BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com

Attorney Jerry Archuleta believes the filing of charges against Gabriel Wadt in First judicial District Court by Asst. District Attorney Heather Smallwood is “prosecutorial misconduct”. The charges of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer had been dismissed by Judge Pat Casados in Los Alamos Magistrate for Smallwood’s failure to provide discovery.  A motion by Smallwood to reconsider the dismissal was denied by Judge Casados.

Smallwood went on to file the charges in District Court and to attempt to have District Judge Jason Lidyard excused from hearing the case. Wadt appeared virtually Thursday morning for arraignment before Judge Lidyard and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Archuleta told the Court that the evidence and witnesses from the Magistrate Court cases were suppressed and that time has run on the case.

“It wasn’t filed as an appeal, but as a whole new case, so we didn’t find out about it until Monday when the Los Alamos (Reporter) contacted us. The summons was sent to an address that Mr. Wadt hasn’t had in years instead of the address that was on the Magistrate Court case,” Archuleta said. “I completely believe this is prosecutorial misconduct but I haven’t had time to research it and brief it. I just wanted to let the Court understand that there will be a lot of motions coming on this case.”

Judge Lidyard accepted Wadt’s plea of not guilty and imposed standard conditions of release pending trial. The case will be on Lidyard’s November calendar.