Marion Loope pictured at a prior First Judicial District Court appearance in Santa Fe. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
BY MAIRE O’NEILL
Harassment charges have been filed against Marion Loope, 35, an inmate of the Los Alamos County Detention Center in connection to calls she has made and letters she has sent to people in the Los Alamos community.
A statement of probable cause filed Monday in Los Alamos Magistrate Court by Los Alamos Police Cpl. Dominic Perez states that he contacted the victim Oct. 11 at her residence about harassing messages Loope was leaving on her phone. Three voice mails were received by the victim between June 27 and Oct. 10. The statement said the messages that were left were “vague and harassing in nature”..
“All three of the messages stated that Loope was going to contact the Internal Revenue Service regarding the victim allegedly “committing fraud with the rental properties she sold”. The victim told Perez that she filed a police report Jun. 27 regarding telephone harassment from Loope where messages left stated that Loope “was going to post pictures of her dead son on the Internet”. Perez’s statement said the messages left were from a phone number assigned to the LADC. It said Loope also sent a letter to the victim.
Loope has been incarcerated since April 15 on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon on a household member and battery on a household member. First Judicial District Judge T. Glenn Ellington found in April that based on her history and the two charges she was facing, that there were no conditions under which he could release her prior to her trial. Judge Ellington said at that time that he felt Loope posed a danger to the community, particularly to first responders and healthcare workers as well as her immediate family.
Loope was arrested following an incident in which she allegedly became angry with her mother, threw a cup of hot coffee at her, grabbed her head, took off her glasses and began beating her mother’s head against a door frame. Loope then allegedly grabbed her mother and tried to strangle her and grabbed a knife, which she held at her mother’s throat.
At the District Court dangerousness hearing, Assistant District Attorney Kent Wahlquist cited 15 cases since 2009 in which Loope was charged with battery, criminal damage to property, disorderly conduct, battery and assault against police and medical workers. He also indicated that she was living with her parents, had battered them before and that no conditions of release would protect them.
On June 27, hearing, District Judge Jason Lidyard granted a request from former Deputy District Attorney Michael Nunez to adopt Judge Ellington’s order keeping Loope in jail until her a status hearing at that time scheduled for this month unless her attorney filed a successful motion with the Court for her to be released.
Since then Judge Lidyard denied a request in August that Loope be transferred out of the Los Alamos facility. The request stated that Loope was “progressing in her verbal attacks on staff” and had “begin to file grievances against LADC “in attempt to show she is in danger” at LADC. The request said Loope had accused LADC staff of allowing other inmates to “harass her through a door” and of “messing with her food and threatening her”. It said her grievances combined with her “attempts to harm herself demonstrate that safe custody required her to be moved to another facility. On Sept. 14, Judge Lidyard approved a stipulated order finding Loope competent to stand trial.
Earlier this month, the Los Alamos Reporter requested copies of procedures for LADC inmate mail and phone calls from Los Alamos Police Chief of Police Dino Sgambellone after receiving voice mails from Loope and hearing reports of letters being sent to other members of the community.
The procedure indicates that inmates are allowed communications and/or correspondence with their families, friends, public officials, attorneys, officers of the court, and “other persons and organizations”. It adds that “this activity will be limited only as necessary to maintain law and order”.
Loope was advised of her rights by Judge Pat Casados Tuesday morning. Judge Casados then recused herself and the case has been assigned to Judge Joseph Madrid.