LAW: Judge Resigns-Example Of Pressure?
Judge Frances Gallegos resigned as Santa Fe municipal judge the same day she was charged with three counts of tampering with a public record in a criminal complaint filed in Magistrate court.The charge is a fourth-degree felony and is punishable with 18 months incarcaration plus fines for each count.Upon further investigation it is beleived there is potential for additional charges.Gallegos allegedly tampered with DWI records that are sent to the state DMV.You see,at an earlier date she was scrutinized by MADD and I have found this:
..by the City MIS Department at MADD's request from dispositions entered by municipal court staff on DWI cases adjudicated by Judge Fran Gallegos. The analysis reveals:
Only 37 out of 912 cases involved a jail sentence.
A conviction rate of 49.7%. (The state average was 85%)
Only 54% of the aggravated DWI cases that refused the breath/blood tests resulted in a conviction.
Only 8.6% of offenders convicted of aggravated DWI were sentenced to jail (aggravated DWI carries a mandatory jail sentence).
ANALYSIS:Result 1: Less than 50% (N=453) of 912 DWI cases resulted in convictions. Forty-two percent (N=366) of these cases were dismissed. These include 24% that were dismissed with "no conditions" and 18% "with conditions."
The problem I have with this is the judge made the original descision on facts,and the punishments on assessments and observations that probation officers and/or magistrates and herself had made.MADD does not care about the facts because false positives,inaccurate observations from an officer,the Bill of Rights,any chance of recovery from alcoholism do not suit their purpose,which has been claimed to be other than public safety.
An article from a local paper quotes,"The commission maintains that Gallegos changed the records in an attempt to falsely enhance her reputation with the public by showing stiffer DWI sentences than she actually gave."Apparently in addition to altering records the commision is accusing her of not allowing defendants of DWI who represent themselves to plead "not guilty",and forced offenders to attend an aftercare treatment center regardless their DWI assessment.It has been said that she changed records of cases dismissed to show that there was punishment.
I have yet to find any comments from MADD on this case.These are not the first stats to be changed directly/indirectly by MADD nor is this the first person in power to be influenced by this type of useless pressure.This would not the first law to be broken due to MADD antics,I call them antics because more people committ suicide after being arrested for DUI than there are innocent people (that being people with a BAC of .00) deceased due to an actual drunk driver.A judges decisions criticized by the ignorant feels it necessary to do this to keep his/her job,imagine the mere thought of the repercussions of the consequences of a DUI,especially those who were responsible and between .08 and .10.No consitutional rights,loss of liscense,liberty,unnecessary counseling and a few other classes with no way to get there,possible loss of job/jobs and a hindered chance of getting a good one,the humility,probation and if your lucky,SCRAM instead of jail,which will cost you $1000's more on top of your fines and probably produce a false positive one way or another and jeopordize your liberty once again.Trust me,this would not be the first law broken,only these laws have no chance of being victimless.AGAIN AN EXAMPLE OF PRESSURE THAT IS SETTING A PRECEDENT AND REWRITING THE CONSTITUTION!
REFERENCE:
http://www.abqjournal.com/north/405102north_news11-04-05.htm
http://www.ridl.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1543
HOME
post date: 11/07/05
..by the City MIS Department at MADD's request from dispositions entered by municipal court staff on DWI cases adjudicated by Judge Fran Gallegos. The analysis reveals:
Only 37 out of 912 cases involved a jail sentence.
A conviction rate of 49.7%. (The state average was 85%)
Only 54% of the aggravated DWI cases that refused the breath/blood tests resulted in a conviction.
Only 8.6% of offenders convicted of aggravated DWI were sentenced to jail (aggravated DWI carries a mandatory jail sentence).
ANALYSIS:Result 1: Less than 50% (N=453) of 912 DWI cases resulted in convictions. Forty-two percent (N=366) of these cases were dismissed. These include 24% that were dismissed with "no conditions" and 18% "with conditions."
The problem I have with this is the judge made the original descision on facts,and the punishments on assessments and observations that probation officers and/or magistrates and herself had made.MADD does not care about the facts because false positives,inaccurate observations from an officer,the Bill of Rights,any chance of recovery from alcoholism do not suit their purpose,which has been claimed to be other than public safety.
An article from a local paper quotes,"The commission maintains that Gallegos changed the records in an attempt to falsely enhance her reputation with the public by showing stiffer DWI sentences than she actually gave."Apparently in addition to altering records the commision is accusing her of not allowing defendants of DWI who represent themselves to plead "not guilty",and forced offenders to attend an aftercare treatment center regardless their DWI assessment.It has been said that she changed records of cases dismissed to show that there was punishment.
I have yet to find any comments from MADD on this case.These are not the first stats to be changed directly/indirectly by MADD nor is this the first person in power to be influenced by this type of useless pressure.This would not the first law to be broken due to MADD antics,I call them antics because more people committ suicide after being arrested for DUI than there are innocent people (that being people with a BAC of .00) deceased due to an actual drunk driver.A judges decisions criticized by the ignorant feels it necessary to do this to keep his/her job,imagine the mere thought of the repercussions of the consequences of a DUI,especially those who were responsible and between .08 and .10.No consitutional rights,loss of liscense,liberty,unnecessary counseling and a few other classes with no way to get there,possible loss of job/jobs and a hindered chance of getting a good one,the humility,probation and if your lucky,SCRAM instead of jail,which will cost you $1000's more on top of your fines and probably produce a false positive one way or another and jeopordize your liberty once again.Trust me,this would not be the first law broken,only these laws have no chance of being victimless.AGAIN AN EXAMPLE OF PRESSURE THAT IS SETTING A PRECEDENT AND REWRITING THE CONSTITUTION!
REFERENCE:
http://www.abqjournal.com/north/405102north_news11-04-05.htm
http://www.ridl.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1543
HOME
post date: 11/07/05
posted by marcellus91872 at 11:15 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home