Pop Quiz

District Attorney

Meet the prosecutors. This week, we quizzed the three Democrats vying for the party nomination for 1st Judicial District attorney, serving Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties. Marco Serna and Maria Sanchez-Gagne are both running to unseat Jennifer Padgett, the incumbent, when voters hit the polls June 7. The winner faces an unopposed Republican in the general election in November. The rules of Pop Quiz are simple: We record the entire conversation and report the answers verbatim. No research allowed, and if candidates call back later with the right answer, too bad. Listen to recordings of these and previous quizzes at SFReporter.com/primary

The Questions
  1. What is the most commonly charged misdemeanor in the 1st Judicial District?
  2. How many inmates are on death row in New Mexico? What are their names?
  3. Describe LEAD.
  4. How many problem-solving courts are there in the district, and what types are there? Where are they located?
  5. What are the potential punishments for a fifth-time DWI offender?

MARIA SANCHEZ-GAGNE is former director of the Border Violence Division of the attorney general’s office.

1. I haven't worked in the misdemeanor level for some time. I'm going to guess that it could be possibly batteries?

2. I think there's two, and I know one is Robert Fry.

3. The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program? That is a program which is designed for treatment. It's a diversion program, rather than prosecution, and it is for nonviolent offenders. And they must be charged or be involved with opiates. And they are given treatment and no prosecution for nonviolent felonies. Nonviolent crimes. And that is sponsored by the Santa Fe Police Department.

4. Okay, you're going to have to define for me what you describe as problem-solving courts. [SFR: "It is a term that courts use to describe a certain type of court."] I'm not absolutely clear on the term, but I'm assuming it's drug courts. There's drug court and teen court. There are at least two to three drug courts, and two to three teen courts. They're in Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Rio Arriba.

5. Are you saying potential or mandatory? Are you saying a range? [SFR: "Yes, a range."] It's for the fifth time, right? [SFR: "It's for the fifth time, yes."] I remember the second or third is going to be up to 364 days incarceration and a $500 fine, and let me see, the mandatory. There is mandatory time on this. I'm pretty sure. From what I can recall, it's going to be 96 hours mandatory time and up to 364 days.

JENNIFER PADGETT, the current district attorney, is running for re-election.

1. Driving under the influence.

2. That's a really hard question. I do not know the answer to that, except to say that they would all have had to been on death row prior to the repeal of the death penalty, and I don't know their names.

3. The LEAD Program, it stands for Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion. And it is a complete diversionary program that originates and starts with law enforcement. Law enforcement finds appropriate candidates that have underlying issues that involve substance abuse that may be involved in low-level felony crimes. They actually ask these candidates if they will voluntarily participate in the LEAD Program. … The acceptance protocol runs through my office to ensure that, in fact, they are appropriate candidates. They don't have any other pending cases in our jurisdiction or others. And if we approve of their participation, they voluntarily enter the program. The program is centered around case coordination. If housing is appropriate, obviously outpatient treatment. Sometimes inpatient treatment. And they continue in the LEAD program throughout their recovery. Something unique about the LEAD program is that it is not abstinence based. It recognizes that participants will have ups and downs. And it is also a complete diversion away from the criminal justice system, so the charge does not hang over their head. It actually disappears to allow the person to fully participate and engage in the program.

4. In the district, in terms of problem-solving courts? I'm assuming that that is, generally, the treatment courts. We have drug courts for both adults and juveniles. This drug court is in the 1st Judicial District in Santa Fe. I do not believe there is a drug court in Rio Arriba at this point. There are a number of treatment courts in Los Alamos that are run through their municipal courts that are centered around juveniles. There's a teen court there. Um, there's also an active teen court in Rio Arriba and an active teen court in Santa Fe.

5. Well, it's a felony level at that point, and there is mandatory jail time that my position should be generally served in the Department of Corrections. However, of course, electronic monitoring gives them the credit towards that sentence as well. Their licenses are revoked for life, which generally ensures—well, would be hopeful that they don't drive anymore. There's some nuances. Because if they do drive, they don't have the ignition interlock mandated because of course their license is revoked. They have to engage in treatment and other court-mandated conditions of probation and parole.

MARCO SERNA most recently worked in the attorney general’s office.

1. My understanding, the most commonly charged misdemeanor is probably DWI.

2. You know, I wasn't aware there were any more inmates on death row, specifically because we no longer have the death penalty.

3. LEAD actually stands for Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, and what the program is, it's a great program. Only Santa Fe and Seattle have these programs, but what it is, law enforcement, specifically SFPD identify individuals who are habitual drug offenders, and when they identify these individuals, they refer them to a review board who will then decide if they are appropriate for the program, and once placed in the program, they receive some assistance with housing and some assistance with getting a job, but also they are mandated to be in drug treatment programs, and they also will receive certain things like suboxone or methadone to help wean them off whatever drug—and in the majority of the cases it's going to be an opiate, and heroin, specifically—and what's great about the program is it's a long-term program. I was fortunate enough to go to one of the trainings provided by the Santa Fe Police Department. And it has a great, within the last three years, they had a really good retention rate. Of the 70 individuals that have been placed in the program, 60 are still involved and receiving treatment. Also, what I love about the program is it thinks outside the box because, unfortunately, other programs have much lower success rates. What I've seen is there is an 8 percent success rate for 30-day programs. So these long-term programs are so successful and very beneficial. [SFR: "I'm going to cut you off there because I feel like you answered the question, and we have limited space in our paper."] Okay, sorry about that. I really like the program.

4. So my understanding, in Santa Fe, there is the drug court. It is in Santa Fe, and that is the only problem-solving court that I can think of at the moment in the 1st Judicial District.

5. A fifth-time DWI offender, I believe that becomes felony level. Fourth-degree. And that is potentially 18 months of incarceration and up to a $5,000 fine.

Answer Key

1. Magistrate courts handle the vast majority of misdemeanors in New Mexico. Of the three county magistrate courts that are geographically located in the 1st Judicial District, no proof of insurance is the most commonly charged misdemeanor. District courts handle a few misdemeanors a year. The most commonly charged misdemeanor in the 1st Judicial District Court is DWI.

2. Two people are on death row in New Mexico: Timothy Allen and Robert Ray Fry.

3. Originating in Seattle, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion is a pre-booking, long-term program that connects nonviolent drug offenders to treatment, rather than jail.

4. There are four drug courts: Two in Santa Fe, for adults and juveniles, and the same in Española. There is also a treatment court in Santa Fe.

5. Between 6 and 18 months in prison, lifetime treatment, up to $5,000 fine, and a lifetime license revocation or ignition interlock with a five-year court review.

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