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The New Mexico Supreme Court is cautioning the state's trial courts that citizens who don't speak English have the right to serve on juries. The court issued the admonition in a ruling that upholds an Albuquerque man's convictions for murder and other crimes in the bludgeoning death of his girlfriend and a subsequent armed robbery and stabbing. Michael Samora's appeal argued that his convictions should be reversed because the Bernalillo County court excused a Spanish-speaking prospective juror who had trouble understanding English. The Supreme Court says it agrees with that argument but also says Samora's defense needed to object during...

Who cares if jurors have no idea what's going on? The wave of politically-correct "progress" must roll on. And discrimination against people who don't speak English simply won't be tolerated. CBS Las Vegas reports: The New Mexico Supreme Court is cautioning trial courts and lawyers that citizens who don’t speak English have the right to serve on juries.The court issued the admonition in a ruling that upholds an Albuquerque man’s convictions for murder and other crimes in the bludgeoning death of his girlfriend and a subsequent armed robbery and stabbing. Michael Samora’s appeal argued that his convictions should be reversed because...

A 25-year-old man is facing multiple charges after police said he was drunkenly having sex with a woman while driving, crashed his car and then ran from police. Luis Briones, 25, was found with one shoe on and his shorts on inside-out Monday night, hiding in a cactus, after he crashed his Ford Explorer ... on Monday night. Briones’ female passenger was found naked outside the vehicle after being ejected. She had deep cuts to her face and head, but was in stable condition when she was sent to the hospital, police said.

President Barack Obama has held on to his lead over Republican Mitt Romney in the presidential contest in New Mexico, running 9 points ahead of the former Massachusetts governor in a Journal Poll concluded 12 days before the Nov. 6 election. The Democratic president had 50 percent support in the statewide survey of likely voters and those who had already voted, compared with 41 percent backing Romney. Obama picked up 1 percentage point and Romney gained 2 points in the Oct. 23-25 Journal Poll, compared with the Journal Poll conducted Oct. 9-11. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson had support...

With 60-odd percent of the vote counted in West Virginia's Democratic primary, a man named Keith Judd can make a unique claim. He has won a greater proportion of the vote -- almost 40 percent -- than any other primary candidate running against Barack Obama. Who's Keith Judd? He's prisoner #11593-051, currently serving out a sentence for making threats at the University of New Mexico. In 2008, he caused a minor stir for making the Idaho primary ballot, confounding state officials, who thought they had rules preventing that sort of thing. Unbowed, he ran again this year, delivering FEC reports...

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson is campaigning to win the White House as a Libertarian after receiving scant attention in the Republican presidential race. Johnson easily became the party's presidential nominee at the Libertarian national convention in Las Vegas on Saturday. He hopes to appeal to voters fed up with the traditional two-party system this November. SNIP He won 74 percent of the vote on the first ballot in Las Vegas, an unusual showing of support. SNIP

Missing hiker found with cat in New Mexico forest Published March 10, 2012 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Snuggling in a blue sleeping bag, Margaret Page and her cat survived 3 1/2 weeks in a rugged New Mexico national forest, even though temperatures dropped below freezing nearly every night. Family members reported her missing Feb 14. But for various reasons, authorities didn't start searching for her until this week. The 41-year-old Page, who has a history of mental illness, was found Wednesday emaciated and malnourished but well-hydrated. Relying on a creek for drinking water, Page and her cat named Miya lived on...

An Albuquerque man says he successfully registered his dog to vote in Bernalillo County. The dog owner said he saw a voter registration booth on the University of New Mexico's campus a few weeks ago and decided to see how easy it would be to register his dog to vote. He said he was trying to expose the problems with the registration system. He said he just received the dog's voter registration card in the mail Wednesday, and it was way too easy. "They should verify. Somebody should have verified this information and somebody should have come out and took...

A New Mexico man who said he was forced to pull his own tooth while in solitary confinement because he was denied access to a dentist has been awarded $22 million due to inhumane treatment by New Mexico's Dona Ana County Jail. Stephen Slevin was arrested in August of 2005 for driving while intoxicated, then thrown in jail for two years. He was in solitary at Dona Ana County Jail for his entire sentence and basically forgotten about and never given a trial, he told NBC station KOB.com Tuesday night. "'[Jail guards were] walking by me every day, watching me...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Mexico border town mayor and congressional candidate Martin Resendiz was drunk when he signed nine contracts with a California company that is now suing the city for $1 million, according to a deposition in the case. "The day I signed, . I had way too much to drink. It was after 5 p.m. and I signed it (the contracts) and I didn't know what I was signing," Sunland Park, NM, Mayor Martin Resendiz wrote in response to questions from lawyers for the architectural design firm Synthesis+. "My sister had to pick me up."

