Las Cruces woman seeks dismissal of murder case after her conviction was reversed

LAS CRUCES — Two months after the New Mexico Supreme Court threw out her murder conviction, Cristal Cardenas was ordered by the trial judge to remain in custody ahead of a hearing to determine whether her case will be dismissed or tried again.

Cardenas, 37, was convicted by a jury in 2022 of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and criminal solicitation. She was accused of first attempting to hire a hit man to kill her former boyfriend, and then participating in the killing herself on March 25, 2018. Mario Cabral, the boyfriend, and Vanessa Mora were shot to death at a residence in Garfield.

Police said Cardenas and her new partner, Luis Flores, killed the couple. Flores pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with five years suspended.

Cardenas was serving a sentence of life in prison for murder, plus 24 years on the other counts, when the state’s high court ruled 4-1 that Cardenas did not receive a fair trial, kicking her case back to 3rd Judicial District Court.

In her appeal, Cardenas argued the jury was prejudiced by prosecutors’ questions about her 6-month-old daughter testing positive for methamphetamine. In an opinion written by Justice Michael Vigil, the majority found that the questioning was inadmissible character evidence and should not have been allowed by the court. Chief Justice David Thomson dissented.

Cardenas was back before state District Judge Conrad Perea on Thursday morning, seeking her immediate release from custody. She has also filed a motion to dismiss the case, which will be heard at a later date.

On Thursday, Cardenas’ lawyer asked Perea to order her release and allow her to stay in Roswell, where she grew up, or Las Cruces until her case is resolved. Attorney Gary Mitchell argued that Cardenas had been in custody for seven years, had accumulated no charges while in prison and had no prior criminal record.

Addressing Cardenas directly, Perea ruled against releasing her, noting that he had ordered her held ahead of her original trial because of potential danger to the public. He opted to hold her at least until her motion to dismiss could be heard next month.

“I don’t think you’re going to run,” Perea said, “but I do want to secure that you are here.”

The hearing on dismissal is set for June 27. In her motion, Cardenas alleges that pervasive prosecutorial misconduct through the first trial met a constitutional standard for dismissing the charges with prejudice, meaning she could not be tried again.