Judge Cindy Leos’ track record makes her ripe for a “no” vote on retention
Aside from the Mayor and his police chief judicial elections are probably the most important single way that citizens can demand accountability for out-of-control crime. Sadly, because of the way New Mexico judicial elections “work” New Mexicans have a hard time finding out which judges are worth keeping on the bench and which aren’t.
Cindy Leos is running for retention to Division IX of the New Mexico 2nd Judicial District Court (her district includes Albuquerque). If she fails to achieve 57% of the vote, she’ll be booted from the bench.
Here are some facts about Leos that should be concerning to voters:
19-year-old Jonathan Rosales was arrested along with 19-year-old Josiah Herrera and 18-year-old Bodhi Lamariana.
Prosecutors said an APD sergeant was on Menaul, heard gunshots, and started following the teens in a car. He then claimed one of them started shooting at him.
Judge Cindy Leos released Rosales, saying the evidence that Rosales was the one actually firing the gun is low, and he has no criminal history. He can’t have guns or post on social media about guns while he’s out.
Here’s a second incident involving Leos from the Albuquerque Journal:
Arthur Ruiz, 39, was arrested on Sept. 16. He was accused of sexually assaulting two of his daughter’s friends, ages 12 and 13, and giving them alcohol during a June 6 sleepover at his South Broadway home, court records show. “After a Sept. 22 hearing, Judge Cindy Leos rejected a prosecutor’s request to hold Ruiz in jail pending trial.”
In a third incident, according to KRQE Channel 13, A man accused of killing his wife earlier this year is now back on the streets, all because of a technicality in court. So how was this able to happen if he’s still facing murder charges? “The state was ready to proceed with that hearing but defense counsel was not ready to proceed and asked for a continuance.”
Instead, Leos let Jerome Gutierrez out of jail. Gutierrez is accused of beating his wife, Kristy Rivera, so badly, she was left brain dead. She was later taken off life support.
Finally, the New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission which has a tendency of absolving the behavior of even the worst judges, had this to say about Judge Leos:
“Judge Cindy Leos’ scores were somewhat mixed when compared to the other judges in the 2nd Judicial District Court.” They went on to say, “attorneys and resource staff rated Judge Cindy Leos somewhat lower for not always treating all participants equally and for not always displaying fairness and impartiality toward each side of the case. Attorneys also gave her somewhat lower ratings for not always conducting herself in a manner free from impropriety or the appearance of impropriety. Lastly, resource staff felt that Judge Cindy Leos does not always behave in a manner that encourages respect for the courts.
