New Mexico

Famous Cases

Santa Rosa prison riots: Ralph Garcia, a cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer, was killed dur­ing a prison riot in 1999. Thirteen men were charged in the mur­der, but eleven of those cas­es were resolved through plea deals. Robert Young and Reis Lopez were charged with cap­i­tal mur­der, but the New Mexico Supreme Court sus­pend­ed pro­ceed­ings because the state has not pro­vid­ed suf­fi­cient funds for their defense. The cas­es con­tin­ued when pros­e­cu­tors stopped seek­ing the death penal­ty. Lopez plead­ed guilty to sec­ond-degree mur­der and was sen­tenced to 29 years in prison. Young was con­vict­ed of felony mur­der and sen­tenced to life in prison.

Notable Exonerations

The Vagos Bikers case: Four men were arrest­ed and charged in 1974 for the kid­nap­ping, mur­der and rape of a University of New Mexico stu­dent, William Velten. They were released in 1975 after the real murderer confessed.

Milestones in Abolition/​Reinstatement

In 1986, Governor Toney Anaya com­mut­ed the death sen­tences of all five men on New Mexico’s death row.

In 2009, New Mexico became the 15^th state to abol­ish the death penal­ty. The bill applied only prospec­tive­ly, leav­ing two men on death row. On June 28, 2019, the New Mexico Supreme Court vacat­ed their death sen­tences and ordered that they be resen­tenced to life in prison.

New Mexico ​“Firsts”

New Mexico has exclud­ed juve­niles from exe­cu­tion since 1975, mak­ing it one of the first states to do so.

Other Interesting Facts

New Mexico was the last state to adopt a sen­tence of life with­out parole, in 2009.

Resources

• New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty
• New Mexico Corrections Department
• New Mexico District Attorneys Association
• Public defend­er’s office
• Victims’ ser­vices

New Mexico Execution Totals Since 1976