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A Las Cruces man shot by police during a standoff at an apartment complex last month did not appear for a hearing meant to determine if he should be jailed without bond, according to court records.
The hearing could have resulted in Danny Garcia De Leon being held in jail until trial, or a judge putting other restrictions meant to protect the public and ensure Garcia De Leon attended hearings.
“This situation highlights why the system needs to change,” Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story said in a statement to the Las Cruces Bulletin. “For serious violent felonies, the pretrial detention hearing should be set automatically, and the person held until the hearing occurs. The burden should be on the defense to prove that their client is not dangerous and can be released.”
Garcia De Leon’s charges of attempting to commit aggravated assault upon a peace officer and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon stem from an incident the night of Nov. 11 at an apartment complex on the 1300 block of S. Espina Street.
Body camera footage released by the Las Cruces Police Department shows officers responding to a call at the complex after Garcia De Leon allegedly threatened a neighbor with a knife. One officer, apparently thinking Garcia De Leon was reaching for a gun, fires several times in Garcia De Leon’s direction, striking him once. LCPD later confirmed the gun was a replica and not a functioning firearm.
Garcia De Leon was taken to a hospital and released into jail on Nov. 12 around 5 a.m. He was there for about 12 hours before seeing a magistrate judge who released him, per New Mexico law.
Prosecutors could have filed a motion for pre-trial detention, which would have kept Garcia De Leon in jail for another few days before a district judge would rule on whether he was dangerous enough to keep in jail. But no such motion was filed.
The 3rd Judicial District Attorney's office initially told the Bulletin that LCPD had not filed the necessary paperwork for the office to do that. The office later backtracked on that claim, saying they did have the paperwork and that the magistrate judge denied giving the office extra time to file the motion.
Court records show that prosecutors did file a motion for pretrial detention on Nov. 18, a week after the shooting. The court then scheduled a hearing for Dec. 3.
Minutes and transcripts from the Dec. 3 hearing claim that the Law Office of the Public Defender had not received an inquiry from Garcia De Leon. The same documents also said that the court sent notice of the hearing to Garcia De Leo’s address.
District Judge Richard Jacquez issued a $5,000 bench warrant for Garcia De Leon, court records show.
When reached by phone on Dec. 3, District Attorney spokesperson Roxanne Garcia-McElmell said the office had no comment on the situation.
