Police bumble forces felony dismissal

Judge tosses drug case in mix-up with evidence

Jason Auslander | The New Mexican

11/29/2007 -

Chris Sandoval got lucky Thursday morning after Santa Fe police dropped the ball.

That was the view of state District Court Judge Michael Vigil in dismissing charges of cocaine possession and evidence tampering against the 46-year-old Santa Fe man because police didn't send the drugs allegedly found on Sandoval for testing at the state crime lab until last week.

The dismissal came just before Sandoval — who was arrested on the charges in February 2006 — was to be tried before a jury.

Both Vigil and District Attorney Henry Valdez said they've run into similar problems before with the city police department.

"Here we are again in a situation where they basically drop the ball," Vigil said in court Thursday. "And you can't drop the ball. We don't allow trial by ambush in this country."

Vigil ruled the lab test results, which came back Monday, could not be used in the trial.

Assistant District Attorney Anthony Rivera said he could not proceed without them, and Vigil dismissed the case, which cannot be refiled.

"I was concerned because we'd impaneled a jury and were ready to proceed, and the matter had to be dismissed because of problems with the state's case," Vigil said after the hearing.

Adding to the mess was the fact the two officers who arrested Sandoval did not show up for Thursday's trial, and the amount of cocaine sent to the lab did not match the amount Sandoval allegedly had on him when he was arrested, according to the judge, Sandoval's attorney and statements made in court.

Police Chief Eric Johnson said Thursday that he was still trying to figure out what happened.

"Issues do arise on and off, and I'm not going to say we're not at fault," he said. "Sometimes there are oversights by an officer and a mix-up in paperwork."

However, the arresting officer — the main witness in the case — couldn't appear because he is on sick leave, Johnson said, and the officer also didn't receive a subpoena from the District Attorney's Office until Monday. Subpoenas generally are issued months before a court appearance is required. The second officer subpoenaed had notified the District Attorney's Office he couldn't attend because he's on family medical leave, Johnson said.

Johnson and his commanders plan to meet early next week to find out what happened and figure out a better way to track evidence, the chief said.

The situation with the lab results came to light Thursday morning when Sandoval's attorney, public defender Diane Allen, complained just before the trial was to begin that she had gotten the test results only three days earlier, leaving insufficient time to raise issues and file motions based on the results. She also said she still didn't know the name of the chemist who did the testing. Allen pointed out that the case had been pending for more than a year — Sandoval was arraigned on the charges in September 2006 — and said she's had trouble from the beginning getting evidence, including a videotape from the arresting officer's car.

Rivera said an assistant district attorney handling the case before it was assigned to him Nov. 2 had asked police to send over the video and send the drugs to the lab. He said that when he saw the results still weren't back, he again asked Santa Fe police to send the drugs to the lab. But the department didn't send the drugs for testing until Nov. 21, the day before Thanksgiving, Rivera said.

"Why they didn't (send it before), I don't know," he told Vigil. "I had to walk over to the Santa Fe Police Department to pick up the videotape, and I hand-delivered it to the Public Defender's Office."

Valdez said the situation likely comes down to an inexperienced officer. "I don't think (patrol officers) are always well-versed on what to do (after a felony arrest)," he said.

The final problem concerned the amount of drugs Sandoval allegedly had when he was arrested. Rivera said in court Thursday that Sandoval had 11 grams of cocaine. But the amount sent to the crime lab was a few grams less than that, Allen said, though she declined to say how much less. Valdez and Johnson said they didn't know about the discrepancy.

In the end, Vigil told Sandoval he should be thanking his lucky stars.

"If you're dabbling in cocaine, stop it," the judge said. "If not, this gift you've been given will be for nothing, and you'll be back."

Actually, Sandoval most definitely will be back. He was charged with cocaine trafficking and a slew of other counts last month after police pulled him over for a routine traffic stop. He allegedly had baggies of cocaine and crack cocaine as well as 21 hydrocodone pills, a marijuana pipe, a crack pipe, two digital scales, empty plastic baggies and more than $400 in cash, according to court documents.

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