Smelser case dismissed, deported vet returns home and Barbara Hubbard celebrated

Case against Christopher Smelser dismissed on directed verdict

After two years of hearings, motions and a pandemic, the trial of Christopher Smelser ended abruptly Thursday when the judge declared the defendant not guilty.

Judge Douglas Driggers dismissed a second-degree murder charge via a directed verdict after half an hour of arguments Thursday morning. The move ends the trial for the former police officer accused of killing 40-year-old Antonio Valenzuela on February 29, 2020.

Smelser and his partner, Las Cruces Police Department Officer Andrew Tuton, chased Valenzuela after he ran from a traffic stop. Smelser and Tuton eventually caught up to Valenzuela, and after a brief altercation, Smelser put Valenzuela in a controversial grapple technique called the vascular neck restraint. Valenzuela died an hour later. An autopsy report declared Valenzuela died from asphyxia or suffocation. A high concentration of methamphetamine contributed to his death, the autopsy report said.

Las Cruces Sun-News reporter Justin Garcia, who covers crime, courts and public safety for the newspaper, has been following this story since he began at the paper. Justin said:

There are two types of news readers. The first is your casual readers who see things on social media or the paper and think, "huh, I wonder what that's about." The second is what I've affectionately termed the super-reader. Super-readers read every story from multiple outlets. They have opinions about reporters' abilities and even email us from time to time. 

I got such an email from such a reader Saturday morning. The reader criticized what they perceived as the angle of my story. In short, the reader said I focused too much on racism and not enough on personal responsibility. The email rehashed a local cliche that Antonio Valenzuela (and by extension, his family) has no one to blame for his death but himself. 

On its face, this is absurd. Did Valenzuela's choices worsen his situation? Yes, it goes without saying. Did Christopher Smelser choose to use a dangerous grappling technique to apprehend him? But Smelser and Valenzuela carried with them that night the weight of thousands of choices made by others. Smelser did not choose to create a rule that police officers have to do everything in their power to detain someone once they know there's a warrant. Valenzuela did not choose to be pulled over for riding in the back seat of a car with expired tags. Those systems and institutions limited the choices available to Smelser and Valenzuela that night. 

The role of the police is (ideally) to hold individuals responsible for harming society. In practice, this is not always the case, and police officers will tell you they're often on the front lines of enforcing inequality instead. But, in an ideal world, the police would be the arbiters of personal responsibility. 

On the other hand, journalists should be the critics of systems, not people. We have a responsibility to detail, examine, investigate, critique, and highlight solutions to systemic issues. This is, of course, an ideal. The reality of corporate ownership and internet ad sales means this ideal is far from being met. But it is something to strive for. 

I didn't respond to the email from the super reader because, as a personal rule, I don't respond to emails that CC me with politicians. But if they're reading this now, I hope they know that I respect their opinion and that they're disturbed by police killings as much as any of us. I also hope they know that, like any system, it's fixable. 

The Smelser case is also the subject of this week's The Reporter's Notebook podcast. Justin joins me to talk about how the case has unfolded and what's next. We hope you'll give it a listen.

Deported veteran from Las Cruces takes citizenship oath

"I've always been an American; just not on paper," Ivan Ocon said during his first week as a naturalized citizen.

Although he was born in the Mexican border city of Juárez, Ocon, 45, grew up in Las Cruces as a legal permanent resident. He came home this week after languishing more than 17 years, first in federal custody and then in exile for six years in a country foreign to him.

On Wednesday, he stood in front of a colorful mural on Bowman Avenue paying tribute to deported military veterans — like him, until last week, when he was allowed to re-enter the country and take the oath.

It concluded a chapter that began in 2016, when federal officers left him at the Laredo, Texas port of entry with a duffel bag and $500 in his pocket, ordering him to walk across the border.

Ocon had joined the Army immediately after graduating from Oñate High School (since renamed Organ Mountain High School) and served for seven years, including a deployment to Jordan during the Iraq War. Although his service enabled him to apply for naturalization, Ocon missed the opportunity to do so before he was discharged and struggled to adjust to civilian life.

