Saturday, August 27, 2005

Case dismissed against Joe Torres

Audry Olmsted El Defensor Chieftain Reporter, aolmsted@dchieftain.com

Magistrate Jim Naranjo dismissed a misdemeanor case of assault on a police officer stemming from the June dispute at Sunset Liquors, saying the case had already received too much publicity.

Naranjo on Wednesday dismissed the case against Joe Torres, 37, with prejudice, meaning that the state cannot re-file charges. Torres had been charged with one count of assault on a peace officer, a misdemeanor charge that could have carried a prison term of one year and/or a $1,000 fine.

Torres was accused of approaching Socorro police officer Richard Lopez in an aggressive manner when Lopez arrested his father, Max Torres, outside the family-owned package store in June.

Joe Torres allegedly threw his keys and cell phone on the ground and threatened to harm Lopez, coming toward the officer with clenched fists, according to the criminal complaint for Max Torres.

Naranjo dismissed the case, saying it had "received too much publicity" and that it was time to "get this thing behind us."

According to court records, Phillip G. Sapien, attorney for Torres, filed a notice of noncompliance Aug. 22 stating discovery had not been provided by the state and that he had been unable to request or conduct pre-trial interviews for the case.

This point was brought up in the court hearing.

Lopez said it was a technicality and asked the judge that the case be dismissed without prejudice so that he could re-file the charge at a later date.

Naranjo disagreed, though, that not having a witness list so the defense can interview them, was a technicality.

Lopez said in a phone interview Thursday that he had never seen a case dismissed with prejudice on a technicality, such as not having a witness list.

He said the defense requested and received such evidence as videotapes from the detention center, but never specifically requested a list of witnesses. The officer said that it is the defense attorney's responsibility to inform the state exactly what they need. He said that a witness list is available, but that Sapien did not request it.

According to court records, Sapien filed Aug. 8 a request for entry of appearance that included a request for the defendant's rap sheet and any oral or written statements made by the defendant.

There was no specific request from the defense for the state's intent to call witnesses.

After the case was dismissed and Lopez was leaving the courtroom, someone in the Torres contingent called out to Lopez, referring to him as a "chile picker," which Lopez said afterward did not offended him.

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