Appeals court overturns conviction of man charged with injuring cyclists

Oct. 20—The New Mexico Court of Appeals has overturned the conviction of a man who was accused of severely injuring a bicycle rider in a high-profile incident near Galisteo in March 2018 involving several senior cyclists who had described it as a road-rage collision.

The ruling, which comes more than two years and nine months after Jacob Brown, 44, of Moriarty began serving his 31/2-year sentence, says the state District Court in Santa Fe failed to give the jury proper instructions in considering its verdict on a count of great bodily injury by vehicle.

The appeals court sent the case back to District Court for a new trial on the charge, the most serious of three counts on which Brown was convicted in January 2020. He also was found guilty of reckless driving and leaving the scene of a crash. The appeals court upheld those convictions.

However, the appeals court wrote in its ruling Monday, the trial included conflicting evidence on the collision, in which a crash reconstructionist determined Brown's car was traveling at just 5 mph or parked on the roadway — and likely had not plowed into the bike riders in reverse, as some had claimed.

The appeals court found a "reasonable jury" might have concluded Brown's reckless driving was not the "proximate cause" of the second rider in the pack sustaining severe injuries — or an act that directly led to the cyclist's crash. The court noted the rider in the lead position was able to avoid colliding with Brown's car.

Judge Zachary Ives wrote in the ruling, "We agree with Defendant that the district court committed reversible error by refusing Defendant's request that the jury be instructed on proximate cause."

It's not yet clear whether Brown will be tried again.

Brown and his attorneys did not respond to requests for comment on the appeals court ruling.

District Judge T. Glenn Ellington, who oversaw Brown's trial, also did not comment.

A state prosecutor who represented the state in the appeal referred questions to Jerri Mares, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office, who wrote in an email, "We are currently reviewing the opinion and are evaluating the next appropriate steps."

Maggie Shepard, a spokeswoman for the state Law Offices of the Public Defender, said it will be up to the judge overseeing Brown's new trial to determine whether he will be released early.

"The other possibility is that one or both parties could seek Supreme Court review in the next 30 days, which could delay things," she added.

Brown was not initially charged with a crime in the incident, which was one of a series of crashes that prompted a call by Santa Fe-area cycling advocates for more protections for bike riders and stiffer penalties for drivers who injure cyclists.

Members of the local cycling group Santa Fe Seniors on Bikes, who call themselves SOBs, said they had been riding south on N.M. 41 toward Galisteo when Brown sped past them in the same direction, driving a white Honda. Brown then pulled over, they said, and reversed his vehicle toward them in anger.

Brown contended his car was stopped when one cyclist slammed into it, causing others in the pack to also lose control and crash.

He stopped to confront the group, he said, after some of the cyclists flashed their middle fingers at him.

Brown drove off after the crash but was tracked down by Santa Fe County sheriff's deputies and escorted back to the scene. He told one deputy he left because he had feared he would get into a fight with the cyclists, according to a report.

A Santa Fe County grand jury indicted Brown months later.

The cyclist injured most severely in the crash, Doug Herrel, lauded the grand jury decision. He said he had suffered 12 broken ribs, two collapsed lungs, a broken pelvis and a broken cheek bone and had a shoulder torn out of its socket.

Herrel spoke at Brown's sentencing in February 2020, describing the painful details of his life-altering injuries and recovery process, and the isolation he experienced. "My life was limited by a 50-foot air line," he said.

But the appeals court decision raises questions about whether jurors who were properly instructed on "proximate causation" would find Brown's actions directly led to Herrel's injuries. Brown had sought such a jury instruction, the appeals court said, but the District Court denied it.

"Several witnesses testified that Defendant hit the victim with his moving car," Ives wrote in the ruling. "The lead rider did not see whether the victim hit or was hit by Defendant's car, but the lead rider testified that the victim had run into him when he had applied his brakes while trying to go around Defendant's car on the edge of the pavement. An accident reconstructionist opined that the accident could have happened with or without contact between Defendant's car and the victim's bicycle."

Brown suggested the crash "occurred because the cyclists were not 'paying attention,' " Ives wrote, referring to a video of Brown's interview with law enforcement.

"Where the jury could reasonably find that the negligence of another person" also was a factor in an injury, Ives wrote, "that negligence should be considered by the jury in determining whether the defendant's conduct was the proximate cause of the injury, and the court must instruct the jury accordingly."

Staff writer Phaedra Haywood contributed to this report.