Eddie Moore/Reuters
- Two judges cited procedural errors by prosecutors and dismissed child abuse charges against five people from a desert compound where a toddler’s body was found.
- The judges, in separate decisions, dismissed the child abuse charges on grounds that a preliminary hearing had not taken place within 10 days after they were filed when the defendants were taken into custody.
- State prosecutors told the court he believed “exceptional circumstances” surrounding the inability of the defendants to meet bail requirements and leave jail meant the 10-day rule did not apply in this case.
- Prosecutors have said they would present new evidence of a plot by the defendants to attack “corrupt institutions.”
- The five defendants were arrested after a raid on their makeshift encampment in Amalia, New Mexico, after reports that 11 children were starving there. The children were taken into protective custody.
TAOS, N.M. (Reuters) – Two New Mexico judges on Wednesday dismissed child abuse charges against five people from a desert compound near Taos where a toddler’s body was found, citing procedural errors by prosecutors.
The judges, in separate decisions issued in New Mexico’s Eighth Judicial District Court, dismissed the child abuse charges on grounds that a preliminary hearing had not taken place within 10 days after they were filed on Aug. 8 when the defendants were taken into custody.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
NOW WATCH: I woke up at 4:30 a.m. for a week like a Navy SEAL
See Also:
- Missouri is launching an investigation into potential Catholic Church sex abuse in St. Louis
- Embattled congressman Duncan Hunter pleads not guilty to misuse of campaign funds
- Trump ‘would consider’ pardoning ‘brave man’ Paul Manafort after his conviction for fraud
