A 31-year-old Medanales man who stabbed another man who confronted him for following him too closely with his high beams on, pleaded guilty to a single count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon on Dec. 8.
Lorenzo Acosta pleaded guilty in court with a plea agreement that puts his sentence at 18 months. The charge carries a maximum sentence of three years.
Because aggravated battery with a deadly weapon is considered a serious violent offense, Acosta will have to serve 80% of whatever sentence he receives, compared to 50% for an offense not designated as a serious violent one.
This is also referred to as receiving credit for “good time.” He will also receive credit for time served.
At the end of the hearing on Dec. 8, District Judge Anastasia Martin, who accepted his plea, remanded him into custody.
He had been out on his personal recognizance since a day after his arrest on Oct. 16, 2024.
According to the court docket, the judge ordered a 60-day diagnostic evaluation and ordered him to be transported so the evaluation can be done, prior to his sentencing. No sentencing date has been set.
According to the plea deal, Acosta will be able to argue for a sentence of probation for three years, while prosecutors will argue for a sentence of 18 months followed by 18 months of probation.
If he is sentenced to a year or longer, and is therefore sent to prison, he will be subject to two years of parole following his release.
The Stabbing
Española City Police Officer Steven Binns initially charged Acosta with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and aggravated assault. The assault charge was not bound over following a preliminary hearing.
Binns wrote in a statement of probable cause that Acosta’s car started rolling back toward his car, at North Prince Drive and Fairview Lane, when Acosta moved the wheel, avoiding a collision, and instead, rolled into a fence. Right after Acosta’s car rolled past Binns, the victim, Raymond Lopez, approached the police car, raised his shirt and started yelling he had been stabbed.
“That guy! Just stabbed me,” Binns quoted Lopez.
Binns saw that Lopez had blood and tissue protruding from his stomach.
After Acosta’s SUV hit the fence, he threw an object from it, which was not identified in court records. Binns handcuffed Acosta. Lopez told Binns that Acosta was following him too closely and Acosta had his high beams on, so Lopez got out and confronted him. Then, Acosta allegedly stabbed Lopez, Binns wrote.
Lopez was transported to The University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque because his several stab wounds were so severe. The UNM hospital is New Mexico’s trauma hospital.
Lopez’s girlfriend, Railena Snider, told Binns that Lopez mentioned he was being followed too close by someone with their high beams on and he got out, and that he later said he had been stabbed. Binns, Snider and Lopez testified at the preliminary hearing.
Snider told Binns she had been drinking at a friend’s house and Lopez was the designated driver, so she didn’t know everything that happened.