees to defend the lawsuit. The newspaper has not yet obtained the alumni association’s legal bills. NMMI has made consistent payments to the Hinkle law firm throughout the litigation, usually $20,000 to $30,000 each month. The military school’s most recent payments to the Hinkle firm for the lawsuit were $1,461.67 on Feb. 26, $50,566.15 on Feb. 5 and $30,672.60 on Jan. 8. The military school began making payments to the Hinkle law firm on June 30, 2013, when it paid the
law firm $28,426.44, followed by a second payment of $24,057.07 on Aug. 29, 2013. The case began on June 10, 2013, when NMMI sued the NMMI Alumni Association in Fifth Judicial District Court. A five-day bench trial was held Dec. 8-12 in Roswell. Fifth Judicial District Court Judge Jane Shuler-Gray on April 21 issued her findings of fact and conclusions of law. The judge has yet to issue her final order. The two sides have interpreted Shuler-Gray’s conclusions of law somewhat differently.
Stompin’ it
The military school notes the judge’s conclusions of law found that the Institute Alumni Association is an agent of NMMI. “Contrary to the association’s position, which necessitated the litigation, the judge ruled that the alumni association is in fact an agent of NMMI, exists to support, promote and benefit NMMI, and that the funds in the association’s custody are for the exclusive benefit of NMMI,” the military school said in a recent statement. “While it is unfortunate that NMMI was compelled to seek judicial intervention to force the association to recog-
nize NMMI’s ownership of the funds currently held by the association as NMMI’s fiduciary, NMMI is pleased with the court’s ruling in its favor on this critical issue. NMMI will continue to review the judge’s findings as it considers the best way to deal with alumni relations in the future.” The alumni association had maintained it is an independent entity and not an agent of NMMI, while it denied all requests from NMMI to transfer funds to the NMMI Foundation. “The funds received by an agent in its role of trustSee FEES, Page A3
Clements to speak at ENMU commencement Submitted
Jared Tucker photo
Richard Craft of Waide Sand and Gravel uses his feet to pack down a load of dirt in the back of his dump truck Friday afternoon on North Main Street. Shortly after this picture was taken, Craft drove the load underneath the Berrendo Creek Bridge and dumped it so crews could continue the repair work.
Man at large after SWAT incident
By Jared Tucker Multimedia Journalist
Police are looking for a man accused of stabbing and trying to kidnap another man after a fight over the victim’s former relationship turned violent Wednesday morning. When Roswell Police served a highrisk search warrant with the SWAT team Thursday night, they found an alleged accomplice in the attack. According to Roswell Police Public Information Officer Todd Wildermuth, 24-year-old Javier Edward
ENMU-Roswell will hold two commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 15, at the Roswell Convention and Civic Center, 912 N. Main St. In total, more than 200 candidates for graduation will participate in the 63rd Commencement Convocation. The first ceremony will begin at 5:30 p.m. for those graduation candidates receiving Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Science, and Associate of Arts degrees. Students receiving both a certificate and an associate degree will participate in the 5:30 p.m. ceremony. Bachelor’s and master’s degree candidates
Clements from ENMU will also participate in the 5:30 p.m. ceremony. The second ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m. for See ENMU, Page A3
Topsy-turvy
Timothy P. Howsare Photos
Students in Leadership Roswell got to experience what it’s like to be in a roll-over accident Friday while touring Matrix International Security Training Intelligence Center (MISTIC) near the Roswell International Air Center. MISTIC is a private company that provides specialized training for military, law enforcement and private security personnel. This dreaded contraption, which appears to be what’s left of a late-1970s Suburban, has two names, the “rotisserie” and the “vomit comet.”
Perez is wanted for armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, attempted kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. The Roswell Police SWAT team assisted in the high risk search warrant at a home in the 800 block of West 10th Street, Wildermuth said, where they did not find Perez but did arrest 18-year-old Tory Clinton for the same charges. Clinton is Perez’s alleged See SWAT, Page A3
Lawmakers argue over public works projects ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — New Mexico Senate Democrats are touting a proposal for funding roads and public works projects around the state, saying they’re ready to answer the call of business leaders and mayors for a special legislative session. But House Republicans said Friday they have yet to see any of the details and no agreement has been reached between the two chambers, leaving speculation to swirl about whether a special session will be
called next week. House Speaker Don Tripp, R-Socorro, told The Associated Press that negotiations are ongoing and Republican leaders have no plans to meet until an agreement is reached. “We really don’t want to agree to a special session until we know we have something that we can actually put forward,” he said. “We’d hate to have a 30-day free-for-all. I don’t think that would serve the See PROJECTS, Page A3 Today’s Forecast
HIGH 78 LOW 43
While actual clients get 12 or 13 spins in the simulator, members of the leadership class were only spun six times. However, the Daily Record editor, who is a member of the class, suspects he was ratted out to the MISTIC personnel as the mud-raking newspaper editor by a vengeful classmate. When it was his turn to ride the rotisserie, he got seven spins instead of six and the shoulder strap on his seatbelt was busted. All will be forgiven, however, when the class of 2015 graduates tonight. Index
Today’s Obituaries Page B3
• Mary Hansbro Entrop • Jerry C. Lykins
Classifieds...........B6 Comics..................A6 Entertainment. ....B8 Financial..............B3
General...............A2 Horoscopes.........A8 Lotteries. ............A2 Opinion.................A4
Pecos Dining........A7 Sports. ................B1 Weather...............A8