Ex-New Mexico Sheriff Appeals Conviction In Road Rage Case

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Ex-New Mexico Sheriff Appeals Conviction In Road Rage Case

September 29, 2015 1:04 PM

DENVER (AP) — Attorneys for a former New Mexico sheriff who pulled a gun on a motorist and struck him with his badge say he was wrongfully convicted of rights violations because the motorist wasn’t seriously injured.

Attorney John Cline, who represents ex-Rio Arriba County Sheriff Thomas Rodella, told the Denver-based 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday that improper jury instructions created an unfair trial.

Rodella was sentenced in January to 10 years in prison for abusing the motorist in a bizarre, off-duty traffic stop in March 2014. Prosecutors said Rodella held the driver at gunpoint in a fit of road rage because he had cut him off in traffic.

The motorist, Michael Tafoya, told jurors he feared for his life.


Read more: http://denver.cbslocal.com/2015/09/29/ex-new-mexico-sheriff-appeals-conviction-in-road-rage-case/

[olddots]

1. I hope he is very , very popular in jail

[seaotter]

2. I hope he serves every day of his sentence.

I do not wish him raped. Do you?

[Judi Lynn]

3. It would be great for him to get to see people he used to harass, intimidate, threaten, clobber.

He'd have the time of his life.

[Demit]

4. Good grief, look at the history this guy has!

from Wikipedia:

While a state police officer he was disciplined for marijuana use, improper use of a weapon, physical abuse, falsifying official reports, abusing sick leave, using his position for personal gain, and served at least three 30-day suspensions.[3]

In March, 2005 Rodella was appointed a state magistrate judge by Gov. Bill Richardson but was forced to resign that office the following July after it was revealed that Rodella had hand-delivered an order to release an acquaintance who had been jailed on a charge of drunken driving over the Fourth of July holiday….

An investigation by the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission conducted in 2008 concluded that he was guilty of judicial misconduct in three cases that had been before him and recommended his removal from office.[2] Rodella was subsequently removed from office by the New Mexico Supreme Court and prohibited from ever running for judicial office again. Two years later in 2010 Rodella won election to the non-judicial office of sheriff of Rio Arriba County with 25 percent of the vote in a field of eight. He was removed from that position by the Rio Arriba County Commission in October, 2014 after being convicted and imprisoned on multiple Federal civil rights felony counts….

[Judi Lynn]

5. Good grief! What the hey is going on in that state, anyway? Thank you for the facts, Demit. n/t

[Demit]

6. Well, your link mentioned his "troubled career" and that made me curious.

Sounds like he & his wife had a little fiefdom going on in their corner of the world. It reminds me a little of Kim Davis & the lock her family has had in their local burg. I imagine that happens a lot in rural communities. I hope the court takes his "troubled career" into account & soundly rejects his appeal.

[tinymontgomery]

7. Great that the driver used the phase that the cops use

The motorist, Michael Tafoya, told jurors he "feared for his life".