Former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron has asked for a third time to have her 2009 criminal case dismissed with prejudice because of the length of the delay thus far and the likelihood of more to come.
“In an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ legal enigma, the more Ms. Vigil-Giron requests her day in court so that she can clear her name, the more distant the prospect of trial actually becomes,” her attorney, Robert Gorence, said in a motion filed last Thursday.
A dismissal with prejudice means it could not be refiled.
Vigil-Giron and three co-defendants, lobbyists Elizabeth and Joseph Kupfer and Texas political consultant Armando Gutierrez, were indicted in state court in 2009 on charges of misspending millions of dollars in federal voter education money.
The Kupfers and Gutierrez were subsequently charged under federal law with tax evasion, conspiracy and theft of government property. That case is set for trial in June 2012.
Then-2nd Judicial District Judge Albert S. “Pat” Murdoch disqualified the Attorney General’s Office from prosecuting the state case because of the appearance of a conflict. A special prosecutor, Joseph Campbell, was hired in July after months of the case being in limbo, but the judge retired in July. The recently sworn-in judge replacing Murdoch, Sam Winder, is expected to recuse himself because Elizabeth Kupfer’s attorney is a campaign consultant for Winder.
No trial date is in sight, and there are dozens of pending motions, some filed more than two years ago.
Vigil-Giron asks for a judge to be assigned, that the new judge hear the three pending motions to dismiss and “mercifully pull the plug on this case.”
— This article appeared on page C2 of the Albuquerque Journal
