Lovato cleared of all charges

SANTA FE (KRQE) - Ex-State Police Officer Alfred Lovato has been cleared of all charges in the drunken hit-and-run that left a Santa Fe pedestrian dead in the street.

Late Tuesday afternoon a District Court jury acquitted Lovato, who was a passenger in the car, of leaving the scene of an accident.

Judge Michael Vigil read out the verdict in court, “We find the defendant not guilty as charged in count 2.”
Lovato and his attorney could be seen hugging after the verdict.

In 2008, Lovato and his friend attorney Carlos Fierro were drunk when Fierro hit and killed William Tenorio outside Willie's Blues Bar.

Lovato was in the passenger seat.

The two men were stopped by police a few streets away.

Tuesday the jury decided that Lovato did not directly pressure or encourage Fierro to drive away from the crash scene and found him not guilty of leaving the scene.

On Monday the same jury was ordered by the judge to find Lovato not guilty of vehicular homicide, the same charge for which driver Carlos Fierro is now serving six years in prison.

Prosecutors tried to get Lovato on the lesser charge.

“The defendant and Carlos Fierro claimed they didn't know they hit something,” Donna Bevacqua-Young said. “How could you not know they didn't hit something? How could you not know you hit a person?”

Outside the courtroom defense attorney Sam Bregman offered condolences to the Tenorio family, and took a final shot at prosecutors.

“They have wasted enormous state resources prosecuting a passenger for a driver's actions,” said Bregman.

The prosecutors with the Attorney Generals office who handled the case did not speak to reporters afterwards.

Attorney General Gary King sent a statement saying, “What happened is straightforward two adult men decided they were going to get stinking drunk together; both decided they should drive despite being severely impaired.”