Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Managing Editor
Two attorneys from the Portales Law Office of the Public Defender are asking charges be dismissed against their clients on their claim Roosevelt County’s sheriff made a false statement.
Public defender Evan Arendell filed a motion to dismiss charges of trafficking controlled substances against Armando Pena on Oct. 5, with public defender Chris Christensen filing a motion the next day to dismiss the same charges against Antonio Salguero.
Pena and Salguero were two of 11 arrests by the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office during an April sting operation.
Arendell and Christensen allege that during an interview with the public defender’s office, Sheriff Malin Parker contradicted a statement he made in Pena and Salguero’s arrest affidavits.
In the affidavits, Parker states he met with an informant for the sheriff’s office, saying, “this informant has in the past proved to give reliable, credible information that led to the recovery of thousands of dollars in stolen property and gave information that led to two felony arrests.”
The two attorneys stated in their motions that:
• During an interview with their office, the informant stated that he had never worked on prior cases with the sheriff’s office,
• In another interview, Parker stated the informant’s information had not led to two felony arrests.
According to court documents, Parker also made the statement in an arrest affidavit for Cody Banister, another of the 11 arrests. Other arrest affidavits could not be obtained by press time.
“There were no false statements made anywhere in any affidavit,” Parker said Friday afternoon. “That’s part of the defense’s strategy. It is very common practice. This isn’t just one case. It’s every case with every officer.”
Motion hearings for Pena and Salguero were held Friday afternoon in district court due to the Ninth Judicial District Attorney’s Office filing a motion to request additional time to look into the accusations.
Assistant District Attorney Jake Boazman told Judge Donna Mowrer Friday that he filed a motion to suppress the statements made by Parker in the interview, because the LOPD did not inform the state of witness interviews five days prior to the interview.
“We disclosed to the state on Sept. 29 that we had the audio interview with Mr. Parker,” Christensen responded, adding that he had not seen the state’s motion to suppress and did not see why that would be necessary.
Mowrer ordered that the state and defense both respond to each other’s motions by Nov. 14, then another hearing would be scheduled to address them.
