Finally, some “common sense” when it comes to pretrial release. Here’s to the Joe Anderson case instilling more of it in Albuquerque courtrooms.
Anderson, 41, was arrested Dec. 4, 2022, on a charge of first-degree murder in connection with the Aug. 6, 2022, killing of Raymond Aviles. Police say Anderson sought out Aviles and fatally shot him while Aviles rode a motorcycle in Southeast Albuquerque. Aviles died in the middle of Eastern Avenue, allegedly gunned down by Anderson, who was already a convicted killer.
The prosecutor rightfully motioned to keep Anderson behind bars pending trial, but Second Judicial District Court Judge Emeterio L. Rudolfo had other ideas and denied the motion.
In his Jan. 13 ruling, Judge Rudolfo got that Anderson posed a danger to the community. But the judge also said Anderson had complied with conditions of release in other pending cases and the danger Anderson posed could be mitigated by “zero-tolerance” conditions of release.
Wait, say what? Anderson was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to seven years in prison for the 2010 fatal shooting of Vincente Sanchez. He got out of prison in 2019 and in 2022 is suspected in another shooting death. An ankle monitor is supposed to keep him from going for what possibly could be No. 3?
And just how effective was that “zero tolerance” at keeping Anderson on the straight and narrow?
On Feb. 7, the day after the state Supreme Court overturned Rudolfo’s pretrial release decision, Anderson’s ankle monitor was found on the side of a highway. He didn’t even bother trying to hide it — just took it off and tossed it out the window.
It wasn’t until Feb. 26 that detectives found Anderson at an apartment near Montgomery and Interstate 25 and arrested him again — a lucky break as he could have traveled to just about anywhere by then. Meanwhile, Albuquerque police detectives could have worked other cases if they hadn’t had to track down Anderson twice in the same case.
Thankfully, our Supreme Court has tried to emphasize common sense when it comes to pretrial release. The court said Rudolfo erred in releasing Anderson given his “extensive criminal history” that “includes nearly two decades of criminal behavior, including crimes of violence.” The court also noted Anderson “has a history of failures to appear, bench warrants and probation violations.”
Now, Anderson is where he ought to be, behind bars, as he awaits another murder trial.
In addition, the Supreme Court issued guidance Monday that will hopefully help keep more dangerous defendants locked up until trial. In a unanimous opinion, the five justices said prosecutors must only prove that no release conditions can “reasonably” protect the public from a criminal defendant the judge finds is dangerous. That one word, “reasonably,” could be a game-changer. Previously, to keep someone behind bars, prosecutors had to prove “no release conditions can possibly protect the public,” even for violent offenses. It was a bar set far too high.
Justice Briana Zamora wrote for the court that “if a defendant has a pattern of disregarding official directives, it is certainly reasonable to infer that the defendant is unlikely to comply with any conditions of release that the district court could impose in the future.” Zamora also wrote “in considering the release-conditions prong of the detention analysis, like the initial dangerousness analysis, the district court should take a holistic, common-sense approach.”
At last.
New Mexicans owe the state Supreme Court a thank you for doing what state lawmakers have been unable to do in recent years — put the brakes on pretrial release as too many judges have relied too heavily on the deeply flawed public safety assessment known as the Arnold Tool for far too long.
Now, it’s up to judges to follow this pretrial release guidance for dangerous defendants and make our communities safer.
This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
