Cops and Courts, July 4, 2004

A Roosevelt County grand jury has indicted a Clovis man on charges of kidnapping, three counts of criminal sexual penetration and assault with intent to commit a violent felony.

Armando Galvan, 46, was indicted on June 25. A release from the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s office said Galvan is accused of forcing an 18-year-old pregnant woman to have sex with him in three different locations in or around the Portales cemetery in the early morning hours of June 4.

Galvan was arrested in Clovis on June 8 and is being held in the Roosevelt County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond. Galvan has been registered as a sex offender in New Mexico since June 2003, according to the district attorney’s office.

Galvan does not have a listed telephone number in Clovis and family members could not be reached for comment.

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Ninth Judicial District Judge Joe Parker handed down a 14-year sentence on Wednesday to a Roswell man who was convicted of homicide by a vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident involving death and tampering with evidence in Roosevelt County.

Brian Moshier, 41, of Roswell was convicted in the death of 2-week old Angel Martinez in a vehicle crash that occurred Aug. 5 on U.S. Highway 70, between Portales and Elida, according to police reports.

“Angel’s mother had some eloquent things to say in court,” 9th Judicial District Senior Trial Prosecutor Donna Mowrer said. “She said she hopes the man (Moshier) will ultimately be blessed. There can be no real justice for losing a loved one. She said nothing anybody can say will bring her son back.”

Moshier was given the maximum sentence of six years of incarceration on the homicide by vehicle. Moshier had four prior DWI (driving while intoxicated) convictions within a 10-year period and was given an additional eight years. District Attorney Brett Carter said Moshier received two years for each prior DWI conviction.

“It was what we were hoping for,” Carter said. “It sends a message. If you get a prior DWI, it’s a stiffer sentence. The penalties changed about five or six years ago. When I first started in 1987 his sentence would have only been three years.”

Cops and Courts is compiled by Freedom Newspapers of New Mexico staff. CNJ News Editor Mike Linn can be contacted at 763-6991 or by e-mail:

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