Posted on 09/18/2010 5:47:39 PM PDT by CedarDave
The suspected drug dealer accused of shooting a Bernalillo County sheriff's deputy in the groin during a raid last month is getting out of jail for a day next week — unsupervised.
During an arraignment in state District Court on Friday, Judge Kenneth Martinez agreed to allow 27-year-old William Westfall a one-day furlough on Tuesday to attend his brother's funeral, authorities said.
Martinez also reduced Westfall's bond from $250,000 cash only to $150,000 cash or surety, meaning Westfall would be released if he can come up with 10 percent of the new amount.
Westfall was indicted this week on 13 felony counts including narcotics trafficking, aggravated assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, conspiracy, evidence tampering and possession of a firearm by a felon.
~~snip~~
Westfall's criminal record in Bernalillo County dates to 1999. He has previous arrests on suspicion of auto burglary, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, narcotics, theft and larceny.
In 2002, when Westfall was 19 years old, he was arrested on charges of battery and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer after getting into a fight with a group of men and later failing to obey an Albuquerque police officer's commands.
Westfall was convicted of larceny in 2001 in Santa Fe Magistrate Court. Gonzales said Westfall was also convicted of unlawful use of a vehicle in Texas.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
For what its worth, the DA's office is fighting his release and will appeal. If he is released and unless the cops tail him, the odds are he will not be seen again.
NM list PING!
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Could be a star chamber sort of thang Dave......let the repeat offender team deal with the career POS on the street.
Bang of the gavel per se......:o)
I have agreed to let inmates have furloughs for funerals in sympathy for family members, not the defendant. They were, however, for a few hours only and they were accompanied by an armed guard.
Hopefully someone will tail him...
for legal purposes only, of course.
Ping me
27-year-old William Westfall a one-day furlough on Tuesday to attend his brother’s funeral,
Without reading the story how did the brother of a 27 year old criminal die? Maybe like crime runs in this family?
I notice that it says a lot about arrests; but not a lot on the way of convictions.
>He has previous arrests on suspicion of auto burglary, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, narcotics, theft and larceny.
[...]
>he was arrested on charges of battery and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer after getting into a fight with a group of men and later failing to obey an Albuquerque police officer’s commands.
I’m sorry but the charge of “resisting, evading or obstructing an officer” is a pretty bullshittish charge; couldn’t you claim that someone demanding a warrant before letting the police enter/search their homes be considered ‘obstructing’ an officer [especially if you were to call into the police station and verify things like his badge number]? Couldn’t simply refusing to cooperate with an officer’s questioning be considered ‘obstructing’ or giving evasive-yet-technically-true answers be considered ‘evading’ or ‘resisting’?
And I’m sorry but the justification of the charge by saying it was “failing to obey an Albuquerque police officer’s commands” is simply malformed. There is an inherent assumption there that the officer’s commands are valid.
Things like the following are not valid commands from officers in the State of New Mexico according to its Constitution:
“Leave the [public] park there are no guns allowed in public parks.”
“Leave the [public] venue, you cannot distribute religious material here.”
“I’m sorry but you can’t have a weapon at this political rally.”
The story didn't say.
I think it’s reasonable to let an offender attend the funeral of a close relative unless he is extremely dangerous or liable to escape.
But I certainly don’t think that a serious offender should be released on his own recognizance, especially if the prosecutor objects. And shooting a law officer is surely a serious offense.
Maybe he should be allowed to attend his brother’s funeral handcuffed to this judge.
McKinney, 26, was shot in the groin around 6 a.m. after SWAT and a regional task force surrounded a home in the 4200 block of Mescalero NE.Sounds like a bad dude to me.In the home was 27-year-old William Westfall, his three children and two women, Gonzales said. Westfall, who has an extensive criminal history, is suspected of dealing drugs out of the home.
Authorities said that, while deputies were outside the house, Westfall began firing shots from inside. One shot went through a wall and struck McKinney. Gonzales said it is likely that deputies fired shots back, but he had not received confirmation.
Read more: ABQJOURNAL NEWS/METRO: Deputy Shot in the Groin http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/272330447034newsmetro08-27-10.htm#ixzz0zvzOkYM0 Subscribe Now Albuquerque Journal
The cop haters on Free Republic will come up with some sort of award for the judge.
>From an earlier story:
>
>>McKinney, 26, was shot in the groin around 6 a.m. after SWAT and a regional task force surrounded a home in the 4200 block of Mescalero NE.
>>In the home was 27-year-old William Westfall, his three children and two women, Gonzales said. Westfall, who has an extensive criminal history, is suspected of dealing drugs out of the home.
>>Authorities said that, while deputies were outside the house, Westfall began firing shots from inside. One shot went through a wall and struck McKinney. Gonzales said it is likely that deputies fired shots back, but he had not received confirmation.
>
>Sounds like a bad dude to me.
Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have rights or that the police are justified.
For example, you cite a SWAT team in operation because he was suspected of selling drugs from his home; did they have a warrant?
If they did not have a warrant, then I’d have to side with him on this case... regardless of the veracity of the accusations of the drugs.
The State Constitution is VERY clear that *all* people have the inherent right to defend their property, even with violence, and in the absence of a warrant the swat-team’s actions are nothing more than a home-raid.
{It is the warrant itself which is an official “validating document” for the search/seizure; much like orders in the military.}
>The cop haters on Free Republic will come up with some sort of award for the judge.
What, might I ask, qualifies one as a “cop hater”?
You keep posting this BS on every thread. You are a putz.
That said, the judge is an idiot. Shoot a cop and get a free pass! WTF
By his definition, if you don’t like their boots.
>By his definition, if you don’t like their boots.
I have no problem with their boots...
It’s their oath to “uphold the law” that disgusts me, not the words of the oath, but how utterly ignorant they are of the law.
I brought up an obvious conflict between state-law and the state constitution to a Sheriff and his excuse/explanation was “we do it other places.”
[The specific conflict]
Compare this portion of the State Constitution:
http://www.conwaygreene.com/nmsu/lpext.dll?f=FifLink&t=document-frame.htm&l=query&iid=6c1804dd.55b72e94.0.0&q=%5BGroup%20%27nmc%20artii-6%27%5D
With this State Statute:
http://www.conwaygreene.com/nmsu/lpext.dll?f=FifLink&t=document-frame.htm&l=query&iid=6c1804dd.55b72e94.0.0&q=%5BGroup%20%2730-7-2%27%5D
Sounds like he has ties to someone important. Be interesting to see who is pulling the strings.
Perhaps not...
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/santafenewmexican/obituary.aspx?n=richard-davis&pid=145398142
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