Note: Unlike most of our stories, we have agreed to protect the identity of this father because he is interviewing for employment right now. Even though father has been trying to get the criminal status removed from his records for years, he has not yet succeeded in spite of a plethora of communication with the FBI and the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department and the filing of multiple pleadings in the Metropolitan and District Court cases.

• On December 29, 1999, father called the police because he and his former wife were in a temporary period of conflict. Upon arriving at the household, the police decided to charge father, who made the call, instead of his wife. He was charged with two counts: count 1 was assault on a household member, and count 2 was resisting/obstructing an officer.
• Prior to the occurrence, father was conditionally hired by a national laboratory to support strategic planning based on the outcome of an application for a government security clearance submitted by the lab. The employer subsequently withdrew employment. Father provided an explanation for clearance review personnel regarding the incident.
• On January 10, 2001, Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court Judge Grant dismissed the case, stating in his Order that the Assistant District Attorney announced that it was not ready for trial. (Unfortunately, the Asst. DA was not honest enough to state that there was insufficient evidence. Not wanting to admit fault in wrongly bringing charges, the Asst. DA simply states - after over a year - that the State is "not ready for trial".) It is important to the latter part of this story to note that count 2 of the complaint for obstructing an officer and resisting arrest was also dismissed and there was no trial on the matter.
• Needless to say, the parties ended up getting a divorce. The domestic relations case was handled by Judge Ernesto Romero. Years after the false domestic violence claim and dismissed charges, the parties attended a hearing before Judge Romero. The case was recessed; the hearing was over. However, Judge Romero changed his mind and somehow resumed the hearing. Father was not present. Judge Romero, having a penchant for jailing parents for all kinds of ridiculous reasons (see this link for another jailing story involving this judge), issued a bench warrant for father's arrest for "failing to appear" at a hearing.
• Father lost his job (as many parents going through this system do) and had to move to another state to secure employment. Over the next year some things happened that were very hard to understand. It took years and many letters and telephone calls for father to finally obtain the records we are exposing herein. In the end, he had to obtain most of the records from other states because the New Mexico Courts and the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department refused to timely comply with his many requests. In the meantime, he was no longer eligible for a government security clearance because of the outrageous actions taken by Judge Ernesto Romero and the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department.
• Father was pulled over a few times for what should have been routine traffic stops in various states, but the stops ended up being anything but routine. Law enforcement teams were called and father found himself surrounded by drawn weapons. Finally, he was involved in a disturbance on October 12, 2005 because of his frustration in attempting to accomplish a business transaction. He was arrested and taken in by a local police department. Because of this experience, he was able to begin obtaining records to find out what was happening. Records provided to him by a far northeastern state show communication between them and the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department regarding whether he should be extradited to Bernalillo County from the northeastern state to face felony charges. Again, father did not know about any of this at the time he was taken to jail, but he realized there was a problem because he was held overnight, missing a major customer meeting out of town and seriously impacting his employment. Note that the records state "Fel[ony] warrant signed by Judicial District C[ou]rt J[u]dg[e] Romero 20050602 / Ch[ar]g[e] is failure to appear at the time and place ordered by this C[ou]rt / hold no bond"
• The reason for being held overnight became clear after obtaining the records from various federal and state sources over a period of two years. The out of state jurisdiction was consulting with the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department to determine whether father should be extradited to New Mexico. Records from October 13, 2005, the next day, show Bernalillo County's response to the out-of-state jurisdiction: "After further review, the Assistant District Attorney on the case declined to extradite from your jurisdiction." It is nice to know that, at least in this case, the District Attorney's office did not continue to play the abuse of power game started by Judge Ernesto Romero.
• Little by little the picture came into focus. Father finally received (after years of written requests) from the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department on January 18, 2007 a letter with a timeline of events that occurred, stating that the warrant Judge Ernesto Romero issued for father's arrest had a "no bond hold". The letter stated, "On June 7, 2004, the warrant was put into the NCIC (National Crime Information Center) computer database by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department with extradition within the continental United States." According to the letter, it was not until August 10, 2006 that the warrant was cancelled and removed from the NCIC computer database because of a Warrant Cancellation Notice from the Second Judicial District Court. The reader needs to understand that when the FBI NCIC database states that there is a warrant with a "no bond hold", it usually means the person is a serious murderer, a terrorist, or the like. The letter also contained aprintout from the NCIC database, stating "Caution: History of assault on police officer". This statement, along with the "no bond hold", explains why routine traffic stops ended up with weapons drawn on father. In fact, the only "history" they could possibly be referring to was New Mexico's own false charge of resisting arrest (from the beginning of this story) that was dismissed by the Bernalillo County Asst. DA without trial in January 2001.
• This story is a perfect example of how New Mexico law enforcement colludes with the New Mexico courts in confusing parents with criminals. Our membership abounds with stories of being hit with felony charges in family court, an unlawful abuse of power that ruins the lives and livelihoods of parents trying to support their children.