Conflict of interest possible in abuse case
AG’s office seeks to disqualify lawyers representing suspect
Citing a possible conflict of interest, the state Attorney General’s Office is asking an Albuquerque judge to disqualify the defense lawyers representing a suspect in a high-profile child abuse case.
During a hearing Thursday, Teri Sanchez’s attorneys had planned to ask the court to consider releasing the 38-yearold from jail. She has been detained for several months as she awaits trial on charges that she physically abused and otherwise endangered a child in her care.
Instead, that request is on hold after prosecutors filed a motion alleging one of Sanchez’s attorneys also represented a new witness who is expected to testify against her.
In a motion filed Wednesday, prosecutors say Adrienne Cruea came forward last month after she saw Sanchez on a local newscast. The two worked together at Knockouts and, in an interview
with AG’s Office agents, Cruea described Sanchez’s drug and alcohol use, and “her history of dishonesty.”
On Sept. 24, the state filed notice that it intends to use Cruea as a witness at trial.
Cruea recently pleaded no contest in an arson case, and the attorney who represented her, Craig Acorn, is one of two lawyers defending Sanchez. Acorn said that he withdrew from Cruea’s case as soon as he learned she had spoken to authorities about the Sanchez case, and he does not believe that his duty of loyalty and confidentiality to either of his clients would be compromised. He called the attempt to disqualify the attorneys a distraction.
And Douglas Wilber, Sanchez’s second attorney, said he does not think that Cruea is a significant witness.
“They do have 82 witnesses on their witness list at this point,” Wilber told a group of reporters after Thursday’s hearing. “They finally managed to find someone that at some point was represented by our office.”
David Carl, a spokesman for the AG’s Office, said whether or not Acorn is currently representing Cruea makes no difference absent a signed waiver. In their motion, prosecutors wrote that Acorn would have to attack the credibility of a client to effectively defend Sanchez.
“There is a clear conflict of interest in this case, and frankly, Ms. Sanchez, like anybody else in New Mexico, is entitled to conflict-free counsel,” Carl said.
Sanchez’s husband, James Stewart, is accused of trafficking the 7-year-old girl. A teacher reported that the girl came to school in bloodstained underwear, and another school staff member said she had hickeys on her neck and chest.
State District Judge Brett Loveless is set to consider the motion to disqualify at a hearing next week.