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Albuquerque's Astorga family says they were mistreated in court

By Joline Gutierrez Krueger
Thursday, December 20, 2007

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Family members of Michael Paul Astorga say justice isn't blind at the Bernalillo County Courthouse — at least not when you're supporting a man accused of killing a sheriff's deputy.

Astorga relatives and one unrelated woman sitting with them at a pretrial hearing Wednesday say they were mistreated because of who they were and what they wore. They say they intend to contact the American Civil Liberties Union about possible litigation.

"When they find out you're an Astorga, your rights are tossed away," said Theresa Romero, Astorga's mother. "I'm not asking for special treatment, but if it's going to be that way for us, it should be that way for everybody."

Astorga supporters were told to cover up T-shirts with slogans such as "Free Michael Paul Astorga," Romero said.

They also were not allowed in the Albuquerque courtroom before the hearing, and Romero said she was made to leave the courthouse afterward without speaking to her son's lawyer.

Astorga supporters were not allowed back into the courtroom after a bathroom break, and they were not allowed to whisper to each other in court.

Similar rules were not in effect for those who sat on the other side of the courtroom — mainly reporters, lawyers and the parents of Bernalillo County sheriff's Deputy James McGrane Jr., who Astorga is accused of fatally shooting during a March 2006 traffic stop.

At one point during Wednesday's hearing, Bernalillo County sheriff's deputies escorted Romero from the courtroom and out of the courthouse, apparently because she was not sitting upright.

"I have a bad back that was inflamed, and I was trying to take the pressure off my spine on the hard benches by leaning on my jacket," she explained later.

Romero said the deputies who led her out did not allow her to explain, nor did they allow her to retrieve her purse from the courtroom.

Another woman said she was not allowed back into the courtroom when she left to get a drink of water for a coughing spell even though her belongings and 14-year-old daughter remained inside.

"I was appalled," said Christy Armell, who said she is not related to the Astorgas but was there because she is an anti-death penalty advocate.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Astorga, 31, could be given the death penalty.

"If I had been sitting there in support of the death penalty and of convicting Michael, I wouldn't have been treated that way," Armell said. "We were all mistreated today."

Perhaps the biggest issue Wednesday were the T-shirts worn by several of Astorga's family members and Armell. The dark-colored shirts bore pro-Astorga, anti-death penalty slogans such as "Death penalty like abortion stops a beating heart."

Romero's shirt, a new one she had specially made, read: "Free Michael Paul Astorga" and "The courtroom is no place for a lynch mob."

"We were told not to wear our T-shirts not only in the courtroom but the whole courthouse by three security officers who also told us to zip up our jackets and hide them," Armell said. "What happened to freedom of speech?"

State District Judge Neil Candelaria, who is presiding over the Astorga case, said he issued the ban on the shirts after the shirts had been brought to his attention at two previous hearings.

"I'm charged with keeping the dignity and decorum in the courtroom, and I didn't think those shirts met that level of dignity and decorum," Candelaria said later.

The judge said he had only been aware of the shirts that read "Free Michael Paul Astorga."

He also said he had not ordered the deputies in the courtroom to implement stricter policies for the Astorga family and that he had not been aware of any problems in the courtroom involving the family members.

A spokesman for the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department, which handles security for the courthouse, said the extra precautions regarding the Astorga family were based on concerns for several members' past behaviors.

"We are not treating this family differently; we're treating them as we need to treat them," sheriff's Lt. Scott Baird said.

"The best indication of future performance is past behavior, and this family has been disruptive in the past and has openly supported their son, who committed the homicide of a peace officer," Baird said. "They've not been anything other than difficult in the process."

Authorities have said Astorga managed to remain on the run for 13 days with the help of his family, including his wife, Marcella Poolaw Astorga, who is in a pretrial diversion program as part of a plea agreement for a federal charge that she lied to FBI agents during the manhunt for her husband.

Romero has also been criticized in the past for being too outspoken about her son's treatment and of law enforcement.

Also at Wednesday's hearing, Candelaria denied a motion by Astorga's attorney for a change of venue.

Further arguments against the death penalty aspect of Astorga's case are scheduled to be heard in March. Astorga's trial, which had been scheduled for March, has not been rescheduled, Candelaria said.

Armell said she hopes that her treatment and that of the Astorga family will be different at future hearings.

"His mom cried afterward," Armell said of Wednesday's aftermath. "She was saying, 'That's my son; no matter what, that's my son.' He's got family. Every inmate has got family. Those are the forgotten victims of the crime."