Mistrial declared after police tape of suspect’s arrest surfaces this week.

The second trial of James King in the January 2008 stabbing of Javier Pacheco came to an abrupt halt Wednesday after state District Judge James Waylon Counts declared a mistrial, the Alamogordo Daily News reported.

The mistrial was declared after a DVD recording from a police patrol unit was found and disclosed Tuesday to King’s defense attorney, the Daily News said.

Senior trial prosecutor Wayne A. Jordon said the Alamogordo Department of Public Safety found the DVD from one of the police cars that followed King home on the night of the stabbing at the Palm Side Lounge on Jan. 24, 2008, and recorded King’s arrest and transportation to police headquarters, the paper reported.

“The District Attorney’s Office tried to locate the tape prior to King’s first trial,” Jordon said. “They tried to locate it after the first trial and prior to King’s second trial because, if it existed, it would be beneficial to us.”

But according to New Mexico law, both the prosecution and defense are required to disclose and make available for inspection any records, documents, recordings and witness lists within a certain period of time before the trial begins, the Daily News said.

“The content of the tape was disclosed in writing to the District Attorney’s Office and defense attorney in the police report,” Sam Trujillo, director of the Department of Public Safety, said. “The original DVD was delayed because of a filing error by an intern working at ADPS.”

Jordon said the state plans to retry King, saying “We think the evidence is strong,” the paper reported.

8:20am 2/10/10 — Retrial Under Way in Alamogordo Bar Stabbing: Man accused of severing victim’s spinal cord in January 2008 fight.

The second trial of James King, accused of stabbing Javier Pacheco in the back shortly before midnight Jan. 24, 2008, at the Palm Side Lounge in Alamogordo, got under way Tuesday with opening statements, the Alamogordo Daily News reported.

King allegedly stabbed Pacheco three times in the back, severing Pacheco’s spinal cord and confining him to a wheelchair, the Daily News said.

King is being tried on one count of battery with a deadly weapon, tampering with evidence, driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, negligent use of a deadly weapon and with speeding, the paper reported.

In King’s first trial, the jury deadlocked on all five counts but found King guilty of two counts of resisting, evading or obstructing an officer and one count each of failure to yield the right of way to pedestrians and of driving on the wrong side of the road, the Daily News said.

King allegedly told officers after the incident, “I should have just walked away,” said prosecutor Casey R. Thaler in her opening statement, adding that if King had taken his own advice, Pacheco would be able to walk today, according to the Daily News.

“We ask you that you find King guilty on all charges,” Thaler told jurors on Tuesday. “Tell King, ‘Yeah, he should’ve walked away.’”

King’s attorney Tim Rose, in his opening, said the case should be decided on the facts, not on sympathy or whether somebody ended up in a wheelchair, the Daily News said.

“King has been a registered nurse for over 20 years,” Rose told jurors, saying his client acted in self-defense.