Jail standoff shooter still hospitalized

CLOVIS — Wesley Flores still has to face the courts on the theft charges for which he was arrested early this month, not to mention any pending charges still to emerge from his ensuing violent standoff at the Curry County jail. But he also has to learn how to talk again.

His recovery might be a while, up to a year, wrote his court-appointed public defender Jeremiah Hall in a motion filed Wednesday to quash the bench warrant on which Flores was arrested Feb. 1 in Clovis.

“Mr. Flores requires six to eight weeks of healing time from today’s date,” Hall wrote. “Mr. Flores also requires six to eight weeks’ time after his healing time to relearn how to talk.”

Flores, 28, was charged early last month with three counts of unauthorized use or theft of the card of another, along with larceny and possession of a firearm or destructive device by a felon, according to court records.

After failing to appear for a Jan. 29 arraignment on those charges, officials issued a bench warrant for his arrest. Three days later, when Clovis police responded to a report of a suicidal subject with a gun at a residence in town, they found Flores and took him into custody, records show.

“The bench warrant for this case had not been served at the time,” Hall wrote. And Flores never made it all the way to being officially booked into the Curry County Adult Detention Center, as Jail Administrator Mark Gallegos and County Manager Lance Pyle have repeatedly stated.

As a jail guard was preparing to start a pre-booking patdown inside a small vestibule room preceding the booking area, Flores pulled a pistol from his clothes and briefly held the guard hostage before eventually shooting himself in the face, officials said.

As Hall described it: “An incident ensued at the jail, during which Mr. Flores received a gunshot wound to the face and head. The injury severely damaged his face, eye, mouth, and tongue.”

Flores was brought to Lubbock for emergency treatment, where he remains.

Hall, who declined further comment Thursday, requested the bench warrant be quashed (or made void) on the basis that Flores “requires extended medical care in and out of the state,” mainly in Texas and around New Mexico.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Stover affirmed that motion later Wednesday and requested Flores’ $20,000 appearance bond from magistrate court be reinstated. Judge Fred Van Soelen issued the order that same day.

“All it says is the state of New Mexico is not going to take him in custody at the detention facility at this time,” Stover said. “We quashed the warrant so that he would not be in city custody while he’s in the hospital. He is still under conditions of release with the court so he still has obligations that he has to follow with the court.”

Flores’ conditions of release are standard, Stover said, such as obeying the law, not possessing dangerous firearms and not leaving the jurisdiction save for medical purposes. Law enforcement also continues to monitor him, he said.

As to whether or not Flores remained in city custody between Feb. 1 and Feb. 21 — and who will then be responsible for his medical expenses during that time period — the answer was not immediately clear.

“That is a difficult question to answer because there would be a lot of debate and question as to whether or not (Flores) was in custody (prior to the bench warrant being quashed). People will argue that back and forth,” Stover said. “You’ll have to ask somebody else if he was definitely in custody, and that’s likely going to be the subject of a lawsuit and much debate.”

City Manager Justin Howalt said Thursday he was not aware of any tort claims or medical bills conveyed to the city in regard to Flores.

City Attorney Dave Richards agreed with Howalt that a tort claim would be the more common way of billing the city for hospital expenses in such a circumstance, but he was unsure that might happen at all in this instance.

“I’m not sure why the city would be accountable for his medical care anyway,” Richards said Thursday. “I don’t think that the city would acknowledge any liability for a self-inflicted wound to somebody whether they’re in custody or not.”

As for upcoming court proceedings, Stover said a status hearing would likely be scheduled for week after next, and Flores “would be required to attend it in some form,” maybe by phone.

The charges pertaining to the bench warrant are mostly white collar offenses,” Stover added. “His continued medical issues are going to impact that. ... This doesn’t have anything to do with the potential for new charges based on what he did at the jail.”

As for new charges, Sheriff Wesley Waller said this week they were pending and that he did not "have an anticipated date of when they will be filed.”