A New Mexico district attorney is vowing to “pursue prosecution” against the “extremist Muslim” compound suspects who were released from custody on Wednesday just hours after all charges against the three were dropped.
District Judge Emilio Chavez on Wednesday dismissed charges against three of the five defendants — Lucas Morton, Subhannah Wahhaj and Hujrah Wahhaj — ruling that authorities had violated the state’s “10-day rule.”
Child abuse charges against them were dropped because prosecutors missed the 10-day cutoff for an evidentiary hearing to establish probable cause. Chavez said it was a very difficult decision to drop the charges but the rule left him no choice.
“The actions yesterday by the district judges do not affect our continuing efforts to prosecute the individuals as charged originally,” Eighth Judicial District Attorney Donald Gallegos said in a statement on Thursday. “While we disagree with the judges, they did their jobs. We will continue to do ours.
“Going forward, our options are to refile the charges or take the cases to the grand jury. We are assessing and will decide which avenue to pursue. What is important to know is that we will continue to pursue prosecution of the cases.” – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]A New Mexico judge dismissed all charges against three suspects tied to a compound where alleged Muslim extremists reportedly trained children to be school shooters.
District Judge Emilio Chavez on Wednesday dismissed charges against three of the five defendants, ruling that authorities violated the state’s “10-day rule.”
Child abuse charges against Lucas Morton, Subhannah Wahhaj and Hujrah Wahhaj were dropped because prosecutors missed the 10-day limit for an evidentiary hearing to establish probable cause.
During a separate hearing Wednesday, Judge Jeff McElroy dismissed the same charges against fellow defendants, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and Jany Leveille. However, charges leveled against them on Friday, in connection to the death of a missing 3-year-old boy, remained.
Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, the boy’s father, and Leveille were charged with abuse of a child resulting in the death of a child and conspiracy to commit abuse of a child, Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe announced.
The five suspects were arrested by authorities after an Aug. 3 raid following a monthslong search investigating the disappearance of Abdul-ghani Wahhaj, a 3-year-boy with severe medical issues who went missing from Georgia in December. The occupants of the compound were “most likely heavily armed and considered extremist of the Muslim belief,” an official said at the time. – READ MORE
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