Judge postpones sentencing for escapee Valerie Guzman
Posted at: 03/05/2013 1:53 PM
By: Erica Zucco, KOB Eyewitness News 4
Hospital escapee Valerie Guzman was supposed to be sentenced for multiple felonies including unlawful taking of a vehicle, but on Tuesday, her sentencing was postponed for six weeks.
Judge Benjamin Chavez pushed back the date, saying he needed more time to review evidence and information.
This came after Guzman’s defense attorney and the state’s attorney asked for very different sentence lengths and squabbled over whether a video of Guzman talking by phone to KOB reporter Maria Guerrero should be shown to the court.
In the video, Guzman confessed to escaping her MDC guard while she was at UNM hospital for heroin use.
MDC says that guard is still on administrative leave.
The state’s attorney argued that her words in the video showed a blatant disregard and lack of respect for the system.
Guzman’s defense attorney argued that the video was irrelevant to the current sentencing, which was for charges that came prior to her escaping the guard in the first place.
The judge says he does plan to review the video and may play it in court during the new sentencing hearing.
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