Former deputy involved in multiple cases

PORTALES — Chris McCasland was indicted earlier this month by a Roosevelt County grand jury for receiving stolen property, and he is also facing charges in Colfax County of burglary and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle.

But there are far more than three cases in the court system involving the 34-year-old McCasland, due to his time as a Roosevelt County sheriff’s deputy.

The district attorney’s office is looking at how it should treat those cases where the former deputy was involved in the initial investigations.

District Attorney Andrea Reeb said the district’s Portales office is looking through cases where McCasland played any role. She did not know how many cases involved McCasland as an investigator, but that it wasn’t “an extreme number” and each would be considered on its own merits.

“We’ve obviously notified all of the defense attorneys what has occurred,” Reeb said. “We have to do that for the rules of ethics. As cases are coming up on the trial docket or moving forward in court, we’re moving forward as we go.”

The family of a man convicted in a 2017 rape case in Portales is bringing up McCasland’s involvement and believes the accused was deprived of justice.

Gina Cleghorn is the mother of Roy Brown, who is serving a 44-year prison sentence for two counts of first-degree criminal sexual penetration.

Cleghorn provided The News with a letter from her son, who claims he was repeatedly eliminated as a suspect by DNA evidence that was never viewed by jurors and McCasland’s involvement as an investigator taints the case.

“I’m trying to get justice for my son,” Cleghorn said. “We are trying to get charges dropped.”

Cleghorn also intimated that Reeb has a vendetta against her son.

Reeb said the office has no vendetta against Brown, noting that the case included other DNA samples and an entire day of testimony from the victim in the case.

McCasland was originally represented by Clovis attorney Dan Lindsey, who said his client was innocent and the charges are the result of a marital dispute.

After charges against McCasland emerged, Roosevelt County Sheriff Malin Parker put out a news release identifying McCasland as a suspect in the disappearance of more than $8,000 from a department evidence locker in 2019. No charges have been filed in connection to the theft, following a New Mexico State Police investigation that couldn’t rule anybody out as a suspect.

Still, Parker’s accusation created a conflict for Lindsey, as the money that went missing from the sheriff’s office evidence locker was originally seized from one of his other clients.

Dean Borders of Albuquerque has since taken over as McCasland’s attorney. An attempt to reach him regarding this story was unsuccessful.