NM Supreme Court orders arrest records expunged

National News

The New Mexico Supreme Court has unanimously ordered arrest records expunged for 32 people who were jailed overnight because a state judge said they were screaming during a hearing for a convicted rapist.

Chief Justice Edward Chavez said Tuesday that the court will publish a formal opinion on the case of state District Judge Sam Sanchez, stressing that judges should know it's important to distinguish between crowd control and contempt proceedings.

Sanchez, a judge of 11 years, had ordered the Nov. 19 mass jailing after he said the court gallery became unruly when he refused to reconsider a convicted rapist's 12-year prison sentence. The spectators were in support of a reduced sentence.

Those found in contempt of court spent a night behind bars before the state Supreme Court granted an emergency writ to release them pending a Nov. 23 hearing. Sanchez dismissed the charges at that hearing.

Sanchez apologized to the justices but said he had to control people in the gallery that he claimed were "yelling and screaming" at him and the rape victim.

Related listings

  • NYC victim's mom: EMTs were 'inhuman' not to help

    NYC victim's mom: EMTs were 'inhuman' not to help

    National News 12/28/2009

    Two emergency medical technicians accused of refusing to help a dying pregnant woman are "inhuman," her mother said Tuesday as a lawyer for the EMTs argued his clients are being vilified in a rush to judgment.Cynthia Rennix, the mother of 25-year-old...

  • Hedge fund operator Rajaratnam pleads not guilty

    Hedge fund operator Rajaratnam pleads not guilty

    National News 12/28/2009

    Wealthy hedge fund operator Raj Rajaratnam and a codefendant pleaded not guilty Monday to charges they were major players in a scheme that used inside information to make stock trades that generated millions of dollars in profits.Prosecutors, who hav...

  • Kansas gov to propose tobacco tax increase in 2010

    Kansas gov to propose tobacco tax increase in 2010

    National News 12/23/2009

    Gov. Mark Parkinson will propose increasing Kansas' tobacco taxes next year, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.The Democratic governor's plan is likely to face strong opposition in the Republican-controlled Legislature, although the Senate's top leader sa...

Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

Business News

New York Adoption and Family Law Attorneys Our attorneys have represented adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoption agencies. >> read
DuPage IL worker's comp lawyers Since 1962, the law firm of Krol, Bongiorno & Given, Ltd. has been a leader in the field of workers’ compensation law in DuPage, Illinois. >> read