Child-abuse charges in New Mexico compound case are dismissed after prosecutors' lapse (WP)

[dalton99a]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/08/30/child-abuse-charges-new-mexico-compound-case-dismissed-after-prosecutors-lapse/

Child-abuse charges in New Mexico compound case are dismissed after prosecutors’ lapse
By Eli Rosenberg
August 29 at 8:29 PM

Two judges dismissed charges Wednesday against the defendants in the New Mexico compound case that has drawn headlines for weeks for its lurid and racially charged details, in a major blow to the prosecution.

Judge Emilio Chavez said that he had no choice but to release the three defendants, Lucas Morton, Hujrah Wahhaj and Subhannah A. Wahhaj, because the office of District Attorney Donald Gallegos failed to schedule a court hearing to prove they had probable cause for their arrest within 10 days, as state rules stipulate, according to court representatives and defense lawyers. Another judge later ordered the dropping of charges against the other two defendants, Siraj Wahhaj and Jany Leveille, according to Ryan Laughlin, a reporter for the local television station KOB, but the status of their potential release is less clear as they were immediately charged again with more severe offenses: child abuse resulting in death.

“For whatever reason, the state did not obtain a preliminary hearing date within 10 days,” Aleksander Kostich, a public defender representing Morton, told The Washington Post. “It’s absolutely bizarre.”

“I wish they had an explanation,” Megan Mitsunaga, who represents Subhannah Wahhaj, told The Post. “They provided none to us or the court. I would have thought they’d be more on top of things, the way they continued to seek to hold them without bond.”

The developments were the latest twist in the tense case, which has drawn wide attention since the ramshackle rural plot in Amalia, which consisted of a trailer dug into the ground and surrounded by old tires and an underground tunnel, was raided on Aug. 3. The combination of its lurid details — law enforcement officials said they found 11 children, as well as the body of Siraj Wahhaj’s 3-year-old son, Abdul-Ghani — and the accusations made in court by prosecutors but cautioned against by a judge, that the defendants were Muslim extremists engaged in a terrorist training camp of sorts, brought the case to wide national prominence.

[aikoaiko]

1. WTF?!?!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. This sort of thing happens all too often in New Mexico.

Recently a murder charge was dismissed because multiple continuances had led to a longer delay than state law allowed.

I honestly don't get it. I'd think in every single case, especially like the two referenced here, the prosecution would be very aware of the many time limits and meet them.

I was a paralegal for a while, and although I never worked in criminal law, I was always driven crazy by the cavalier attitude attorneys had regarding time. Delay after delay, continuance after continuance. They didn't care. They'd still get paid. But if the flight they were taking was delayed even ten minutes, oh dear! You'd think the world was coming to an end.