Trial has been set for an Ohkay Owingeh man who allegedly crashed into another car on State Road 76 in Cordova, sending him, and the two people in the car he hit, to the hospital.
District Court Judge Anastasia Martin bound over Christian Tapia, 24, on Oct. 28, after he previously waived a preliminary hearing on the charges of aggravated drunk driving, reckless driving and two counts of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. His waiver contained no concessions from prosecutors.
The crash on June 28 resulted in one car catching on fire and another crashing into a guardrail, Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Deputy John Greene wrote in a criminal complaint at the time.
While helping with the medical response, Greene talked with Tapia, who told him he “consumed four to six shots of alcohol at approximately 1200 hrs,” Greene wrote. Greene did not write what time he was sent to the crash.
He saw Tapia had bloodshot, watery eyes and could smell alcohol on his breath, he wrote. Tapia was transported to the Española Hospital and there, Greene read him the state’s implied consent advisory and Tapia agreed to a blood draw. He was then flown by helicopter to The University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque due to his injuries, he wrote.
Greene did not write the extent of the injuries of the other two people, Irene Panas and Jeff Montoya.
The criminal information charging Tapia lists the injuries as “great bodily harm” and gives no other details.
The trial in the case is currently set for April 6.
He was arraigned on Nov. 12 and his next court date is set for March 2, just a month before trial is set to begin.
The case could likely drag out for much longer. New case schedule deadlines, that shorten the amount of time cases are supposed to linger before going to trial, far less than a year, will take effect on Jan. 1.