Man accused of raping 75-year-old free on bond
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – A handyman accused of beating and raping a 75-year-old Albuquerque woman in her home with a hammer is free on bond and is being tracked by GPS. Ernest Casias was arrested Monday after he didn’t surrender to police over the weekend. The judge lowered his bond from half a million dollars to $50,000 cash or surety because he didn’t have any prior charges. Casias then made the needed $5,000 bond to be released Tuesday.
Special prosecutor investigates who fired the fatal shot in James Boyd case
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – The special prosecutor in the James Boyd shooting case wants to know which Albuquerque Police Department officer fired the fatal shot. Randi Mcginn says her office has spent the last two weeks reviewing a mountain of evidence in the case. She says officers, Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez, each fired three shots at the homeless man last year. That fatal shot was to the back. Mcginn’s office has sent that bullet to an expert outside the APD criminalistics lab to determine who fired that fatal shot.
District Attorney’s office will no longer prosecute in case of UNM student kneed in the groin
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – The District Attorney’s office will no longer prosecute the case of an Albuquerque cop who kneed a University of New Mexico student in the groin. In court Wednesday, the DA’s office says it has appointed former Santa Fe District Attorney Henry Valdez to take over the case. Albuquerque Police Department officer Pablo Padilla was charged for kneeing a UNM law student during a DWI stop, which resulted in the loss of his testicle. Padilla’s attorney wanted Kari Brandenburg’s office off the case, saying it was a conflict to use the officer as a witness in the DWI case and then prosecute him for what he did in that case.
Santa Fe School Board to use savings to balance budget
SANTA FE (KRQE) – The Santa Fe School Board has decided to dip into their savings to balance the district’s budget. They’re now waiting for the state to approve the decision. The district will need the money if the public education department doesn’t approve a $680,000 request for emergency funds. The district says it needs to pay for teacher raises and higher medical insurance costs.
