Judge denies motion to dismiss drug case

PORTALES — Ninth Judicial District Court Judge Donna Mowrer denied a motion to dismiss the case of Antonio Salguero Wednesday after hearing an argument that his arrest was illegal based on false information on an arrest affidavit.

Salguero was one of 11 arrested on drug trafficking charges in an April drug sting.

Sheriff Malin Parker has been accused of lying on Salguero's arrest affidavit as well as several others from the drug operation with defense attorneys claiming that Parker and his informant both contradicted themselves in interviews regarding information on the affidavits that the informant who led to the drug arrests had given reliable information in the past and helped the Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office in past felony arrests.

Salguero's attorney, Christian Christensen, cited the false information in court on Wednesday as his reason for requesting the dismissal hearing.

"In separate, subsequent interviews with Sheriff Malin Parker, he has stated to me directly that no arrests were ever done. So, we attack the affidavit up front," Christensen said.

Mowrer said that the court based its decision on the fact that without the false information, the affidavit still provided probable cause for Salguero's arrest.

"In reviewing the affidavit for arrest warrant, taking that paragraph out, the court finds that the affidavit as a whole details deputies' personal observations of the informant. There's a mention of video and audio recording observations," said Mowrer.

Salguero's case will proceed with a trial date of Feb. 8 at the Roosevelt County Courthouse.