United States Attorney

AUSA Job Announcement (New Mexico)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO
VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER: 13-AUSA-NM-1

As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement

About the Office: The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico has approximately 165 employees and contractors. The main office is located in Albuquerque. The branch office in Las Cruces is located approximately 225 miles south of Albuquerque, is 50 miles from the Mexican border, and includes approximately 45 of the District employees and contractors. The District also has an unstaffed office in Santa Fe.

Responsibilities and Opportunity Offered: The attorney selected will handle prosecutions of a wide variety of federal offenses.

Qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be an active member, in good standing, of the bar (any jurisdiction), and have at least one (1) year of post-J.D. experience.

Applicants must demonstrate a quick analytical ability and the facility to accurately and precisely articulate the critical issues in a case and demonstrate superior oral and writing skills as well as strong research and interpersonal skills, and good judgment. Applicants must possess excellent communication and courtroom skills and exhibit the ability to work in a supportive and professional manner with other attorneys, support staff and client agencies. Applicants must have a demonstrated capacity to function, with minimal guidance, in a highly demanding office and courtroom environment.

Applicants will be expected to conduct their own legal research and writing and must be substantially self-sufficient in preparing day to day correspondence and pleadings. Applicants also must possess computer literacy skills to include experience with automated research, electronic court filing, electronic e-mail and word processing systems. Continue reading →

US Attorney for D. Ariz. Confirmed

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

Hopi woman confirmed as U.S. Attorney for Arizona

Friday, December 14, 2007
Filed Under: Politics

Diane Humetewa, a member of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona, has been confirmed as the U.S. Attorney for Arizona.

Continue reading →

Makah Whalers Charged in Tribal Court

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Seattle Times:

5 whalers charged in tribal court

 

Five Makah tribal members who already face federal charges for killing a gray whale off Neah Bay in September have now been charged in Makah Tribal Court for participating in the unauthorized hunt.

The charges were filed in tribal court on Nov. 16 but weren’t made public until Monday, when the last of the five was officially served with court papers, said Makah tribal attorney John Arum.

Wayne Johnson, Frankie Gonzales, Andrew Noel, Theron Parker and William Secor each face five charges in tribal court, including the violation of the tribe’s Gray Whale Management Plan.

If convicted, they could face up to a year in the tribal jail, a $5,000 fine and a three-year suspension of their tribal fishing rights for participating in the Sept. 8 hunt.

The five were charged in federal court in Tacoma last month and pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor violations of the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.

It is unclear whether the men will first be tried in federal or tribal court, Arum said. Arraignment on the tribal-court charges is expected in the next two or three weeks, he said.

Indian Woman Nominated to be USA for D. Ariz.

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

Hopi woman nominated as US Attorney for Arizona

Friday, November 16, 2007

Diane J. Humetewa, a member of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona, has been nominated as the U.S. Attorney for Arizona.

Humetewa told the Associated Press she was “extremely honored” to be nominated. President Bush sent her nomination to the Senate yesterday. Humetewa was recommended for the job by Sens. John McCain (R) and Jon Kyl (R) after Paul Charlton, the former U.S. Attorney, was fired by the Bush administration last December. But Bush passed over Humetewa when he appointed an interim U.S. Attorney in February. Humetewa has worked for the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona and for McCain during his two tenures as chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. If confirmed by the Senate, se would be the first Native American and first Native woman to serve as U.S. Attorney for Arizona.

Get the Story:
Bush taps Hopi for Ariz.’s U.S. attorney (The Arizona Republic 11/16)

Press Release: McCAIN, KYL URGE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE TO SWIFTLY VOTE ON THE NOMINATION OF DIANE HUMETEWA AS ARIZONA DISTRICT U.S. ATTORNEY (McCain/Kyl 11/15)

Makah Whaling Prosecution in Both Tribal and Federal Courts

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

 

Makah tribal members seek postponement of federal trial for illegal whale hunt

By Lynda V. Mapes

Seattle Times staff reporter

 

Enlarge this photo

COURTESY US ATTORNEY’S OFFICE

This grey whale was illegally harpooned, shot and killed by five Makah tribal whalers.

 

 

Defense attorneys for Makah tribal members accused of illegally hunting a gray whale last September are seeking to postpone a federal trial at least until March so they have more time to prepare their case.

And despite Makah leaders’ earlier vows of swift tribal justice for the men, a trial in tribal court has been slowed because the tribal prosecutor has family and business ties to two of the accused.

The five whalers were indicted on violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in October. The misdemeanor charges could mean up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine.

No date has been set for a trial yet, but the defense request for a delay means early March or even April, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Oesterle.

“We would just as soon do this sooner than later,” Oesterle said. The five men harpooned and shot a gray whale in the Strait of Juan de Fuca Sept. 8. The tribe did not have a necessary waiver to hunt a whale under its treaty with the U.S. The case has hampered efforts by the tribe to get that waiver, and that makes tribal leaders eager to put the case behind them.

But Neah Bay is a small town, and the tribe needs to find someone other than its usual tribal prosecutor to try two of the defendants because she is related to one of them and had a family business relationship with the other.

Like many cases, this one may actually never see trial. Members of the Makah tribal council have been discussing the benefits of a settlement, in which a single plea agreement could be negotiated between the federal and tribal governments, said Micah McCarty, a tribal council member.

“I believe it would be better for the federal and tribal government to keep this from going to trial,” McCarty said. “We would lean favorably toward that, we have had discussions just recently among the council, and I think my colleagues would concur if this is a possibility. A trial could be turned into a media circus that we don’t want to be a part of.”

John Arum, an attorney for the Makah Nation, said such a discussion is premature. But he agreed taking the case to trial was not the best outcome for anyone.

“We are doing what we can to make it less likely that will happen,” Arum said. McCarty said the tribe remains committed to prosecution. “We have a sense of urgency in light of our reputation that we are a government that respects the rule of law,” he said.