Three people were released from jail in Taos, New Mexico, on Wednesday after a judge dismissed charges of child abuse at their desert compound where a toddler’s body was found, a defense lawyer said.
TAOS, N. M. (Reuters) – Three people were released from jail in Taos, New Mexico, on Wednesday after a judge dismissed charges of child abuse at their desert compound where a toddler’s body was found, a defense lawyer said.
Judge Emilio Chavez ordered charges to be dropped against Lucas Morton, his wife Subhannah Wahhaj and her sister Hujrah Wahhaj because prosecutors failed to follow a procedural rule after they were charged and jailed.
“They’re out now,” said Megan Mitsunaga, a defense attorney for Subhannah Wahhaj.
The three still face a criminal trespassing case in magistrates court in Taos County for mistakenly building their makeshift settlement on a plot of land near Amalia, New Mexico that did not belong to them, Mitsunaga said.
She said state prosecutors had not indicated whether they intended to file new charges against the three, after accusing them of planning attacks on “corrupt institutions.”
Another New Mexico judge on Wednesday dismissed child abuse charges against two other defendants from the compound based on the prosecution’s failure to follow basic court procedure set down by New Mexico law. The judge said the prosecution failed to bring them to a preliminary hearing within 10 days after they were charged and jailed.
The two, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and his wife Jany Leveille, still face separate charges for the death of Wahhaj’s three-year-old son at the compound.
