5:55am -- San Juan Jail Director Reinstated Permalink comment E-mail
By Bruce Daniels   
Monday, 28 April 2008 23:55
Remaining domestic violence charges dismissed against suspended official.

All domestic violence charges against suspended San Juan County Detention Center director Tom Havel were formally dismissed on Monday, and he is expected to return to work within weeks, San Juan County CEO Keith Johns told the Farmington Daily Times.

Havel, 54, was put on paid leave in January after he was accused of attacking his wife and was facing several felony counts, the Daily Times reported.

Felony charges against Havel were dropped in March, but the county kept Havel on leave and took him off the payroll until a misdemeanor battery complaint was resolved by an out-of-county judge and the District Attorney's Office, the paper said.

A court order from state District Judge Kenneth Eichwald of Cuba was filed in Farmington Magistrate Court on Monday dismissing the case, although no legal finding was stated, according to the Daily Times.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Bruce Burwell from Socorro, who was prosecuting the case, said the prosecution was hampered by the refusal of Havel's wife Lorna to participate in court proceedings, the Daily Times said.

"The lady wouldn't say anything -- wouldn't talk to us, wouldn't talk to them," Burwell told the Daily Times. "I can't provide something from somebody that won't talk to me."

 

 

Last Updated ( Monday, 28 April 2008 23:14 )
 
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