NM - Dep. Jeremy Martin, 29, fatally shot by fellow Santa Fe deputy, 28 Oct 2014 *case dropped*

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Detective suing LCPD testifies in Tai Chan trial

http://www.kvia.com/news/new-mexico/developing-now-detective-suing-lcpd-testifies-in-tai-chan-trial/501257419

The lead investigator in the murder of Santa Fe County Sheriff's Deputy Jeremy Martin was the first witness to testify in the Tai Chan murder trial Tuesday morning.

Palos also told the jury all the blood in the hotel room belonged to Chan. Yet it didn't get tested until 20 months later, after Chan had already been charged with first degree murder.

Palos also agreed with the defense that Chan had made statements after the shooting that he acted in self defense. Yet, Palos said she didn't tell a grand jury about any of those statements, only that Chan said "I shot the guy."

When asked why, Palos said the "Grand jury received information I had at that time". She said she did not know of any claims of self defense when testifying during grand jury. It wasn't until after grand jury, she learned of those claims.

Expert: Chan perceived threat from fellow deputy

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/expert-chan-perceived-threat-from-fellow-deputy/article_b1c1643e-0aa2-5bf4-a515-8e82c50f6da9.html

Philip Trompetter, a police psychologist from Modesto, Calif., told jurors on the seventh day of a high-profile retrial that he saw a copy of remarks Chan made hours after his arrest in late October 2014.

Trompetter said Chan recounted the night of the shooting, saying Martin was upset about Chan teasing him about how Martin had responded to a double-homicide call in Santa Fe County. At one point, Martin pushed Chan and then “kicked him in the balls, prompting Chan to leave the hotel,” said Trompetter, recalling what Chan told him. “Upon Chan’s return to the lobby, Martin met him, stating: ‘I love you, bro.’ ”

After Chan went into the bathroom of their hotel room, Martin began banging on the door, according to Trompetter’s account of his interview with Chan. After leaving the bathroom, Chan saw Martin “had the gun in his hand,” Trompetter recounted Chan saying.

Martin then punched Chan, a scuffle ensued, and the weapon was fired, Trompetter said.

“I believe his actions are consistent with the way officers would generally respond with a threat like that,” he told jurors.

During cross-examination, prosecutor Davis Ruark asked Trompetter whether a threat would diminish if a person who might have posed a threat got into an elevator.

“Yes, because that would just be firing into elevator doors,” Trompetter replied.

He also said that in a case where someone had “just punched” another person and ran away, that alone wouldn’t be enough to justify the use of deadly force.

Jurors also heard from Nika Aljinovic, the state medical examiner who examined Martin’s body.

Aljinovic said Martin’s body had five wounds where bullets had entered his body. Martin also had bruises on his right knuckles and abrasions on his right side and left knee. He had two cuts above one eye.

A black powdery substance found on Martin’s hands wasn’t tested. Aljinovic said a police officer inquired about having the substance tested later on, but it was too late to do further testing.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

http://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/crime/2017/05/17/expert-weighs-fight-gunshot-sequence-tai-chan-retrial/101813562/

Joseph Alan Foster, a crime-scene reconstruction expert testifying for the prosecution, shared with jurors his assessment of the scene at and nearby Hotel Encanto’s Room No. 711, saying he believed Chan initially was in a space between his bed and a nearby bathroom wall, thanks to the presence of Chan’s dropped cell phone, bag and some of his own blood on the sheets. Martin, meanwhile, was in the same space, but closer to the foot of the bed and the bedroom’s exit, he said. The bed was slightly askew when investigators found it.

During the struggle, a gun — Chan’s duty weapon — discharged for the first time, resulting in a bullet lodging in the ceiling near the room’s bathroom, Foster said. The shot came from a height of three to six feet above the floor, but who fired it is difficult to say, Foster said. It may have come from “one or both parties” in a struggle for control of the weapon.

After the first shot, Chan “re-positioned” himself several times as Martin fled, Foster said. From near the bed, Chan moved to a small area near the room’s entrance. One of two specific rounds — out of a total of five altogether that struck Martin that night — may have hit him while he was still inside the room, Foster said.

A juror posed a question to Foster via state Judge Fernando Macias, who’s presiding over the case. The juror asked whether those shots by Chan were “deliberate.”

“Yes, absolutely,” Foster responded.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/prosecution-witness-to-chan-murder-trial-juror-shooting-in-hotel/article_e68c7382-a151-50ec-aec7-9f0ab80057f4.html

An audio file dubbed the “Cosper” recording, was played in full for jurors Wednesday. Prosecutors had played portions of the recording Monday morning before discrepancies were noticed between the audio and a transcript of the recording. It turned out four segments were missing from the audio, which sparked controversy in the courtroom. A technician subsequently restored missing segments.

Las Cruces police Officer Jared Cosper made the recording soon after Chan was detained at the hotel. In the audio, an erratic-sounding Chan shouts to officers, sometimes using expletives, that there is a bomb on the third flood of the hotel, which turned out not to be true.

“I’m telling you, it’s a big threat,” he said to nearby officers. “Please, call it in.”

