NMAGO 05-01.

Case DateJanuary 14, 2005
CourtNew Mexico
New Mexico Attorney General Opinions 2005. NMAGO 05-01. January 14, 2005OPINION OF PATRICIA A. MADRID Attorney General Opinion No. 05-01BY: Arthur W. Pepin Assistant Attorney General TO: Richard D. FloresDistrict Attorney, Fourth Judicial District P.O. Box 20251800 New Mexico AvenueLas Vegas, New Mexico 87701 RE: DEATH PENALTY P FROSECUTION FOR THE MURDER OF PRISON GUARD RALPH GARCIA; CONFLICT OF INTEREST FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY AND HIS ENTIRE STAFFQUESTION: Is Richard D. Flores, the newly elected District Attorney in the Fourth Judicial District, who worked in private practice with an attorney presently representing a defendant in a capital case (including representing the defendant at least once at a hearing), subject to disqualification from the prosecution of that case? If the District Attorney is disqualified, are other members of his DA office similarly disqualified? CONCLUSION: The incoming District Attorney, Richard D. Flores, and all members of his District Attorney's office, are clearly disqualified from prosecuting the death penalty case against the District Attorney's and his colleague's former client. Any involvement by DA Flores or his staff would jeopardize any conviction obtained in the prosecution of Robert Young for the murder of Ralph Garcia FACTS: On January 1, 2005, Richard D. Flores took office as the newly elected District Attorney for the Fourth Judicial District. Pending in the Fourth Judicial District is a death penalty murder prosecution against Robert Young for the murder of prison guard Ralph Garcia in August 1999 during a prison riot at Santa Rosa. The Special Prosecutions Division of the Office of the Attorney General has been closely involved in this matter since September 1999. This office has participated in fifteen cases arising from the Santa Rosa riot, and the Attorney General has been the attorney of record in the Young case since his indictment. Eleven of the Santa Rosa cases have resulted in plea dispositions in which the Attorney General was directly involved. Of the four remaining cases, three are death penalty cases, including the prosecution of Young, and the remaining case is a non-death penalty murder case. The Attorney General has participated been lead counsel in all of the extensive motions and hearings in Young's case. The Santa Rosa prosecutions have included more than 300 interviews and depositions and generated 70,000 pages of documents to date. The Attorney General worked in partnership with the predecessor to District Attorney Flores, devoting extensive resources to these cases. It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to fully inform DA Flores or any other Special Prosecutor that he may appoint of all of the relevant information in the Young prosecution that has been developed since 1999. In seeking an Opinion from this office, District Attorney Flores states that he worked with the defense attorney for capital murder defendant Robert Young, "in a three member legal association in Las Vegas, New Mexico" where the three lawyers "freely shared our files with one another in terms of court settings, phone calls and deadlines." Regarding Robert Young, District Attorney Flores states "I have read his file, discussed the case with Mr. Baca [Young's defense attorney] and attended one hearing on Mr. Young's case." Mr...

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