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| Court OKs death penalty prosecution in officer killing case |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/26/2004 |
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The New Mexico Supreme Court has ruled prosecutors can seek the death penalty for the killing of an officer in a privately operated prison. The state Supreme Court issued the ruling in the case of three inmates accused of killing Guadalupe County Correctional Facility officer Ralph Garcia during a 1999 uprising. The prison is owned and operated by Florida-based Wackenhut Corrections Corporation. The prison houses some state inmates. Attorneys representing three inmates charged with Garcia's murder contend that the death penalty didn't apply to slayings in a private prison. The Supreme Court ruled that a district judge was correct in rejecting that argument. New Mexico law provides for capital punishment for the murder of peace officers and prison workers. At issue in the case was a question of whether the privately operated prison is covered by the death penalty provision and whether corrections officers are considered peace officers. |
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