In 2014 we were hired by a Torrance County resident who had been detained by a non-commissioned reserve deputy of the Torrance County Sheriff’s office. It was known to us that this volunteer deputy, who refused to attend the full law enforcement, had for years illegally stopped vehicles in Torrance County. We represented this Defendant in Magistrate Court and when the State removed the case to District Court, we filed a motion to suppress under the New Mexico Constitution to challenge the Defendant’s illegal stop and detention by the reserve deputy who we argued had no statutory authority. The District Court judge agreed that the stop should be suppressed and that the reserve deputy’s actions were illegal. Almost eight years later the New Mexico Supreme Court issued a decision which agreed with us and the District Court.

We greatly appreciate the outstanding job the New Mexico Public Defender’s office did in assisting our client with their appeal and without them the client would not have received the same outcome. The main point about this decision is that vehicles are no longer allowed to be stopped, have a citation issue, detained or arrested or arrested, by law enforcement officers who are not commissioned law enforcement officials. Our job in every case is to challenge cases to make sure they withstand scrutiny under both the United States and New Mexico Constitutions. We take that obligation seriously and though it took almost eight years we are very proud to have this injustice of an illegal detention acknowledged and remedied by the Court.

We fight for your rights.