Legal Question in Criminal Law in New Mexico

Living out of state makes it a little more logistically difficult to deal with a pending court case, but certainly not impossible. You have all the same rights and responsibilities that a defendant living in state would have. You will have to travel to New Mexico for important court dates, however, and possibly to meet in person with your attorney to prepare your defense.

What can you do to fight the case? I would have to know a lot more about the facts, but the first thing that you can do is hire an experienced criminal defense lawyer. The next thing would be to get the warrant for your arrest quashed (cancelled). Then your lawyer will have the opportunity to interview the witnesses that the prosecution has against you and find out if there is a defect in the prosecutor's case, so that it might be dismissed.

If the case is to strong to get dismissed at trial, you have the right to a trial before a jury of 6, and to have the prosecution prove that you are guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Many times the state fails to prove to the satisfaction of the jury that the person is guilty.

Finally, there is also the option of negotiating with the prosecutor for a plea and disposition agreement. This usually happens when there is substantial danger to the defendant of being found guilty at trial and the prosecutor is offering the opportunity to plead guilty to a lower level charge in exchange for dismissing the other charges. Many times the prosecutor will also agree that no jail time will be involved in the sentence, only probation.

D. Montoya