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - A 47-year-old man's friends set his prosthetic leg on fire after he lost a drinking bet, causing him to suffer severe burns to his buttocks and lower back. Dona Ana County sheriff's deputies found the man naked on the side of U.S. Route 70 with his prosthetic leg in flames. Deputies learned that the man and his friends were drinking Monday and bet that whoever drank the least would be set on fire. The man told investigators that at six beers, he drank the least, and agreed to let his friends set him on fire.

What goes around comes around -- even for Hollywood snobs and elitists. Big-mouth Hollywood actor Val Kilmer is finding that out in New Mexico, where a number of residents are upset over incendiary remarks the Hollywood pretty boy has made over the years about veterans and rural life in northern New Mexico. Now, they're giving Kilmer a hard time over his efforts to obtain permits needed to turn his sprawling ranch outside Santa Fe into an upscale bed-and-breakfast. What, especially, are the locals so upset about? The Wall Street Journal provides details in an article today, "New Mexico v....

AP) LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - Las Cruces police said a woman has been arrested for allegedly stabbing her ex-husband. Police said a 27-year-old woman was charged with three counts of aggravated battery against a household member and one count of battery. She was being held on $15,000 bond at the Dona Ana County Detention Center. The woman's ex-husband was taken to a hospital for treatment of his wounds after the Thursday night altercation.

(Santa Fe New Mexican, The (NM) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jan. 8--A Santa Fe man who says he suffers from electromagnetic sensitivity is suing his next-door neighbor for refusing to turn off her cell phone and other electronic devices. Arthur Firstenberg, who has actively opposed the proliferation of wireless systems in public buildings, claims he has been made homeless by Raphaela Monribot's rejection of his requests. "Within a day of (Monribot) moving in, I began to feel sick when I was in my house," Firstenberg wrote in his affidavit. "(Monribot's) house is located 25 feet from my house. Further, because...

New Mexico finishes at the bottom of the heap in PC Magazine's survey of Internet surf speed. Nevada, Virginia and Pennsylvania are home to the nation's fastest Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and New Mexico, with a Surf Speed of 322 Kbps (kilobits per second), is dead last, according to a new survey just posted on PCMag.com.

Cigar smoke seeps into sandwich shop Customers at a Northeast Heights sandwich shop have been getting a side order of cigar smoke with their meals since a cigar bar moved in next door. The problem began when an adjacent space in the strip mall at Louisiana and Menaul was occupied by the Albuquerque Cigar Club. “We’re losing business due to the smoke because people can’t stand the smoke,” says Renee Thomas, a waitress at The Cheese and Coffee Café. Thomas adds, though, that the owner of the cigar bar has been helpful. “They have tried to cooperate, but anything that...

I know FReepers will show restraint.

The Tijeras Motor Vehicle Division office was closed for several hours Tuesday after allegations surfaced that the office was issuing driver's licenses illegally. The MVD office was opened again on Wednesday, but Bernalillo County sheriff's deputies and state Department of Taxation and Revenue officials continued to investigate. Auditors and investigators from Taxation and Revenue were sent to Tijeras after reports that driver's licenses were being issued improperly to illegal immigrants, MVD spokesman David Harwell said Wednesday.Auditors found records of about 100 driver's licenses issued to illegal immigrants through the Tijeras office, he said. All of the license numbers have been...

When Bill Miera and his peers in the aerospace industry hit the same brick wall in their quest for new business, they knew it was time to knock the wall down. The demolition begins in late August with the launch of the New Mexico Hi-Tech Aerospace Suppliers, a coalition founded by Miera that will include eight local businesses banding together to tap into the aerospace industry. The new group's story is simple: There are plenty of local, high-tech businesses that can meet the aerospace industry's needs, so those in the business of airplanes and space shuttles should set up shop...

A Santa Fe man says he was humiliated and bullied when police raided an Albuquerque gay bathhouse Saturday night to serve a felony arrest warrant for liquor violations. Officers from the Department of Public Safety, state police and the Albuquerque fire marshal's office raided Pride Gym in northwest Albuquerque around 10 p.m. and arrested manager Ron Cordova on suspicion of selling and dispensing alcohol without a liquor license, DPS spokesman Peter Olson said. The DPS Special Investigation Division and local authorities have been cracking down on businesses around New Mexico that are selling alcohol illegally or selling to those who...