An Ojo Caliente man, accused of stabbing a man through an open car window, was released and his case was dismissed after the main witness failed to appear for a May 8 preliminary and dangerousness hearing.
Prosecutors sought to have Raymundo Terrazas, 35, held without bail pending trial on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon but when the hearing came, an “essential witness” was missing, District Judge Jason Lidyard wrote in his order releasing Terrazas and dismissing the case.
“Without the testimony of that witness, the State stipulated that it could not proceed on the above-captioned cause number,” Lidyard wrote in the May 19 order.
Because of the stipulation and the missing witness, unnamed in court documents, Lidyard ordered the case dismissed, denied the prosecution’s move to have Terrazas held without bail and ordered him released.
While the order is dated May 19, Lidyard entered a separate order the day of the hearing, May 8, ordering Terrazas released.
Terrazas had been in custody since his arrest on April 23, following the alleged stabbing.
Accounts and timelines of the alleged attack are confused between witnesses.
Victim Steven Gurule told officers that he was sitting in a car in Hernandez in front of a residence another witness called a “dope house,” when he got into an argument with Terrazas, who called him a gay slur. Gurule then slashed Terrazas’ car’s tires and then Terrazas stabbed him through an open car window, State Police Officer Nathaniel Garcia wrote in a statement of probable cause.
Gurule’s wife, Amanda Salazar, told officers that they were at a gas station when Terrazas pulled up and blocked them in and when Gurule tried to get out, Terrazas stabbed him, then Gurule jumped out of the car, slashed Terrazas’ tires, and they drove away, Garcia wrote.
The case was dismissed without prejudice, so prosecutors could bring the case again, likely after bringing it to a grand jury.