Probable Cause

Testimony from panicked witnesses and other revelations on Thursday marked the first in-depth court appearance for Jeannine Jaramillo, the 46-year-old Albuquerque woman accused of concocting a fake story about a kidnapping that led to a wrong-way, high-speed chase down Interstate 25 in Santa Fe County. The chase earlier this month ended in a crash that killed a police officer and a retired firefighter.

When the preliminary hearing ended, First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled that Jaramillo will face trial for two counts of felony murder and a host of other felonies.

Jaramillo has been in custody since allegedly leading police on the chase, which criss-crossed I-25 near the Old Pecos Train exit on March 2. While prosecutors presented enough evidence of probable cause to proceed with a trial, the defense pressed for answers on what, exactly, caused the crash and led to the deaths of Frank Lovato, a 62-year-old retired Las Vegas, NM firefighter, and Santa Fe Police Officer Robert Duran, 43.

“For me, that was what I was hoping to accomplish out of this hearing,” said Richard Pugh, Jaramillo’s lawyer. “I think we have established that and that will lead to some more motions. Today was not the right day for me to litigate…the causation issue.”

Jaramillo was initially considered a victim after telling police she was kidnapped at knife-point by a man. Police chased after a white Chevy Malibu, traveling down the wrong side of the interstate as the car weaved in and out of oncoming traffic. While in pursuit of the vehicle, Duran crashed head-on into Lovato, leaving his police cruiser “beyond recognition,” New Mexico State Police investigator Wyatt Harwell said in court Thursday.

First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and two other prosecutors introduced dashcam video taken from a semi truck that showed the white sedan headed directly for the 18-wheeler. Driver Steffen Dixon pulled his vehicle over to the shoulder as the car passed by. Shortly after, the video showed a burst of dust and vehicle collision in front of the semi.

“I thought [the vehicle] was going to hit us,” said Amber Moon, who was riding in the passenger seat of the semi truck.

Santa Fe Police Officer Michael Romero, who had just completed his field training three days before the crash, said the vehicle Jaramillo was allegedly driving never collided with either Duran’s or Lovato’s vehicle.

Pugh questioned law enforcement’s ability to initiate and end pursuits, and raised questions about whether the officers had been trained in the Safe Pursuit Act. Per the act, officers receive instruction emphasizing the importance of protecting the public and the need to balance the known offense and risk posed by a fleeing suspect against the danger to officers and others by initiating a high-speed pursuit.

Further, the act requires each law enforcement officer of state, county and municipal agencies to establish policies for high-speed pursuits. Each policy is to require that officers only start a high-speed chase when they believe the suspect has committed a violent felony and poses a clear and immediate threat of death to or otherwise endangers the public.

Police had been called to Santa Fe’s Vizcaya apartments on a report of a woman being kidnapped.

“At that point, we’re dispatched to a violent felony, which is the female held at knifepoint,” said Santa Fe Police Officer Gilbert Montaño. “At that point, it’s hard to say to discontinue a pursuit, because a person’s life is in jeopardy. That day I’m involved in the pursuit, I can stop the pursuit if I want to; the command staff can stop the pursuit if they want to.”

It’s unclear whether the defense will argue the officers involved failed to adhere to state law. Pugh said more research needs to be done before he can speak on the matter.

“At the end of the full investigation, if in fact the Safe Pursuit Act was not followed, then I will in fact file the motion,” he said.

While police were under the impression that a woman in the white Malibu, Jarramillo, was in danger, prosecutors contended it was the defendant herself who put lives in jeopardy.

During an interview with law enforcement, Jaramillo cooked up a story that a man she had been dating for several months had traveled with her from Albuquerque. Harwell, who interviewed Jaramillo, testified that the couple stayed at a house occupied by the man’s friend.

She reportedly told investigators that she asked to leave because the man and his friend were using methamphetamine, at which point her supposed boyfriend punched her until she lost consciousness. She said she then woke up to feeling gasoline poured on her and that the man was threatening to light her on fire. According to Harwell’s testimony, she said the pair then traveled to the apartment complex and she was forced to move to the passenger side of the vehicle before it left the property.

However, Jerry Chavez, 56, testified he was with Jaramillo the day of the incident. He testified that the couple traveled to Santa Fe the previous night and slept in the car at the Vizcaya complex. The couple had smoked meth, he said, and the next day they began arguing over a pair of pants found in the backseat of the Malibu.

“She kept asking me to get out [of the car] and pulled up to some guy standing there, and asked them to call the police,” he said. “I still stayed in the car, and then when the guy said the police were on the way and I heard sirens, I got out and walked to the back of the apartment.”

Officers on the scene also testified they never saw anyone else exit the Malibu after the crash. The keys were later found in the patrol unit that took her to the hospital, and the Malibu’s computer indicated that only the driver’s seat was occupied during the time of the pursuit. While Jaramillo claimed she was on the floorboard of the car as the chase unfolded, Harwell said the vehicle was so full of items that “a fully grown person could not fit in the front passenger seat or in the floorboard area.”

Judge Marlowe Sommer agreed with the prosecution that the evidence gave probable cause that Jaramillo intended to kill or knew her actions could result in the death of others.

The defense waived timelines for a pretrial detention hearing, so Jaramillo will be held in custody until one is scheduled.