EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The New Mexico Supreme Court sided with state Attorney General Raul Torrez in a issue involving the trial of a Las Cruces police officer who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter earlier this year in the shooting death of a man back in 2022.
The Supreme Court granted Torrez’ emergency petition for an “extraordinary writ,” ruling that the district court must quash its order requiring a juror to testify in the Brad Lunsford case, the state Attorney General’s Office said.
In Februaruy, Lunsford, a former a Las Cruces police officer, was convicted of shooting and killing Presley Eze in August 2022.
Lunsford was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter with a firearm enhancement.
The Supreme Court also lifted a stay on the underlying proceedings and is allowing the district court to move forward and rule on the remaining motions, the Attorney General’s Office said.
In one of those motions, Lunsford and his defense team claimed that they discovered new evidence of bias from the jury foreperson.
Back in April, the Attorney General’s Office said the defense motion, while not naming the juor, made it easy to identify them and subject them to a social media campaign of harassment.
Also at that time, the Attorney General’s Office said it had filed several motions to protect the juror, who had been subpoenaed to testify during a public hearing.
Monday’s Supreme Court ruling involved some of those issues.
“Protecting the finality and integrity of a jury’s decision is essential to maintaining public trust in our criminal justice system,” Torrez said in a news release. “Jurors must be able to deliberate freely, without fear of being called to testify or having their identities exposed after a verdict is rendered. This ruling sends a clear message that those protections matter.”
The next hearing in the Lunsford case has not been scheduled. Lunsford has been out on bail until sentencing, the AG’s Office said.
Read: Read More