Chan also says at one point that he had been “shot at” and, “He tried to kill me. He tried to kill me. He tried to kill me.”

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Expert: Tai Chan had blood-alcohol 3 times legal limit

Former Santa Fe County deputy Tai Chan likely had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit for driving when he fatally shot his colleague in 2014, a psychologist who is an expert on alcohol and energy drink consumption testified Thursday during the retrial for Chan.

Cecile Marczinski, a psychologist from Northern Kentucky University, told jurors Thursday that by using receipts and witness statements, she gauged how much alcohol Chan likely consumed at five restaurants and bars the evening of Oct. 27, 2014, prior to the shooting. She plugged that information, along with an estimate of Chan's body weight, into an accepted scientific formula for calculating intoxication levels.

Tai Chan claims he was in 'fight for my life'

Ex-Santa Fe County Sheriff's Deputy Tai Chan testified in his own defense Friday, saying he shot fellow deputy Jeremy Martin because he feared his colleague was going to kill him.

Chan told jurors he was "in a fight for my life," claiming it was Martin who armed himself first and that he had wrestled the gun away from Martin.

"I was in a lot of fear, and I was shooting to ensure he wouldn't shoot back at me," Chan told the jury.

Chan was the final person to testify in the retrial. Testimony wound down late Friday afternoon. Closing arguments are set for Tuesday, the next available day in 3rd Judicial District Judge Fernando Macias' schedule.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Second mistrial declared in Tai Chan case

https://www.abqjournal.com/1007518/jury-begins-deliberations-in-tai-chan-murder-case.html

For the second time in a year, a jury failed to reach a verdict in the murder trial of former Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputy Tai Chan.

Third Judicial District Judge Fernando Macias declared a mistrial Tuesday after jurors deliberated three and a half hours and declared they could not reach a unanimous decision.

Third Judicial District Attorney Mark D’Antonio, who prosecuted the case, said he would decide within a week or so whether to try the case a third time. He said he was “very disappointed with the results today.”

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Prosecutors seek third murder trial in deputy’s fatal shooting

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/prosecutors-seek-third-murder-trial-in-deputy-s-fatal-shooting/article_a35d09c3-58f7-527f-89fd-105a6bf6b0cb.html

“After consulting extensively with the family of Deputy Jeremy Martin, we have decided to pursue a third trial in the case against Mr. Chan,” District Attorney Mark D’Antonio said Tuesday in an emailed statement. “We feel this is what justice demands — for Deputy Martin and the family he left behind. While there are a few important matters that still must be addressed, we are fully committed to moving forward with this case.”

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Date set for former deputy Tai Chan’s third murder trial

The new trial is scheduled for April 9, 2018.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

http://krqe.com/2017/12/22/special-counsel-appointed-in-santa-fe-deputy-shooting-case/

Special counsel has been appointed to prosecute the case of a former Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputy whose first two trials in the killing of another deputy ended when juries couldn’t agree on a verdict.

The third trial for Tai Chan was supposed to start in April, but both sides have agreed to postpone it.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

http://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/crime/2018/03/02/tai-chans-third-trial-rescheduled-start-aug-27/390516002/

The third trial in the case against a former Santa Fe County sheriff's deputy accused in the 2014 shooting death of a fellow deputy has been scheduled to start on Aug. 27 in Las Cruces.

A Las Cruces judge set a new trial date in the Tai Chan case on Friday during a status hearing in 3rd Judicial District Court. Chan's case had been previously set to go to trial for a third time starting next month.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Judge tosses first-degree murder charge in Tai Chan case

A Las Cruces judge dismissed the highest possible murder charges against Tai Chan, a move that means the former Santa Fe County sheriff's deputy will stand trial, for the third time in August, on a voluntary manslaughter charge only for the 2014 shooting death of fellow Deputy Jeremy Martin.

About 10 days before the jury in the second trial came to an impasse, the state Supreme Court handed down an opinion, in an unrelated murder case, holding that "the judge must confirm that the jury did not unanimously agree that the defendant was not guilty of one or more of the included offenses." The court also held that if "the judge fails to clearly establish on the record the offense(s) on which the jury was deadlocked, all but the lowest offense must be dismissed and the dismissed offense(s) cannot be retried."

The 52-page motion by Chan's defense argued that the judge who presided over the first two trials, Fernando Macias, who is now Doña Ana County manager, did not comply with the law when he determined the level of deadlock through notes he exchanged with jury during the second trial. It also stated that no "clear record" was made of the final poll of each of the jurors on the guilty/not guilty breakdown of each possible charge.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Widow of slain deputy speaks about trials, justice

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Murder case dismissed against former New Mexico deputy Tai Chan

 

[JerseyGirl]

The third trial for former Santa Fe County Sheriff's Deputy Tai Chan was scheduled to begin June 24, but has pushed back to a date that has yet to be determined.

Ex-Santa Fe deputy Tai Chan's 3rd trial pushed back, won't start June 24

 

[JerseyGirl]

Las Cruces judge dismisses case against ex-deputy in state's longest-running murder prosecution - KVIA