By Patrick Lohmann
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An Albuquerque probation officer is wondering why a repeat offender and frequent probation violator has slept more than 900 nights at the Metropolitan Detention Center since May 2006 but has not spent one moment doing hard time at any state prisons.
Probation officer Sharon Meredith Tafoya said she is frustrated because Landis Litz, 25, has violated at least 13 probation requirements since May 2009 but has continued receiving suspended sentences and referrals to probation programs.
She said short stays at MDC do not allow time for Litz’s potential mental health and alcohol problems to be evaluated. "(A DOC prison sentence) would give us an opportunity to monitor her behavior, find out if she has mental health issues,” Tafoya told the Journal.
Nearly all of Litz’s prior crimes involved alcohol.
Kari Brandenburg, Bernalillo County district attorney, said the DA’s Office has asked that Litz serve prison time at each of her hearings but that the woman has gotten lucky each time.
“We’ve been really pushing it, and the courts have just been more lenient than what we would have felt was appropriate,” Brandenburg said.
Judges did not justify in Litz’s case file why they granted probation instead of imposing prison time, and are unwilling to comment since the case is not yet closed. Litz has gone before at least 10 judges for various probation violations and other charges since 2009.
Amid stacks of probation violation notices and returned-tosender court subpoenas that make up Litz’s case file, a onepage statement from Tafoya written in August 2011 accuses judges of “severe leniency” with Litz and recommended she get time at a state prison.
“Probationer has failed to follow all directives of the court and this officer,” the statement reads. “This clearly shows her lack of desire to change her lifestyle and become a law-abiding citizen.”
Brandenburg said the DA’s Office will recommend a 364-day sentence at MDC when Litz goes to trial at the end of this month for another alleged probation violation, but Brandenburg said a prison sentence at a state institution of more than one year exceeds the sentence for which Litz was originally charged.
Litz was found guilty in 2008 for aggravated assault, DWI and auto theft after police said she stole a woman’s car after a party and tried to run her over.
As a result, Litz was sentenced in early 20 09 to about 300 days at MDC with the opportunity for parole through the Community Custody Program.
Online court records say she was released Nov. 22, 2009.
Litz failed to report to probation the next day, and police searched for her for almost a month before putting her back in handcuffs. At probation violation hearings since then, judges continued revoking and reinstating her probation.
Litz has been held since April 20 at MDC, charged with a second DWI offense, concealing identity and reckless driving.
Copyright 2012 Albuquerque Journal