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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Lawyer: Lovato Wrong Man
By Vic Vela
Journal Staff Writer
The attorney for former cop and current vehicular homicide defendant Alfred Lovato has asked the state Attorney General's Office to investigate a Santa Fe police detective for perjury based on a recent criminal complaint filed against his client.
And the special prosecutor who signed off on the charges could be next, warned Lovato's attorney, Sam Bregman of Albuquerque.
Bregman claims the language in the complaint written by Det. Tony Trujillo points the finger for the November hit-and-run death of William Tenorio at the wrong man.
Bregman takes issue with the wording in the charges of vehicular homicide and accident involving death or personal injuries that says Lovato — a former member of Gov. Bill Richardson's security detail — was the driver of the black BMW that struck and killed pedestrian Tenorio, 46, of San Felipe Pueblo near a Downtown Santa Fe intersection.
All evidence in the case points to attorney Carlos Fierro being the driver and Lovato as the passenger. Fierro has acknowledged driving the night of the hit-and-run but told police he didn't know he'd hit a person and instead believed someone had thrown a large rock at his windshield, according to court documents.
"This is clearly perjury and I expect your office to hold law enforcement personnel to the same standard that you would any other citizen," Bregman wrote in his letter to Attorney General Gary King, dated Friday.
Special prosecutor Donna Bevacqua-Young could not be reached for comment Friday. But she told the Journal on Thursday that the charges have nothing to do with Lovato being the driver — she doesn't think he was — and that she was charging him under the theory that the former State Police officer was a "party to a crime" the night he and Fierro and Lovato drank together for hours before Fierro allegedly struck and killed Tenorio.
Appeals case
In her court filing this week charging Lovato, Bevacqua-Young attached a recent state Court of Appeals decision upholding a charge of vehicular homicide against a passenger in a Quay County case that she feels is on point in the Lovato matter.
"But there's none of that explained anywhere in the criminal complaint," Bregman said. "They have a sworn duty as officers of the court to fully inform the court of what they are alleging."
Police Chief Aric Wheeler defended his detective.
"I don't feel in any way there is perjury," he said. "It's my understanding due to recent (Court of Appeals) case law they are filing with the correct protocol."
Wheeler said Trujillo's drafting of the criminal complaint "was done under the advice of the district attorney's office."
If that's the case, Bregman said there is a problem.
"It's a bit troublesome that the prosecutor is working with Mr. Trujillo to commit perjury," he said. "Apparently he was trying to do right by the prosecutor and he went along with it.
"As soon as I have specific information in court that the prosecutor did in fact tell him to draft the complaint as it is drafted, then I'll ask the attorney general to investigate (Bevacqua-Young)," Bregman said.
'Shared intent'
The Court of Appeals upheld vehicular homicide and other charges in a 2005 Quay County case in which Patrick Marquez was charged with the same crimes as the driver he was riding with, Leo Lucero, who was drunk when he rear-ended a van, killing two people and injuring five others.
Marquez and Lucero drank at two bars that night, eventually being refused service at both, before Marquez bought a 12-pack of beer to continue partying "and suggested that Lucero should drive," the appeals court noted.
The court cited a section in the state Motor Vehicle code that says anyone who "commits, attempts to commit, conspires to commit or aids or abets" in the commission of a crime "shall be guilty of such offense."
The Court of Appeals found that the two men had "the shared intent of wrongdoing," regardless of who was behind the wheel. The court rejected Marquez's "claim of lack of control over the vehicle because it is irrelevant and overlooks the concept of aiding and abetting."
Bregman doesn't think the scenario in the Fierro/Lovato case is the same as in the Quay County crash on which the appeals court ruled.
Fierro and Lovato drank for hours at two Santa Fe bars the night Tenorio was struck and killed, but they were never refused service. They racked up a 16-drink tab at the Rio Chama Steakhouse, possibly with other drinkers, before they continued to drink at WilLee's Blues Club just before Tenorio was killed. Lovato picked up a $27 tab at the now-defunct WilLee's, which has been cited for overserving in the case.
Fierro was arrested after he allegedly drove away from the scene of the accident outside WilLee's. His blood-alcohol content was measured at close to three times the legal limit for driving. He faces trial for vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident in September.
Lovato is scheduled to be arraigned June 15.
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