Editor:
Why did 22nd Judicial District Attorney Will Furse dismiss two citations against two defendants who were cited for out-of-control dog barking and for obstruction of a police officer in May, following an eight-month Sheriff’s Office investigation? In a pre-trial conference between the district attorney and the defendants’ attorney on July 17, both citations were dismissed. I called his office four times in August to ask why. He never called back.
Is the district attorney hiding something? Too busy? Confidential info? Embarrassed by his ruling? A “quid pro quo”? Are all four the best of friends? Maybe the district attorney dislikes Montezuma County Sheriff Dennis Spruell?
The citation for obstruction of a police officer was summarized in The Four Corners Free Press, May 2013, p. 31, quoting: “A (sic) enraged, screaming woman whose dogs had been the subject of 18 calls to dispatch since January and who had been repeatedly warned by deputies in the past continued her hostile behavior when contacted anew, shouting obscenities … ?
I heard her scream and slam the door in the deputy’s face from 200 feet away. How can a citation for violent aggression against a deputy be dismissed? Might Furse dismiss a felony indictment or arrest and tell no one why? Why the secrecy?
Do we want Furse representing us as our “law-enforcement officer”? I found Sheriff Spruell and his deputies to be readily accessible, helpful, communicative “peace officers” during that long investigation. Why isn’t Furse a similarly accessible “law-enforcement officer”? Help me here. What am I missing?
Craig Watson
Cortez
