When an elected Española School District Board member threatens physical harm to another Board member immediately following a public meeting, that’s about as public as it gets. So it stands to reason those who elected the accused, Ruben Archuleta, and the accuser, Jeremy Maestas, are keenly interested in the outcome of the accusation.
Rio Arriba County Magistrate Judge Joseph Madrid doesn’t think so.
Archuleta was scheduled for arraignment at 9 a.m., Monday. Performing our duty as a government watchdog, we gained access to the “public hearing,” via Googlemeets to hear what plea Archuleta would enter and what the judge would have to say about it.
We were alone in the arraignment. No judge. No defendant.
We stayed in the virtual hearing for 20 minutes before calling the Magistrate Court to find out if it was postponed, moved or perhaps we had the wrong time from the Secure Odyssey Public Access website. It was shocking to be told by the court clerk that the judge called Archuleta and conducted the arraignment in a closed, secret hearing.
So we don’t know what plea Archuleta entered. We don’t know if there were conditions for him to remain free.
It is not clear if it is Madrid’s regular practice to conduct closed hearings. He did not return a call requesting he answer these questions. After contacting Communications Officer at Administrative Office of the Courts Barry Massey, we were told the director of the Court Operations Division contacted the Magistrate Court and informed it the arraignment procedure must change to ensure public access.
“If the judge is going to conduct an arraignment by calling the defendant when it’s time for the person to appear, then the call must be made from the courtroom and conducted over a speaker phone so that any member of the public or the press can sit in the courtroom and listen to the telephonically conducted proceeding. That change in procedure is to occur immediately.”
Let’s hope.
However, the fact remains the judge thought it was fine to hold closed hearings. Surely, he’s heard of the Sixth Amendment and open court. The entire idea behind our judicial system is to have proceedings, all proceedings, open to the public.
It must be acknowledged that there isn’t a lot of interest in justice anymore and most people don’t care what happens to people after they’re arrested and charged. When a crime hits close to home, sure some folks will take an interest. However, in most cases the only people you’ll find on Zoom and Googlemeets calls are media and lawyers.
That doesn’t change the fact that court proceedings should remain open to the public in some fashion, even in these strange pandemic times. Even in Rio Arriba County.