4.17.2024 Press Release: Whistleblowers Protection Lawsuit by APD Academy Officers Accuses APD Command Staff of Nepotism and Retaliation Albuquerque, New Mexico – Seven members of the APD Academy training staff – Steve Martinez, Tillery Stahr, Lisa Neil, Shane Treadaway, Alix Emrich, James Jacoby, and Kelsey Lueckenhoff – have filed a lawsuit in the Second Judicial District Court, alleging violations of the Whistleblower Protection Act in the form of retaliation motivated by nepotism. The lawsuit originates from a series of events at the APD Academy in August 2023, when the seven plaintiffs r ..read more

New Mexico Supreme Court: Avoid “And/Or in Jury Instructions The New Mexico Supreme Court has issued an opinion cautioning against the use of the term “and/or” in jury instructions, writing that “[t]he term and/or has proved singularly unsuited to formulating clear and effective jury instructions, to the degree that our trial courts would be well-served to avoid its use in jury instructions altogether.” In its opinion in State v. Taylor, S-1-SC-38818 (2024), the Court reached back nearly eighty years to cite the following proposition: [T]he highly objectionable phrase “and/or” .&nbs ..read more

3.15.2024 Press Release: New Lawsuit Accuses CYFD and Bair Foundation of Failing to Protect Five-Year-Old from Physical and Sexual Abuse A lawsuit filed in New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe accuses CYFD and the Bair Foundation of failing to protect a five-year-old boy from physical and sexual abuse in a treatment foster care home. The victim, referred to only as “A.T.,” is alleged to have suffered this abuse at the hands of two treatment foster care parents licensed and supervised by the defendants. In June of 2022, one of A.T.’s foster parents brought A.T. to an Albuquerq ..read more

SCOTUS Reverses Colorado Supreme Court in Trump v. Anderson In a per curiam ruling on March 4, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States reversed the decision of the Colorado Supreme Court to remove Donald Trump from the Colorado primary ballot on the basis of his engagement in insurrection under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The decision to reverse – while hardly unexpected in the wake of the Court’s oral arguments – nonetheless disappointed in its particulars. The most disappointing aspect of the Court’s decision is its breadth: while a narrow decision ro ..read more

HWM Files Motion to Enforce Archdiocese of Santa Fe Transparency Covenants A survivor of clergy sexual abuse perpetrated by an Archdiocese of Santa Fe priest named Fr.Richard Spellman has filed a motion to force the Archdiocese of Santa Fe to fulfill a promise made to survivors as a condition of its exit from bankruptcy proceedings. As a condition of its exit from bankruptcy proceedings in 2023, the Archdiocese promised abuse survivors and the people of New Mexico that it would list on its website the names of “any clergy who are identified in any proof of claim filed in the Chapter 11 case ..read more

Colorado Supreme Court Disqualifies Trump On December 19, 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a 133-page opinion finding that Donald J. Trump was properly disqualified from the Colorado presidential primary ballot by Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment (commonly known as the “Disqualification Clause”). The Court’s full opinion (including dissents) may be found here. The effort to protect the Colorado ballot from insurrectionist influence was spearheaded by a brave group of Colorado Republicans represented by an excellent team of attorneys from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics i ..read more

New Mexico Court of Appeals Strengthens WPA Protections Since 2010, public employees and contractors have enjoyed protection from unlawful retaliation if they report “unlawful or improper acts” (i.e., whistleblowing) occurring at their workplace. The New Mexico Whistleblower Protection Act prohibits a public employer from taking any retaliatory action against a public employee for communicating to their employer, or a third party, information about an action or failure to act that the public employee believes in good faith constitutes an “unlawful or improper act.”   An “unlawful o ..read more

Couy Griffin Constitutionally Disqualified from Holding Public Office Otero County Commissioner and “Cowboys 4 Trump” founder Couy Griffin has been found to have engaged in insurrection against the United States and has been permanently disqualified from holding public office pursuant to the Disqualification Clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article XIV, Section III). In an Order issued this morning, Judge Francis Mathew of New Mexico’s First Judicial District found that “the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol and the surrounding planning, mobilization, and incitement were an ..read more

Social Media Evidence in New Mexico Courts The New Mexico Supreme Court has issued an opinion holding that social media evidence is subject to the traditional authentication standard laid out at NMRA 11-901, rather than a “heightened standard” designed to detect fraud or impersonation.   The Court characterized this core issue from State v. Jesenya O. as a matter of first impression, but its analysis was straightforward – resting primarily on the premise that “authentication challenges arising from the use of social media evidence in litigation are not so differ ..read more

Summary Judgment: Not Just for Defendants! The recent New Mexico Court of Appeals decision in the foreclosure action of Fannie Mae v. Trissell serves as a timely reminder that summary judgments – generally regarded as a favored tool of defendants – can be used just as effectively by plaintiffs in relatively early stages of litigation, when the available evidence permits. More specifically, the Trissell opinion holds that a plaintiff seeking summary judgment need not make evidentiary showings regarding each and every one of an opponent’s affirmative defenses in order meet ..read more