This is OK

Despite violent rap, state let guard keep license

Jury selection begins next month for the trial of Marino K Leyba, known to friends as Reno. He stands accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend, Sarah Lovato, and her father, Bennie Lovato Sr. Police say he committed the murder wearing the uniform and possibly with the gun he used working for his father, Marino M Leyba, owner of USA Security and Surveillance.

Briefs: Sept. 30

The ongoing case of security guard Phillip Glock and the trial of Carlos Fierro.

Behind Closed Doors

SFR's ongoing coverage of Santa Fe's domestic violence epidemic.

In 2009, staff writer Corey Pein began examining domestic violence in Santa Fe and in New Mexico from a variety of perspectives and through dramatic cases that were under-reported in the mainstream media. What he uncovered is a shocking persistence of domestic violence, habitual abuse and resistance to meaningful reform at all levels of enforcement and treatment for perpetrators as well as insufficient support for victims.

Pushing Back

Domestic violence surge prompts government action

Local leaders say they are finally ready “to protect survivors of domestic violence…and to hold perpetrators of domestic violence accountable,” according to a Santa Fe County press release. It is, after all, “Domestic Violence Awareness Month.” What’s the plan?

Gilded cages

Even Santa Fe women of wealth and status get trapped by domestic violence

In each of the recent, highly publicized domestic violence cases, the couples lived in housing projects, trailer parks and other less-than-chic corners of Santa Fe. This fact appeared to confirm what some already assume. But those who work in the field—knocking on doors after the neighbors hear screaming, consoling a weeping woman afraid for her life—know nothing could be further from the truth.

Railyard Cinema Hopeful Has Dubious Record

But Santa Fe is so far going forward with the process of issuing a $35.4 million bond

SFR has learned that one of the principals in the company that wants taxpayers to help build a cinema in the Railyard has been charged several times with writing bad checks. But Richard Jaramillo’s background is not the only suspicious thing about Railyard Co LLC.

The Honor is Yours

Meet the 1st Judicial District judge candidates

It may be the most important local official you don’t get to vote for (at least not right away)—a person who can ruin lives with the thwack of a gavel. At 8:30 am on Nov. 5, a select group of 17 men and women will meet at the courthouse on Catron Street in Santa Fe to evaluate the candidates to replace retiring 1st Judicial District Judge James Hall.

Two Steps Back?

 Advocates question judicial commitment to fighting domestic violence

SFR has reported how the recession has come with an increase in domestic violence cases, many unusually brutal. Now, the down economy threatens to wipe out any progress that’s been made in reforming police and court procedures. 

Man Up

There is another side to the domestic violence story...

The “fathers’ rights” narrative goes something like this: Family courts, cowed by decades of feminist activism, are biased against anyone with a Y chromosome. A few brave men, undaunted by the forces of feminist oppression, are fighting for their rights as fathers—and for the rights of all male-kind. 

Pipe Nightmares

Condo owners have watched their water—and money—leak away.

Despite the rash of class-action lawsuits that have required Kitec manufacturer, Ipex Inc., and contractors who installed it to reimburse residents and re-plumb entire communities—a Nevada court ordered one builder to pay $27 million—residents of troubled Santa Fe development Villa de la Paz haven’t seen a dime.