Memory of hearing still angers victims' grandmother

Editor's Note: This is the second in a four-part series that examines a local young woman's experiences as a victim in a criminal court case. In the interest of protecting the young woman's privacy, and that of her half-sister, The Independent is not using their real names in this article.

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

GALLUP — The preliminary hearing in Gallup's Magistrate Court may have been a tip-off as to what would lie ahead.

Nineteen-year-old Michelle and her 15-year-old half-sister, Tori, were called to testify at the preliminary hearing for their step-father, Carl Campos. Campos had been charged with criminal sexual penetration involving a child under 13, aggravated indecent exposure, and battery against a household member after the sisters had conducted interviews with McKinley County Sheriff's Investigator Diedra M. Gonzales.

However, there were some unexpected spectators in the courtroom that day. While the sisters underwent difficult questioning about sensitive topics, several male detention center inmates clad in their orange jump suits listened along to the testimony as they waited for their own court hearings.

It was a rude awakening for Tori's grandmother about an apparent lack of sensitivity to victims in McKinley County's criminal justice system.

Tori's grandmother, who is not Michelle's biological grandmother but who views both sisters equally as her granddaughters, said she was so upset that she had to leave the courtroom.

"I stumbled out of the courtroom in shock," she recalled. She was so distraught, she said, she reached out for the arm of then Assistant District Attorney Harutium "Harry" Kassakhian to keep herself from falling, and she made an angry comment to him about the presence of the detention center inmates.

According to the grandmother, the attorney said something to the effect of, "Ma'am, this is the only county in America where this could happen."

'Always offensive'
"I do remember that," recalled Kassakhaian, when contacted recently. In retrospect, he said, he should not have answered the way he did because he isn't knowledgeable about the legal policies in counties across the country. He responded that way, he said, because he was also unhappy the inmates were in attendance.

According to New Mexico law, crime victims have the right to "be treated with fairness and respect for the victim's dignity and privacy throughout the criminal justice process."

Melissa Stephenson believes forcing a victim to testify about sexual abuse in an open preliminary hearing is a clear violation of respecting the victim's dignity and privacy. Stephenson is the general counsel for the New Mexico Victims' Rights Project.

"It's always offensive, and it's always wrong," she said. "That's a no-brainer."

Stephenson believes having sexual assault victims testify in open preliminary hearings is not only "offensive legally" but is also unconstitutional under New Mexico law.

Forcing victims to testify under such circumstances, she added, "That's another level of forced entry."

If a mother knew her child would have to testify about sexual assault in front of a courtroom of spectators, she said, "What mother would let a child report a rape?"

Susan Howley, the director of public policy for The National Center for Victims of Crime, agreed. She believes open court hearings can create a "barrier to justice" because they can intimidate victims into not coming forward with their testimony.

In a telephone interview, Howley said that about half the states give judges the discretionary power to close court hearings in cases involving allegations of sexual abuse. Defendants do have the right to a public court hearing, she said, but judges have the discretionary power to close court hearings to protect victims of sexual abuse from the emotional trauma of testifying in an open courtroom. In addition, some states also allow sensitive testimony to be videotaped and then replayed in court.

Question for judges
In a recent telephone interview, local prosecutors Bernadine Martin and Pat Kramer didn't disagree with those views. Martin, the assistant district attorney who has handled the Campos case since its beginning, was involved in the Campos preliminary hearing. Kramer, a new attorney with the D.A's office, has been recently assisting with the case.

The Campos preliminary hearing, they said, was a good example of why McKinley County should have a standing grand jury to hear such sensitive testimony in a closed setting. Gallup's Magistrate Court is very small and is frequently overcrowded with defendants and spectators. In addition, they said, the building has no room to hold detention center inmates while they are waiting for their court hearings.

Martin said she has asked judges to clear courtrooms before sensitive testimony is offered, but no local judge has ever agreed to her request. However, she added, some judges will try to schedule a sensitive hearing at the end so only those people involved in the case will still be in attendance.

"My understanding is that the district court judges haven't required it," said Kramer of the standing grand jury system that's lacking in McKinley County.

"I think that's a great question for the district court judges," she added.

Locally, only Grant Foutz has been a district judge for a significant length of time. Judge Robert Aragon and Judge Louis DePauli Jr. were just sworn in last year.

Still angry about what transpired during the Campos preliminary hearing, Michelle and Tori's grandmother said she is now interested in pursuing that particular change in the McKinley County criminal justice system.