On January 9, 2008, Rick Hermann left his Rio Rancho, NM home (in Sandoval County) just after 11:00 a.m. to head to Bernalillo County to work. He stopped at the Arby's on Paseo del Norte (near the intersection with Jefferson Blvd.) for lunch. Three unmarked Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department (BCSD) cars pulled into the Arby's parking lot, officers emerged, and approached Rick at gunpoint.

Rick was handcuffed, with cuffs behind his back, and placed in the back seat of one of the vehicles. It had only been a couple months since Rick had major back surgery in Germany. It was very painful. After being placed in the BCSD vehicle, Rick waited. And waited. And waited. In fact, it was more than three hours from the time Rick was arrested until the time they left the Arby's parking lot. During that time, the deputies bought Rick some food and talked with him. According to Rick, he was never Mirandized (read his rights).

Why the waiting game? Rick states that he was arrested at about 11:30 a.m. on January 9, 2008. A receipt from towing Rick's vehicle shows that it was towed away at 12:15 p.m. that day, with the reason for towing being "driver arrested". We later learned the purpose for the waiting game. The warrant for Rick's arrest was not filed in Bernalillo County Metro Court until 3:26 p.m. In other words, BCSD officers unlawfully detained Rick for about four hours prior to obtaining an arrest warrant.

Rick was arrested on a misdemeanor state charge of "harassment". Deputy John Kenna arrested him and provided an affidavit for the criminal complaint filed in Bernalillo County Metro Court on January 9, 2008 at 3:26 p.m. The complaint states that James Noel, Executive Director and General Counsel of the New Mexico Standards [Commission], forwarded the threatening email to Judge Nan Nash. The complaint also states the James Noel co-teaches with Nash at UNM.

Interestingly, District Court Judge Stan Whitaker signed both the complaint and the arrest warrant. Was there no judge in Metro Court willing to get involved? Is it legal for a judge in a completely different courthouse to sign a Metro case complaint and warrant?

Even more interestingly, Judge Whitaker showed up for two hearings in Rick's federal case. The detention hearing occurred on Friday, January 11 in Federal District Court. Judge Whitaker was sitting in the back of the room. In other words, we the taxpayers paid Judge Whitaker to spectate at a hearing that had nothing to do with him. He chose to spectate instead of doing his job - hearing cases in Bernalillo County District Criminal Court.

On top of that, Judge Whitaker showed up again at Rick's appeal of detention hearing on Friday, January 18 in Federal District Court. This time, Whitaker gawked from the back along with Judge Nan Nash and Judge Linda Vanzi. (We called them the "crooked judge brigade" when they showed up.) That Friday morning, the taxpayers of New Mexico paid all three judges while they cancelled hearings in order to hang out and spectate at Rick's expense. As you will see below, the second hearing ended up being much more than simply an appeal of detention. Judge Black attempted to commit Rick to a mental facility for sixty days of evaluation. We believe that the crooked judges sitting in the peanut gallery at taxpayer expense knew ahead of time what was to occur. Incidentally, Nash must not have been very frightened of Rick if she felt the need to show up and enjoy his hearing.

Why is Whitaker so invested in this case that he would sign documents for a different court and then show up on two different days while taxpayers pay him to sit on his butt and spectate? Good question. The public should demand an inquiry of him and a public answer to this question. Rick's case never should have been elevated to the federal level, since any information gleaned from him to elevate the charges occurred during unlawful detention and without the legally-required reading of Miranda rights. The emails alone do not justify the federal case. The items found in Rick's car should no longer be allowed as evidence since they were unlawfully obtained. Rick has been in a federal jail cell for nearly eight weeks now under false pretenses, and he lost his software engineering job of 24 years, including benefits and retirement, because of these jokers. Looks like a major lawsuit against BCSD to me. We'll see what the feds do about it.