Local Man To Be Tried After Supreme Court Overturns Ruling

By John Larson

SOCORRO –A years-old felony case will be back on the District Court docket, thanks to a recent ruling by the New Mexico Supreme Court. The ruling concerned a question with a change in the statute of limitations for violent crimes.
In June, 2005, Nicholas Morales, now 68, was arrested on five counts of sexual molestation of a young girl which occurred between 1978 and 1985, beginning when the victim was about four years old.
According to the 2005 arrest warrant, Morales “admitted to having sexual penetration with the victim on five occasions when she was between the ages of four to seven years old.”
Before going to trial, the case was thrown out by the New Mexico Court of Appeals, which ruled that the crime had fallen outside of the statute of limitations – 15 years for class I felonies.
But last Friday, June 4, the state’s Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeals ruling. The high court ruled that when the legislature removed the statute of limitations for violent crimes in 1997, the alleged incidences involving Morales still lay within the 15 year statute.
The victim, Tanya – the Mountain Mail will only print her first name – reported in May, 2005, that she was the victim of periodic rape by a relative over a seven year period, when she was aged 3 ½ to 10.
In a KRQE News 13 television interview in February, Tanya said, "I will not own the shame of what he did to me. He robbed me of my childhood. He silenced me at a very young age. He was put in a position to protect and he violated that."
District Attorney Clint Wellborn told the Mountain Mail he was gratified to learn of the Supreme Court’s decision.
“It was the right decision, and one we always had planned on. There were people concerned that it would not be pursued, but it was a long process and we were appealing the Court of Appeals ruling all along,” Wellborn said. “We knew we had a legitimate argument which was worth pursuing up to the Supreme Court.”
Socorro Police Sgt. Richard Lopez said the department has been safe-keeping all physical evidence in the case.
“We’ve been waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision on this, so all we have to do now is bring it out from where it’s been kept,” Lopez said.
This includes all documents and videos of interviews. Also all witnesses will be contacted, including former Chief of Police Lawrence Romero, who was a detective at the time and the investigating officer.
Wellborn said the original prosecutor, Stacey Ward, no longer works in the D.A.’s office, and has assigned Assistant District Attorney Regina Ryanczak to be prosecutor.

Local Man To Be Tried After Supreme Court Overturns Ruling