SANTA FE (NM)
KOAT [Albuquerque NM]
October 4, 2024
By Faith Egbuonu
“New Mexico has the sad distinction of being one of the least protective states in the nation when it comes to victims’ rights,” Torrez said
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez unveiled a plan to amend the Crime Victims’ Rights Act on Friday, Oct. 4. Torrez was joined by lawmakers and advocates to announce the plan for the 2025 legislative session. The amended legislation comes after Target 7 Investigations did a report on Patrick Howard. Howard is a former Las Cruces High School teacher who admitted to fondling students. However, a Dona Ana County judge released Howard from his probation years early. His victims were not notified when the judge held a hearing of his release.
According to the New Mexico Department of Justice, New Mexico law establishes protections for victims but lacks enforcement to ensure protections are followed. The bills aim to protect minors and adults, including those of sexual abuse, from excessive pretrial interviews. In addition, to amend the Victims Rights’ Act to provide enforcement of protections within the legislation through penalties and civil suits.
“Victims deserve to be at the forefront of our judicial system, and this legislation is a critical step toward ensuring their rights and safety are prioritized,” Attorney General Raúl Torrez said. “For too long, our system has focused on the rights of the accused while victims and their families have been left behind. It’s time to change that and put victims first by providing them with the protection and support they deserve.”
Legislation is as follows:
- Legislative Sponsor: Representative Meredith Dixon
- Amending the Victims of Crime Act, providing for remedies for violation of victim rights:
- The bill would include victims of human trafficking and batter on a health care worker to the group of victims protected by the Act and also create remedies for violations of the Act. For example, if a victim does not receive notice of a court hearing or a defendant’s release, the Attorney General could pursue civil penalties, or the victim could sue.
- Legislative Sponsor: Rep. Tara Jaramillo
- Child forensic interviews:
- In almost every other state in the country, victims, and especially child victims, are protected from the secondary trauma caused by defense interviews. In New Mexico, as elsewhere, defendants have a right to cross-examine victims on the witness stand as part of their right to a trial. But New Mexico goes further and requires victims to submit to invasive and lengthy pretrial interviews where they are interrogated by defense attorneys.
- Defense interviews of children are particularly harmful because defense attorneys are not trained in how to conduct a forensic interview, which results in suggestibility and emotional trauma to the child. The bill would bring New Mexico in line with the rest of the country in protecting child victims from the harm caused by repetitive defense interrogations and give adult victims the right to refuse a defense interview.