BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com
Petty misdemeanor charges of possession or consumption of alcohol on public school grounds against Los Alamos County Sheriff Jason Wardlow Herrera, former Los Alamos Public Schools former Human Resources Director and former LAHS Head Girls Volleyball Coach Joseph Palmer, Asst. Head Coach Natalie Passalacqua and Asst. Coach Bianca Monet Enriquez. and three others have been dismissed with prejudice by Asst. District Attorney David McElroy.
Although the incident from which the allegations arose occurred August 18, 2023, it took until November 16, 2023, for the charges to be filed in Los Alamos Magistrate Court.
McElroy’s dismissal notices in the four cases, state that the defendants complied with a pre-trial agreement and that the dismissals are with prejudice, which means the charges can’t be refiled. The Los Alamos Reporter has reached out to the District Attorney’s Office to ask for the details of the pre-trial agreement, which were not available in the public court records.
Attorney William Snowden, who represented Sheriff Wardlow Herrera in the matter, commented on the dismissal of the charge of his client.
“We should all be disturbed when police take 90 days to conduct a simple investigation and subsequently default to criminal charges even when there is zero evidence to substantiate a conviction. Further, when the investigation reveals nothing but contradictory statements and conflicting evidence, it is incumbent upon the Los Alamos Police Department to drop the matter with appropriate alacrity and address matters that might actually imperil citizen safety,” Snowden said. “If not, every one of us is in danger of false arrest, constitutional violations, and damage to reputation, property and person. The District Attorney’s office responded most appropriately in dismissing this matter and should be commended.”