MCKINLEY COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – Even with no money left to run her office, the McKinley County District Attorney said she’s still not giving up control. Bernadine Martin held a news conference on Tuesday to plead her case. She said she is one week away from running out of money to pay employees, and she already can’t pay her office’s internet bills or gas cards.
Previous Coverage:
- Embattled McKinley County DA asks for emergency funding to keep her office running
- Defunded McKinley County DA no-show for court, multiple cases dismissed
- McKinley County District Attorney told to give up control of office’s finances
- Defunded DA hangs onto control of office for now
- ‘It’s on her’: Senator defunds DA citing attitude, staff shortage
She made her plea to the community for help, but the people who showed up told her to help herself. Community members didn’t hold back in their first opportunity to speak directly to their district attorney since the state defunded her office on July 1. “The money is no longer here. Yet you keep crying about, well, it wasn’t my fault. Really look into yourself. You are very mean. You are very spiteful. That is why a lot of the assistant DAs no longer work for you. They quit because you do not work with people well,” said a speaker.
That’s the reason why KRQE News 13 has been told Bernadine Martin has zero assistant prosecutors, and without them, it’s been on her and only her to move criminal cases through the courts. The state, sheriff, and community say that’s led to criminals not being held accountable, victims not getting justice for several years.
“We are not missing deadlines. We are prosecuting – cases are moving,” said Attorney Johanna Cox. She is one of two contract attorneys Martin hired to help with prosecutions. Cox is also representing Martin in her second legal battle to regain control of her funding. So, she sat next to the DA throughout the press conference.
Cox added the community is misinformed about how the office is running, “So just because you may not like, you know, if her car is painted red and you don’t like red or her cars painted blue and you don’t like blue, doesn’t mean it doesn’t operate and run just fine. It is working just fine.”
The crowd wasn’t pleased that Cox kept speaking for their elected public official.
Community member: “Quit shuffling it off to this lady over here. We need you to answer our questions.”
Martin: “Ask me a question.”
After months of KRQE Investigative Reporter Ann Pierret trying to speak with DA Martin, and her choosing to shut the door on Pierret or calling security instead, this was also our first time to get questions answered. So Pierret asked about the hostile work environment former and current employees have described.
Ann Pierret: “They’ve said that you belittle them.”
Martin: “That’s not true.”
Pierret: “That you’re nasty to them.”
Martin: “It’s not hostile. And no one has filed complaints. We have a personnel policy where they have the opportunity to file there. I’ll tell you none of that that you heard is going on, it’s not.”
So what does Martin think is behind the decision to defund her office? “Look at the factors. We are a Native American county. Predominantly Native American. A Native American DA. How does my funding get pulled at the 11th hour, and nobody seems to care?”
The state didn’t get rid of Martin’s funding, but the governor gave it to the San Juan County DA to dish out. Martin believes that’s unconstitutional and filed suit, refusing to let her fellow DA take financial control of her office. “The people here did not elect him to come and run this office. I’m elected. I can run the office. We have run the office. We’ve been successful. And we can function. We just need access to the money that was intended for this office that was taken away from us at the 11th hour,” said Martin.
The two district attorneys will meet with a mediator on Monday. If that doesn’t go well, the state’s Board of Finance will hold a special meeting to discuss emergency funding for the McKinley County District Attorney’s Office. Only the attorney general or the governor can remove a district attorney. The Attorney General’s Office is investigating whether Martin should be removed. That investigation was made at the governor’s request.
