Criminal charges will be dismissed against the only person charged with murder in a shooting at a motorcycle rally in a northern New Mexico mountain resort town that killed three men and injured five other people. A prosecutor said in a filing Monday that the charges against 30-year-old Jacob Castillo of Rio Rancho are being dismissed because of the ongoing investigation into the May 27 shooting in Red River. Prosecutors can refile the charges. Authorities say the three men who were killed were members of a rival outlaw biker gang and that the violence stemmed from a previous altercation between involving the Bandidos and Waterdogs gangs in Albuquerque.
The government has argued in federal court in Phoenix that a lawsuit seeking money for five affected migrant mothers and their children should be dismissed despite President Joe Biden's loathing of his predecessor’s practice of separating families at the U.S.-Mexico border. A Justice Department attorney said Tuesday the case shouldn't go forward. He argued that the Border Patrol agents involved used their discretion to separate the families, not a policy aimed at deterring migrant arrivals. An attorney for the plaintiffs said the case should be tried because the separations were part of a bigger policy. The judge will decide in the coming weeks.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) A judge ruled that a failed political candidate will remain jailed on federal charges that include election interference related to a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of state and local lawmakers in Albuquerque.
More changes could be coming to voting districts in some states. The 2022 elections marked the first using new districts for Congress and state capitols that were drawn from updated census data. But they could be short-lived in some places. That's because court challenges could force some states to redraw districts again before the 2024 elections. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a ruling that Alabama's congressional districts should be redrawn to enhance Black voting strength. That ruling also could lead to new House districts in Louisiana, and potentially Georgia. Some other places in line for new districts include New York, North Carolina and Ohio.
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has approved giving emergency funding to help Farmington residents still reeling from a mass shooting that killed three people. Her office announced the governor signed an executive order Thursday authorizing $100,000 for mental health resources or other measures to help the city's public health.