Ivan's story is one we've been following for a few years. Last week, Sun-News reporter Algernon D'Ammassa spent some time with Ivan as he celebrated his naturalization. Algernon said:

We learned about Ivan Ocon's case in 2019, when our reporter Blake Gumprecht met him in Juárez and filed a thorough story about his path from Las Cruces to the military to the legal trouble that got him booted from the country: One tale among likely thousands of non-citizens who served in the United States military only to be ejected for one reason or another. Ocon's story was rife with missed opportunities, mishaps and a federal statute that was ultimately struck down as unconstitutional.

In 2021, we reported an update on his case: A coalition of groups had taken up his cause and were trying to build a legal path back to the United States, while in Washington a new administration had pledged to do more for deported veterans.

Less than a year after that, we got word from his attorneys that the long-sought opening had come: humanitarian parole allowing him to enter the country, and within days he had completed the final steps and taken his oath of citizenship.

We met him as he was getting reacquainted with a hometown he had not seen in nearly two decades, planning how to make himself useful. That plan, he says, includes working for the legal return of his fellow veterans.

Barbara Hubbard talks Bob Hope, John Wayne and more as she celebrates 95th birthday

Barbara Hubbard, longtime pillar of the Las Cruces and New Mexico State University communities, turned 95 Tuesday, July 12. Community members including Lou Sisbarro and NMSU Chancellor Dan Arvizu gathered Tuesday on campus — inside the Barbara Hubbard room — to celebrate Hubbard's milestone birthday

A larger tribute to Hubbard is being planned for October.

Hubbard formerly served as the special events coordinator for the Pan American Center — the stadium on the NMSU campus — bringing countless big names to perform on the stage. Entertainers including Charley Pride, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Garth Brooks and many other performers and bands have taken the stage in Las Cruces because of her.

Last week, our reporter Leah Romero was in attendance as "Mother Hubbard" cut her birthday cake in a room bearing her name at the Pan American Center. Leah said:

Barbara Hubbard celebrated her 95th birthday July 13. I tagged along to the celebration New Mexico State University threw on her behalf inside Hubbard's room at the Pan American Center. People spoke of all Hubbard's accomplishments and how an even bigger celebration is being planned for October. Hubbard is a longtime member of the NMSU community and is the reason so many big-name performers and shows have come to perform at the Pan Am.

She was surrounded by pictures of her and entertainers on the walls of her room as she thanked everyone for the recognition. The whole room sang happy birthday to her and then she took over cutting the red velvet cake for people to eat.

I got to meet Mother Hubbard for the first time that day and she was sweetest person, talking about her experiences with Bob Hope, John Wayne and all the country music stars.

Lift Up Las Cruces is city manager's first major anti-poverty push

City Manager Ifo Pili said the city's new approach to poverty is to fight it with a "sniper approach" rather than a "shotgun approach."

On July 30, Pili and his staff will invite community stakeholders, residents, business owners and nonprofit organizations to a public block party to launch Lift Up Las Cruces, the first anti-poverty initiative of its kind within the city. The block party is planned to be held on Ash Avenue, within the area served by the program.

The city's Fiscal Year 2023 budget includes an allocation of $278,000 out of the city's Telshor Facility Fund, a reserve fund meant to assist the city's low-income and sick residents, toward the Lift Up Las Cruces program. Pili said the city has also applied for federal funding to help finance it.

Sun-News reporter Michael McDevitt, who covers city and county government, has been coving the initiative since it was announced.

This week I learned about the city’s new anti-poverty effort in greater detail. This story primarily answers a lot of general ‘how and why’ questions from the city’s point of view. Why was the area for the program chosen? How do the data metrics used justify the area as one that’s in need? How will the city determine success?

In the coming weeks, I expect my coverage of this new program will expand into several other areas. As a reporter, I’m interested in digging deeper into the demographics of the geographic area selected as well as talking to the various groups planned to coordinate on providing services to the area.

On behalf of all of us at the Las Cruces Sun-News, thank you for taking the time to read this week's newsletter.

Damien Willis is a Lead Reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at 575-541-5443, dwillis@lcsun-news.com or @DamienWillis on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Smelser case dismissed, deported vet returns and Hubbard celebrated