LAS CRUCES – Albuquerque resident Thomas Manning was 16  when, police allege, he fatally shot his father, Jeffrey Scott Manning, in the  back of the head during a hunting trip in the Gila National Forest on Nov. 14, 2010.

Manning was orgionally held at the Luna County Juvenile Detention Center since the allegded crime occured in Grant County.   A potentially damning interview of Manning,  conducted during the investigation of the slaying of the youth’s father, has  been excluded as evidence because the recorded interview’s audio quality is so poor, said the prosecutor in the case.  According to a report in  the Albuquerque Journal.

Now the question facing the court is whether the contents of the interview will be excluded as evidence as well, said George Zsoka, a  Silver City-based deputy district attorney. 

Prosecutors will seek an adult sentence against Manning if the teenager is convicted. 

District Judge J.C. Robinson ruled last Friday, after a  July 17 hearing in the case, that the recorded interview “as it is now, is not
properly audible and could not be used as  evidence.” 

The judge said he would reconsider the ruling if the  recording’s audio can be improved to the point that the conversation between
Manning and a detective is intelligible. 

Asked how harmful the exclusion of the recorded interview  is to the prosecution’s case, Zsoka said he could not discuss the recording’s  contents but added: “He (Thomas Manning) makes statements which the state  considers to be self-incriminating.”

With the exclusion of the recorded interview, a defense attorney argued at a hearing Monday that the contents of the interview should also be barred as evidence, Zsoka said. 

“I took the position that if the recording is  problematic, fine, but there’s no reason the detective can’t testify to what
 the defendant told him,” Zsoka said.   Before a ruling is made on that question, the defense and prosecution must both file briefs on the issue, Zsoka  said. 

Manning’s attorney, public defender Stacey Ward, could  not be reached for comment Thursday.

(Deming) – Misdemeanor charges have been filed on two local dispatchers for allegedly releasing Crime Stoppers information to non-law enforcement
personnel.  
     27-year-old Julie Avila and 30-year-old Michelle Flores have been charged under a confidentiality statute that applies to unlawfully and intentionally releasing confidential information gained through a program relating to criminal
activity.
     The state statute appears to be specifically aimed at maintaining the integrity of anonymous crime prevention and intervention programs such as Crime
Stoppers.
      A statement of probable cause  filed in Luna County Magistrate Court says Avila and Flores released  confidential information obtained through the local Crime Stoppers tip line to  non-law enforcement personnel.
      The Crime Stoppers line – 546-7800 – is billed as being anonymous with calls never recorded or traced.  It is set up to allow persons to report crimes without
repercussions, and sometimes with a financial reward incentive.
     The two dispatchers reportedly have been let go of their jobs at Central Dispatch.

Another Arrested in Prescription Fraud
 
(Deming) -- A  second person has been arrested in a local prescription fraud
investigation. 31-year-old Brooke Jacobson was arrested Wednesday for forgery in the issuing or transferring of a prescription and fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance. Deming Police Chief Michael Carillo said Jacobson's arrest resulted from the follow-up investigation into medical assistant Jafet "Jay" Vallejo's arrest two weeks ago. Vallejo also was arrested on charges of forgery and fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance after being accused of taking a forged prescription for 100 tablets of Adderall -- a brand-name psychostimulant medication considered to have high abuse potential -- to the Wal-Mart pharmacy. The pharmacist flagged the prescription after Vallejo asked if the dosage could be raised.  The pharmacist confirmed with Dr. George Williams -- for whom Vallejo worked at the time -- that the prescription was forged and notified the Deming Police Department. Jacobson's forged prescription also was for Adderall.

(Deming) -- A local medical assistant has been charged with forging a prescription for a controlled  narcotic  using the name of the doctor for whom he worked.
34 year old Jafet "Jay" Vallejo  was arrested on charges of forgery and fraudulently obtaining a controlled  substance.
Vallejo, an assistant to Doctor  George Williams, is accused of taking a forged prescription for 100 tablets of  Adderall, a brand-name pyschostimulant medication considered to have high  abuse potential, to the Wal-Mart pharmacy.
The pharmacist flagged the prescription after Vallejo asked if the dosage could be raised.  The pharmacist confirmed with  Dr. Williams that the prescription was forged and notified the Deming Police Department. Vallejo invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. Chief Michael Carillo said both  charges are fourth-degree felonies.

