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Latest New Mexico news, sports, business and entertainment at 3:20 a.m. MST

  • Lawsuit accuses Albuquerque police of wrongful death

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A lawsuit accuses Albuquerque police of wrongfully killing a pipe-wielding man during a 2018 encounter in a home after officers found him hiding in a closet. The lawsuit filed Tuesday by 24-year-old Daniel Saavedra's sister says police should have tried to defuse the situation before entering the apartment and cornering  Saavedra. The Albuquerque Journal reports that lapel camera video shows officers shooting as 24-year-old Daniel Saavedra leapt out into an empty bedroom, swinging a metal pip near officers. Saavedra formerly lived in the apartment and police were called after he broke into it.  The lawsuit said Saavedra was suffering from psychosis. Police Department spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said the city's lawyers would respond to the lawsuit's allegations in court.

  • New Mexico court case against a Texas judge dismissed

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A judge has dismissed a case in New Mexico against a Texas judge accused of driving under the influence. KRQE-TV reported Friday that deputies from the Sante Fe County Sheriff's Office arrested El Paso Magistrate Judge Ray Gutierrez in October after he allegedly backed into another vehicle in the Santa Fe Opera parking lot. Authorities say Gutierrez performed poorly during field sobriety tests and had a blood alcohol content above the legal limit. Defense attorneys for Guiterrez say the state couldn't verify the authenticity of the video evidence. Officials say the judge suppressed that evidence and prosecutors dismissed the charges.

  • Suit over Border Patrol detention conditions goes to trial

PHOENIX (AP) — The trial for a years-old lawsuit challenging detention conditions in Border Patrol stations is set to begin. The Border Patrol has faced scrutiny over the past year for reportedly dangerous and unsanitary conditions in its facilities as hundreds of thousands of migrants have come to the southern border. In Tucson, a judge is presiding over a trial for a lawsuit that was first filed in June 2015 and that targets the agency's Tucson Sector, which has eight stations in Arizona. Attorneys say migrants are held in unsanitary and freezing conditions with no access to medical care. The trial starts Monday. 

  • Monument to honor US-Mexican dual citizens slain in Mexico

LA MORA, Mexico (AP) — Mexico's president says a monument will be put up to memorialize nine U.S.-Mexican dual citizens ambushed and slain last year by drug gang assassins along a remote road near New Mexico. Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Sunday there is an agreement to establish a monument of some sort "where these lamentable and painful events took place." Officials also plan to recognize those who risked their lives to rush to the aid of victims. The community was shattered by the Nov. 4 killings of three women and six children. It has been in Mexico for generations and members consider themselves Mormons, though they are not affiliated with LDS church. 

  • Administration touts 100th mile of border wall under Trump

YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — Trump administration officials on Friday touted the 100th mile of border wall since the president took office. The Yuma, Arizona, area has seen drastic highs and lows in migration over the last two years. Like the rest of the border it has seen fewer migrants in recent months. Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf responded to critics who say the new construction is only replacing old fencing. Wolf said the administration will build or start to build 400 to 450 miles by the end of the year. 

  • Health officials: Screening more pregnant women for syphilis

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico health officials are ordering physicians and other medical professionals to step up screening of pregnant women for syphilis. The state Department of Health says an order issued Friday is intended to prevent prevent congenital syphilis. That's a disease that occurs when a mother with sexually transmitted syphilis passes the infection on to her baby during pregnancy. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that congenital syphilis has increased annually in the US since 2012. Under the order, medical professionals must test all pregnant women in their first and third trimesters and again at delivery. 

  • Registration drive seeks to close voting gap among Latinos

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A nonpartisan group says targeted mailings that encourage voter registration are going out to one-in-eight residents of New Mexico. Broader registration among Latinos is one focus of the effort by the Center for Voter Information in the state with the highest ratio of Hispanics. The group brings big-data technology to bear on efforts to register populations that are underrepresented in elections. Young adults and single, unmarried women are another focus of the drive intended to increase overall voting. Center founder and president Page Gardner says the effort seeks to narrow the gap between those eligible to vote and those who are registered to vote.

  • New Mexico health officials report first child flu death

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Health officials in New Mexico have confirmed the first death of a child due to the flu this season. The state Health Department says the 1-year-old boy was from Roosevelt County. Officials have recorded a total of 52 pneumonia and flu-related deaths since the start of the season in October. The health department is warning that flu is still spreading in all regions of the state and that peak activity hasn't been reached. The agency says this season is already unusual for how early the illness became widespread and vaccinations are recommended.