Accused Young Park shooters set for February trial

LAS CRUCES — The murder trials for four young men accused in the mass shooting in Young Park nearly five months ago are set to proceed in February.

However, a status conference before state District Judge Douglas Driggers on Friday revealed complexities that threatened to slow preparations for trial — an outcome Driggers moved to avert.

Tomas Rivas, 21; Nathan Rivas, 17; Josiah Ontiveros, 16; and Gustavo Dominguez, 17, are all charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of conspiracy to commit murder over the March 21 shooting at a crowded city park during an informal car show.

Witnesses reported a dispute that night between two groups of youths erupted into gunfire. Fifteen people were injured in the ensuing chaos and three teens were killed: Dominick Estrada, 19; Andrew “AJ” Madrid, 16; and Jason Gomez, 17.

All four defendants, who remain in custody, appeared with their attorneys. District Attorney Fernando Macias represented the state’s case himself.

The defense attorneys expressed concern over their access to evidence the state intends to present at trial, and an opportunity to conduct pretrial interviews with likely witnesses. As things stood, Macias said the prosecution was still narrowing its list from 148 witnesses, but had identified priority and lower-tier groups.

Macias and the attorneys came to an agreement that interviews with the primary group would begin no later than Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, Driggers indicated he would order interviews of 10 priority lay witnesses to take place later this month, “even if they do it before this court,” followed by another tier of about 15 potential witnesses early in September.

The defense attorneys also requested that more evidence be made available for their review.

While they did not accuse Macias’ office of wrongdoing, they told the judge they had not received access to much of the evidence, including audio and video recordings as well as fingerprint, DNA and ballistics analyses needed to prepare their defenses. Macias countered that “a mass of information” was, in fact, accessible to them, but committed to providing continuous discovery as material became available and to assisting with any obstacles.

Driggers also granted a request by Mark Earnest, the attorney representing Nathan Rivas, to provide regular opportunities for the three minor defendants to meet with their attorneys at the courthouse instead of the juvenile detention center, where attorneys are required to speak to their clients through plexiglass dividers using phones. Earnest said the conditions would be prohibitive for reviewing evidence with the defendants.

Driggers acknowledged it was unlikely the four will ultimately be tried together, not only because of the space required to accommodate all the parties but the likelihood of antagonistic defenses, in which codefendants’ arguments contradict or even implicate one another.

Meanwhile, the Las Cruces City Council met in closed session on Aug. 4 to discuss a potential wrongful death lawsuit by the estate of Jason Gomez, one of the victims of the March 21 shooting.