New DA Goes After DV

District Attorney Jennifer Padgett says she'll stop practice of pleading down domestic violence cases

Newly appointed 1st Judicial District Attorney Jennifer Padgett introduced herself to Santa Fe City Council with a nod toward her history as administrative services director for the Children, Youth and Families Department, and the announcement that she's set her sights on serious changes in magistrate court, where domestic violence cases and DUIs are handled.

“Immediately where my attention focused was not on the very high profile cases or on crimes against children... but on magistrate court,” said Padgett, who was appointed to finish out the term as head prosecutor for Rio Arriba, Santa Fe and Los Alamos counties for Angela "Spence" Pacheco after she retired in December. Jennifer PadgettTurns out, she’d pulled some of the same data that SFR reviewed last fall and reported in December in “Loves Me Not: Gaps in the system mean victims live with and die from domestic violence” that indicate that as few as one in 25 of those charged with misdemeanor domestic violence are found guilty of that crime and sentenced to the mandatory counseling programs designed to prevent it from happening again. 

We reported then that of 54 felony charges that had been resolved in the court system in the previous 12 months, 30 of them were dismissed by the prosecutor or had the charges pleaded down. Offenses that lead to “great bodily harm” or involve a deadly weapon or could lead to death prompt felony charges, as do three prior convictions of misdemeanor domestic violence—a loophole many perpetrators likely slip through in those 24 or 25 cases that are dropped or pleaded down.

“In terms of magistrate court, it became common practice to dismiss battery cases down from battery against a household member to disorderly conduct,” she said. The result of that practice means the data gives a false impression about Santa Fe’s issues: “When you look at it, it looks like we don’t have a domestic violence problem.”

Padgett describe magistrate court as “training ground” for some of the least experienced attorneys, who also face some of the highest case loads. The volume of cases they handle means they move through them too quickly at times. Adding staff there will be on her list of changes.

She also noted that limited resources mean those convicted of domestic violence are on unsupervised probation, with no court oversight to ensure they comply with sentencing requirements that can include a year of counseling. Work is underway to amend that as well.

“We really need to get magistrate court right,” she said.

Mayor Javier Gonzales was quick to ask about the city’s investment in the LEAD program, which works with individuals with substance abuse problems who might be caught up in the criminal justice system,  and how that partnership may continue. 

One of the first meetings she had as she transitioned into the DA’s office was on that program, Padgett said, and she’s committed to its continuation, citing stats from Santa Fe Police Department that the program has, to date, a 100 percent success rate. Senate Bill 53 seeks a $300,000 special appropriation of funds to pay for the program’s costs, but she said if that doesn’t come through, she’ll find a way to leverage other resources to continue LEAD.

Councilor Bill Dimas, a former magistrate judge, pointed out that many times, cases are pled out before they even arrive at the judge—leaving the judge to trust prosecutors that they’ve settled on a fair and equitable sentence, so he’d hope to see the changes she described happen. He concluded by asking her about aggressively prosecuting drug trafficking cases, and that, too, is on her agenda.

Padgett was appointed by Gov. Susana Martinez to finish out Pacheco's term, which concludes on Dec. 31, 2016. Should she choose to pursue it, she will need to begin her campaign to be elected to the position by the June primary this year. 

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