ABQJOURNAL OPINION/GUEST_COLUMNS: Anaya May Sleep at Night, But Others Do Not

Sunday, April 03, 2011

Anaya May Sleep at Night, But Others Do Not

By Tom Haralson
Retired APD officer
          I would like to thank UpFront columnist Leslie Linthicum for the articles about Colene Bush and the possible parole of Michael Guzman.
        Linthicum let everyone know what an injustice this possible parole will be.
        Bush is truly a brave and courageous person. She was so lucky to have survived such a vicious attack and the years of physical and mental pain since.
        Now she will now have to relive the horror of that night every two years because of former Gov. Toney Anaya's shortsightedness.
        When Anaya commuted Guzman's sentence and those of the other murderers on death row, he commuted the sentence for the man who murdered my brother-in-law, Albuquerque Police Department officer Jerry Cline. Jerry was married to my sister, Yolanda.
        I was also an APD officer at the time of Jerry's murder.
        After all these years I feel like a victim again, as Bush feels: the pain of that night, when I found my brother-in-law dead at the scene. Then I had to go to their house and tell my sister Jerry had been killed.
        This is still fresh in my mind all these years later.
        When I was sworn in to be an Albuquerque Police officer, I swore to enforce all the laws, not just some of them. There was nothing about picking and choosing the laws I'd enforce.
        I promised not to let my personal feelings or religious beliefs interfere with my enforcement of the law.
        Anaya swore the same things when he took the office of governor of New Mexico.
        He then let his own feelings and religious beliefs break his oath to citizens of this state. He circumvented the judicial system of New Mexico.
        Anaya is a lawyer, but he wasted the verdicts of the juries that convicted these murderers. He wasted the time, resources and work that was used to put these murderers away.
        Anaya broke his oath to the citizens of this state and left the victims and their families and friends to suffer more later.
        Anaya was so shortsighted that he did not see that these murderers, who were on death row, would in time come up for parole.
        The horrible crimes that Guzman committed against Julie Jackson and Bush and the other murders committed by the other death row inmates should be a reminder to everyone how long the victims and their families can suffer and be victimized.
        Too many politicians lie to us and let the power we entrusted them with go to their heads.
        In February 2013, Joel Lee Compton, the murderer who killed my brother-in-law, will come up for parole.
        Compton has been married several times and fathered children in prison, like Guzman.
        I guess prison hasn't been all that bad for them after all.
        Jerry's children grew up without a father. Jerry never saw his children graduate from school or saw his children get married.
        My two sons never had the chance to know their uncle Jerry and find out what a good person he was.
        My sister and I will be at that parole hearing.
        If Toney Anaya is such a caring and religious person, maybe he should volunteer right now to let any of these murderers who get paroled to live with him and his family, but I doubt he would.
        Toney might talk the talk, but I know he doesn't walk the walk.

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