(Deming) -- Here's the area crime report:
Bradley Brown, age 31 was arrested on two Luna County Magistrate court
warrants – one for failure to pay fines, and the second for failure to
appear.   Anthony Banegas, age 22 of Las Cruces was arrested on a Dona Ana County warrant for Failure to Pay  Fines.  Gordon Garland, age 37 was
  arrested on a Luna County Magistrate court warrant for failure to appear.  Juan Carbaja, age 28 was arrested for receiving stolen property and on a 6th Judicial District Court warrant for contempt of court… and Gerardo Torres, age 41 was arrested for driving while license suspended or revoked ... Gordon Garland, age 37, was arrested on a Magistrate warrant for failure to appear... Anthony Banegas, age 22, of Las Cruces, was arrested on a Dona Ana County warrant for failure to pay fines... and a 17-year-old boy was detained for battery on a household member and false imprisonment. And in other news... a vehicle parked off East Florida
sustained 500-dollars in criminal damage after it was spray-painted.

(Deming) -- Here's the area crime report:
Juan Carbajal, age 28, was arrested for receiving stolen property and  on a District Court warrant for contempt of court... Gerardo Torres, age 41, was  arrested for driving while license was suspended or revoked... Gordon Garland,  age 37, was arrested on a Magistrate warrant for failure to appear... Anthony  Banegas, age 22, of Las Cruces, was arrested on a Dona Ana County
warrant for  failure to pay fines... and a 17-year-old boy was detained for battery on a  household member and false imprisonment. And in other news... a vehicle  parked off East Florida sustained 500-dollars in criminal damage after it was  spray-painted.

(Deming) -- A Deming man sustained four gunshot wounds after he allegedly went to the home of an ex-girlfriend and threatened her husband. 33-year-old Ramon Delgado was  treated at the local hospital and airlifted to El Paso with gunshot wounds to  both arms, and graze wounds to his right leg and the top of his
head.
Police Captain Brandon Gigante  said the wounds did not appear to be life-threatening.  Gigante said officers were called to the 400 block of South Yucca at about 9 Monday night because shots had been fired.
They found Delgado slumped over  and bleeding in the driver's seat of his pickup.
The investigation revealed that  Delgado was attempting to run into or over the husband of Delgado's former girlfriend, when the husband jumped out of the way, pulled a gun, and shot Delgado.
Reportedly, the husband was armed because of previous domestic issues with Delgado. Gigante said it appears the shooting was in self-defense, although the investigation is continuing.

(Deming) -- A Deming man charged with murdering his brother has been sentenced to four years in prison for manslaughter. Jesus "Chuy" Vasquez was sentenced to six years by Sixth Judicial District Court Judge Daniel Viramontes, who then reduced the sentence because of mitigating circumstances including remorse expressed by Vasquez over the death of his brother, 42-year-old Frank Vasquez, following a fight last October. Sheriff's Investigator Alan Batts said at the time that the fight appeared to have escalated from disagreements over living together in their late parent's home off Dona Ana Road. Assistant District Attorney Gerald Byers said the autopsy revealed Frank Vasquez died of blunt force trauma and had extensive injuries including fractured ribs and brain swelling. Chuy Vasquez's attorney, Lee Hood, argued that Frank had been in poor health and had methamphetamine in his system at the time of the fight which could have been a contributing factor in his death. Friends and family members attended the sentencing Monday afternoon, and three spoke on behalf of leniency for Chuy Vasquez. Frank's daughter also spoke, but asked for the maximum penalty for her uncle.

Byers said Vasquez will have to serve at least 85% of the four-year sentence since the crime was a serious violent offense. He will get credit for his time in jail since October.

Anthony Juarez, age 29, was arrested on an Adult Probation and Parole Office warrant for a probation violation... Reina Rodriguez, age 49, was arrested on a Magistrate warrant for failure to pay fines and on a Municipal warrant for failure to appear... Richard Eckert, age 32, was arrested on a Dona Ana County warrant for failure to appear... Xaviour Zuniga, age 20, was cited for possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia... Adrian Lopez, age 20, was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia... and Robert Trejo, age 59, was cited for trespassing at a local restaurant.

Also... an extensive amount of shelves, cabinets, paintings and other items valued at over four-thousand dollars were taken from a warehouse in the industrial park... a 2004 utility dump trailer valued at three-thousand dollars was taken from a location off Candela Road Southeast... a record's search of a 12-gauge Remington 870 shotgun recently purchased for 300-dollars at the flea market in north Deming came back as stolen from a resident of Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1974... and a debit card from a Deming bank was used without authorization for purchases in Green Bay, Wisconsin and Palo Alto, California.

James Aaron Butz, age 27, was arrested for burglary, larceny, causing criminal damage to property and on an Adult Probation and Parole Office warrant for a probation violation... Elizabeth Diaz, age 36, was arrested on a Municipal warrant for failure to pay fines... and a 16-year-old boy was detained for minor allowing self to be served alcohol after an incident at Cesar Chavez Charter High School.