By Scott Sandlin
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE — Members of the prison gang Sindicato de Nuevo Mexico, accused of racketeering, kidnapping, ordering a hit on the state’s corrections chief and other charges will get tablet computers to keep track of the thousands of documents being produced in the case.
It’s a remedy suggested by the prosecution out of concern about having tons of paper floating around prisons, and available to prisoners with too much time on their hands and axes to grind.
The defense agreed to the arrangement, and to collectively hire a “discovery coordinator” who’s loading the tablets.
But it is not without problems.
Various permutations of discovery issues consumed half a day Thursday in federal court for dozens of lawyers, law enforcement and security officials, court staff and 27 inmates in four different colors of jumpsuit — red, orange, yellow and green striped.
SNM, which formed after the bloody 1980 penitentiary riot, has expanded throughout the state’s prisons. The two indictments unsealed in December allege members and prospective gang members engaged in at least four murders, serious assaults and a hit ordered on the state Corrections secretary, as well as assault, kidnapping and conspiracy to distribute drugs and firearms.
U.S. District Judge James O. Browning is presiding over the case, indicted by a Las Cruces federal grand jury in late 2015. It was superseded this spring and more defendants and charges were added. Thelead defendant, Angel DeLeon, is still at large.
Concerned about attorneys being able to take good notes and then fully explain what had happened later to their clients, Browning ordered defendants themselves and not their lawyers to inform the court if they wanted to skip the hearing.
Except for one defendant undergoing psychiatric testing out of state, all those who had been arrested thus far were brought from various corners of New Mexico, along with their impressive security contingents.
The place was packed. Cooperators were in the courtroom with others not cooperating. And additional threats have been made, the lead prosecutor said without offering specifics.
Besides the regular shackles, inmates had a black box over their handcuffs — a device that U.S. Marshal Conrad Candelaria said prevents any manipulation of the cuffs. At least one attorney complained that the black box coupled with his client’s girth and a recent arm surgery meant his client was in pain.
But Browning said he’d worn the cuffs himself for an hour the day before and found them uncomfortable, but not painful.
In addition to deputy marshals and state Corrections Department officers, there were members of the Security Threat Intelligence Unit in bulletproof vests and at least one K-9 officer. Defense attorneys and their clients occupied the jury box, all the seats at the defense table, and both sides of the spectator area save for a few spots reserved for news media.
An overflow courtroom had a video hookup so family members of the defendants could watch proceedings.
Although Browning used the largest courtroom, the lineup illustrated the difficulties of having a multidefendant case in which the death penalty is on the table. Death-eligible defendants are entitled to an attorney and a death specialist called “learned counsel.” Some of those attorneys participated in the hearing by phone.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Armijo, who is prosecuting the case and two related cases, one with overlapping defendants, said a decision from U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch on whether the government would seek the death penalty against any defendant should come “any day.”
She said she expects to turn over about 10,000 documents in all. About half have been produced so far. But not all attorneys agree that documents should be on tablets.
Dean Clark, a Las Cruces attorney who represents defendant Leonard Lujan, is one of them. He said his client is listed in only the first two counts of a lengthy indictment.
“The rumor mill is flooding in this case with so many defendants,” he said, expressing concern about some witness statements being available to co-defendants.
Amy Sirignano, the attorney for Christopher Garcia, said although her client is not cooperating, prosecutors have released some statements that are putting defendants at risk.
Armijo told the court that the New Mexico Department of Corrections, which is paying for the tablets, needs to wait until the next fiscal year starts in July to order tablets for the handful of new defendants — but the lawyers don’t want to wait.
They complained that no documents have been turned over since March.
Browning ordered discovery be completed within 30 days.
And to the consternation of some, he set a trial date for October, noting that it can be pushed back if necessary.
©2016 the Albuquerque Journal