{"id":6009,"date":"2009-09-11T08:11:33","date_gmt":"2009-09-11T14:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=6009"},"modified":"2009-09-11T10:02:13","modified_gmt":"2009-09-11T16:02:13","slug":"did-condit-break-the-law-by-leaving-crash-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/09\/did-condit-break-the-law-by-leaving-crash-scene\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Condit break the law by leaving crash scene?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Elephant

Elephant Butte (Photo by SouthwestUSA\/flickr.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

Did Gov. Bill Richardson\u2019s<\/a> chief of staff, Brian Condit, violate state law<\/a> when he joined the governor and others in leaving the scene of a Saturday boating accident he caused<\/a>?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the question asked today in an article<\/a> by the New Mexico Independent\u2019s Trip Jennings.<\/p>\n

From the Independent:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe same state law that allows an operator of a boat to wait two days after an accident before contacting authorities<\/a>, as Condit did, also says that\u00a0the operator of a boat must take certain steps.\u00a0One is to render assistance to individuals affected by a collision or accident.\u00a0The other is to give his or her \u2018name, address and identification of his vessel in writing to any person injured and to the owner of any property damaged in the collision, accident or other casualty.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jodi McGinnis Porter, spokeswoman for the state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department<\/a>, was quoted by the Independent as saying there were two co-operators of the boat in the eyes of investigating officers: Condit, who was driving the boat, and Leon Fay, the owner of the boat, who took the helm at the last moment to try to stop the crash.<\/p>\n

Fay stuck around after the Saturday crash at Elephant Butte. Porter said he met the requirements of the law.<\/p>\n

Others disagree and say Condit should have also stuck around. Jennings quoted state Rep. Antonio \u201cMoe\u201d Maestas<\/a>, D-Albuquerque and an attorney, as saying he reads the law to say that both should have stuck around to render aid and provide contact information to others involved.<\/p>\n

And Do\u00f1a Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez<\/a>, also a Republican candidate for governor, released this statement:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe law requires that \u2018the operator of a vessel involved in a collision, accident\u2026 shall give his name, address, and identification of his vessel, in writing, to any person injured and to the owner of any property damaged in the collision.\u2019 From the current media reports, it is not clear that Governor Bill Richardson\u2019s chief-of-staff complied with the law.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some say law needs changed<\/h3>\n

On Thursday evening, the Independent published another article by Jennings quoting Sen.\u00a0Carlos Cisneros<\/a>, D-Questa, as saying he supported changing the statute that allowed Condit to wait two days to contact police about the accident.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are involved in automobile accident, clearly the law mandates that you should not leave the scene of the accident,\u201d the Independent quoted Cisneros as saying. \u201cI think it is imperative that individuals report immediately, not one or two days afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis incident\u2026 raises the bigger issue of how boating crashes are handled under current law,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Legislature should seriously consider strengthening the boating laws to close any loopholes that allow operators to leave the scene of a crash before law enforcement is contacted, arrives and investigates. Investigations into boating crashes should not be handled any less seriously than those involving motor vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jennings\u2019 stellar reporting on the boat crash began Wednesday, when he authored an article<\/a> quoting a witness to the boating crash as saying that Richardson, Condit, budget secretary Katherine Miller and security officers were gone within minutes of the crash and before officers arrived on scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like they tucked their heads and said see ya,\u201d Carl Shaw, Jr. was quoted by the Independent as saying. \u201cThat\u2019s the question, why?\u201d<\/p>\n

By way of disclosure, I work with Jennings at the Independent.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did Gov. Bill Richardson\u2019s chief of staff, Brian Condit, violate state law when he joined the governor and others in leaving the scene of a Saturday boating accident he caused? That\u2019s the question being asked today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[112,107],"class_list":["post-6009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-bill-richardson","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6009\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}