SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO
Skaggs appeals detention over vehicle crash
Former political candidate held for leaving scene where bicyclist died
Published
Modified
LAS CRUCES 鈥� Kimberly Skaggs is appealing a judge鈥檚 decision to hold her in jail as she awaits trial on charges of leaving the scene of a fatal crash and tampering with evidence.
Skaggs鈥� attorneys Wednesday filed a motion in the New Mexico Court of Appeals, seeking a review of state District Judge Conrad Perea鈥檚 ruling last month that granted prosecutors鈥� request to hold Skaggs without bond. She has been in custody since turning herself in on June 24.
On June 22, Andrew Brown, 40, was struck and killed while crossing a two-lane road west of Las Cruces on his bicycle. Police used eyewitness photos, video footage and GPS data to identify and locate the vehicle allegedly involved in the crash. A grand jury indicted Skaggs on Tuesday.
For a criminal defendant to be held without bond in New Mexico, the law requires prosecutors to prove both that the defendant is dangerous and that no pretrial release conditions could reasonably protect the public. by the state Supreme Court specified that judges may not 鈥渞ely solely on the charged offense to order a defendant鈥檚 detention.鈥�
Skaggs鈥� appeal argues that Perea did just that in ruling that no pretrial conditions were satisfactory, despite a Pretrial Services program recommendation that Skaggs be released on personal recognizance. Skaggs had no prior convictions or history of failing to appear in court, and the counts with which she is charged were not classified as violent offenses.
Her attorneys argue in the appeal that prosecutors relied on the alleged facts of the case in their motion to detain Skaggs, while addressing facts about individual risk factors such as local family ties, likelihood of committing crimes or previous findings of dangerousness as 鈥渦nknown.鈥�
It also disputed whether the vehicle鈥檚 location at an unoccupied property owned by Skaggs credibly demonstrated an effort to conceal the vehicle since it had not been 鈥渄estroyed, stripped, covered, chemically cleaned, repaired, burned, or hidden in a place disconnected from (Skaggs).鈥�
The case gained attention at a time when safety advocates have highlighted fatal crashes involving bicyclists on Las Cruces roadways and called for the city to commit to a 鈥淰ision Zero鈥� framework for traffic engineering aiming at eliminating deaths and serious injuries.
Skaggs herself had previously been involved in a number civic and volunteer boards in Tularosa and Las Cruces, has been a candidate for the New Mexico Legislature three times and up until the crash was the treasurer of the state Republican Party.
Algernon 顿鈥橝尘尘补蝉蝉补 is the Journal鈥檚 southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.
