A politically connected lawyer who allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian in a hit-and-run crash early Wednesday will spend the rest of the week in jail awaiting arraignment.

An Albuquerque lawyer attempted to talk a state District Court judge into arraigning Carlos William Fierro — who has ties to both U.S. Rep. Tom Udall and U.S. Sen. John McCain — on Wednesday afternoon, but the judge declined. Judge Stephen Pfeffer indicated initial arraignments are the responsibility of the Santa Fe County Magistrate Court, Pfeffer's assistant said Wednesday.

The magistrate court is closed Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving, so Fierro won't be arraigned until Monday.

Meanwhile, Gov. Bill Richardson called the mother of the man who was hit — 46-year-old William Tenorio of San Felipe Pueblo — and expressed his condolences Wednesday, according to a spokeswoman for the Tenorio family. A member of Richardson's state police security detail was in the passenger seat of Fierro's black BMW when he allegedly hit Tenorio in front of a downtown Santa Fe bar just before 2 a.m. Wednesday.

Tenorio died about noon Wednesday at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center of head and internal injuries suffered in the accident, said Santa Fe Deputy Police Chief Benjie Montaño. Tenorio was to be the designated driver for the group of people he was with Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, Montaño said.

The accident occurred just before 2 a.m. outside WilLee's Blues Club, 401 S. Guadalupe St., as Tenorio crossed Guadalupe Street, said Santa Fe Deputy Police Chief Aric Wheeler said. The car — apparently a newer-model black BMW with Washington, D.C., license plates — was traveling south on Guadalupe, he said.

The driver fled after hitting the man, Wheeler said. Officers spotted the car downtown not long after and pulled the driver over in front of the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, Wheeler said. The car remained in front of the center Wednesday morning, with a sizable portion of the passenger side windshield broken out, the driver's door open and both driver's side tires flat.

Fierro, 36, appeared to be drunk when he was arrested and was taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, where medical personnel drew blood. His blood-alcohol content was not available Wednesday, Wheeler said.

Fierro was not injured at the time he was arrested, he said. Sgt. Alfred Lovato — a member of both Richardson's and former Gov. Gary Johnson's security details — also was not injured.

Fierro was later booked into the Santa Fe County Jail and charged with vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident that caused death or personal injury.

Officers found Tenorio in the road across from WilLee's, Wheeler said. A number of people leaving the blues club witnessed the accident and were able to provide a vehicle description of the car that hit him, he said.

A witness who crossed the street just before Tenorio heard a flat tire noise as Fierro's car approached the spot where Tenorio was hit, Wheeler said. Tenorio crashed into the windshield of the car, then rolled off the passenger side, Wheeler said.

Tenorio's family did not want to talk about specifics of the accident Wednesday and were concentrating on getting his body back to San Felipe Pueblo for burial, said Stephanie Poston, a family friend. Tenorio was self-employed as a disc jockey and also worked in recent get-out-the-vote efforts, she said.

He was divorced and had two daughters, Diana, 23, and Adrian, 20, as well as a son, James, 15, Poston said. He was dedicated to his children, all of whom live on San Felipe Pueblo, and was focused on many of their activities, she said.

Poston also described Tenorio as a social person. "He was a very out-going individual," she said. "He made friends easily."

The governor called Tenorio's mother, Rose Tenorio, on Wednesday and expressed his condolences, Poston said.

Fierro's lawyer, Colin Hunter of Albuquerque, said his client is not guilty. "Carlos' thoughts and prayers are with the family of Mr. Tenorio," Hunter said. "I am confident that when all the facts come out, they will show that Carlos is not guilty of what he has been accused of."

Hunter declined to comment further.

At an afternoon news conference, state police Chief Faron Segotta said he was upset with Lovato, a 17-year veteran. He hadn't yet spoken to Lovato, who will remain on administrative leave until an internal investigation is completed. Wheeler, the deputy police chief, said Lovato could face a charge of failing to render aid in connection with the accident.

"Absolutely," Segotta said when asked if he was shocked his officer allegedly failed to stop to help Tenorio. "Somebody that has that number of years on the New Mexico State Police understands their authority and responsibility. Although he was not the driver, that doesn't really excuse his actions, I guess, or lack thereof.

"To say disappointed would understate my feelings. Police officers are held to a higher standard; New Mexico State police officers are held to the highest standard. For our officer to be in a situation where we have such an unfortunate thing occur is such a devastating thing to the agency as a whole."

Segotta said his agency's investigation should provide a better idea of Lovato's actions before and after the crash.

"Not being the driver," he said, "I don't know what type of a position (Lovato) was in to enforce the driver to pull over, stop. That's hopefully something we'll have answers to."

Wheeler said investigators don't yet know where Fierro and Lovato were before the crash, though preliminary information indicates they might have patronized one or more downtown bars.

Police seized the BMW and plan to obtain a search warrant for it, Wheeler said.

Fierro — a 1991 Santa Fe High School graduate — ran for the Democratic nomination for the state Public Regulation Commission in 2004 and served as Don Diego DeVargas in 1997, according to New Mexican archives.

Fierro is listed in the New Mexico Bench and Bar Directory as a lawyer in Washington for the Avanza Group, a financial advisory business, according to corporateinformation.com. No address is listed for Fierro in the directory.

After graduating from Santa Fe High, Fierro attended the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell and was commissioned as a second lieutenant, according to a New Mexican story written about him in September 2007. He later graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1996 with degrees in political science and Spanish. He graduated from The University of New Mexico Law School three years later, according to the story.

He served as legislative assistant and legislative director for U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M. At the age of 28, Fierro was appointed senior counsel to Sen. John McCain on the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee. A call to a Udall spokeswoman in Washington seeking comment Wednesday morning wasn't returned.

Fierro also guided negotiations on long-standing land, tax and jurisdictional and natural resource-management issues between the Jicarilla Apache Nation and the Rio Arriba County Commission. He also has worked with the government of Spain to re-establish ties between New Mexico's 19 Indian pueblos, according to the New Mexican story.

The New Mexico State Bar named him its Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year in 2007.

Fierro ran against Ben Ray Luján and four others for the Democratic nomination for the PRC in 2004, a position Luján later won. During that race, Fierro told a reporter he worked on the Enron scandal in Washington as well as for increased vehicle fuel efficiency and increased availability of generic drugs.

According to online court records, Fierro was charged in Albuquerque Metropolitan Court with driving while intoxicated and driving the wrong way in April 1997. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, and they were dismissed in August 1997, although court records do not provide a reason for the dismissal.

He was charged with aggravated battery in 1992 in Santa Fe District Court, although the case was later remanded to Magistrate Court. An outcome of the case was not available Wednesday. Most recently, he was charged with disorderly conduct in September 2003 in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court. The charge was dismissed in April 2004, according to online records.

Staff writers Doug Mattson and Julie Ann Grimm contributed to this report.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.