Detained and dismissed: When jail time ends without trial

"Catch and Release" is often a term used in wildlife conservation, but recently, it's been used to describe the criminal justice system in New Mexico. However, the reason for that is not as straightforward as people think.

The latest episode of It's (Probably) Not Rocket Science (IPNRS), titled "Detained and Dismissed," explores a recent study in Bernalillo County that examines why those accused sit behind bars and are later released without ever stepping foot in a courtroom.

"It's complicated," said Paul Guerin, a criminologist and lead researcher with UNM's Institute for Social Research. "But what it turns out, in the simplest way, is that over a period of time, the system is unable to prosecute these cases successfully. So, then they're either dismissed by the court or they're nulled by the prosecutor, with the effect being the same. These people are held in jail, and when they're dismissed or nullied, they're released."

In October 2024, Guerin and his team published the study Bernalillo County Second Judicial Court Preventive Detention Motion Review. They analyzed more than 6,500 pretrial detention motions filed between 2017 and 2023. They found that 43 percent of defendants whose detention motions were granted, meaning a judge deemed them a threat to public safety, ended up with their cases dismissed or abandoned by prosecutors.

"If the prosecutor is filing a pretrial detention motion, that means they believe this person is a risk to public safety," Guerin said. "If the courts grant the motion, that reinforces that assessment. So, the question becomes, if these are the most serious cases, why are they not leading to convictions?"

For years, New Mexico relied on the cash bail system. A judge set an amount, and those who could afford it walked free while those who couldn't sat behind bars. The more serious the charge, the higher the bail.

"That was the way of holding people," Guerin said. "Oftentimes, if people were charged with more serious crimes, the bail amounts would be set at a high amount that was very challenging to pay, and they couldn't get out."

In 2016, New Mexico lawmakers passed a bail reform bill. This introduced the public safety assessment, a tool designed to predict whether a defendant might commit a new crime or fail to appear in court if released.

"In Bernalillo County, the public safety assessment is only used for felony cases," Guerin explained. "In other parts of the state, it's applied to both misdemeanors and felonies."

He argues that the assessment improved the criminal justice system. "It's better than bail," Guerin said. "In my mind, it's very difficult to challenge that. But people don't believe it. So, I think New Mexico is pretty forward-thinking in some of these things that they've done. And I think that public safety is enhanced and improved by using the public safety assessment as a piece of information for the judge."

In past legislative sessions, there was pushback regarding the assessment. Critics claimed people who were released based on the assessment were committing new crimes. Guerin argues that his research debunks that.

"So, if everyone who's released pretrial, they account for about 4 percent of all new court cases filed," he explained. "The vast majority of new cases being filed are not cases that involve people who have been released pretrial."

Instead, he suggests that many of the people with dismissed or nullified cases may be counted in the public's perception of the "revolving door" concept, even though their charges never stuck.

He explained that while prosecutors intend to charge the accused, there are several factors that go into dismissals, such as plea deals in multiple cases, or procedural errors like discovery violations, missed deadlines, or mishandled evidence.

"So can you put those reasons like on a continuum of good reasons to bad reasons," Guerin said.

The study also found that defendants in dismissed cases spent an average of 120 days in jail before being released. Those convicted waited even longer, often more than 250 days.

The cost of housing an inmate is steep. A burden often paid by New Mexico taxpayers that varies from those in general population to those in solitary. It ranges from $125 to $170 per day, depending on medical and behavioral health needs.

"I'm not exactly sure of the daily cost, but we know it's expensive," Guerin said. "So, if you do the math, as you're suggesting, you multiply the 125 by the 120, that's quite a few dollars."

For defendants, the cost of being behind bars goes beyond dollars. It also affects their daily lives.

"If you're held in jail that long, you're losing your job, you're losing connections to family," Guerin said. "If you're going to school, you're losing your connection to school. You're losing all sorts of connections that could help you be stable once you're released back into the community."

Lawmakers have also debated "rebuttable presumptions," a proposal that would automatically keep people accused of certain crimes in jail unless they can prove they are not a threat. Guerin argues such policies would sweep up far too many people unnecessarily.

"In our research, we've shown that rebuttable presumptions would overpredict how many people are at risk," he said. "They would hold large numbers of people in jail needlessly, people who would not go out and commit new crimes if released."

Guerin says policymakers have done little with his research. "I presented it to the Bernalillo County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, but I don't know that the information is being used in any meaningful way yet."

It's a challenge he's no stranger to. "One of the challenges of my career has been seeing information used for policy decisions," Guerin said. "We live in a polarized time, and when information doesn't meet people's expectations, it doesn't get used."

Guerin's work continues. He is studying the steady increase in Albuquerque's jail population, the city's high crime rates, and how geography may play a role.

"We're a city at the nexus of I-25 and I-40. Crime travels. Vehicles, drugs, retail theft, it moves along these corridors," Guerin said. "I don't think we understand that well enough here, and I think it would be useful."

For Guerin, the lesson is straightforward, even if the system is not.

"There are rules for how long cases should take, and we should be more efficient," he said. "If you're going to convict them, convict them. If you're going to release them, release them. Just don't leave people sitting in jail for months without resolution."

To learn more, listen to It's (Probably) Not Rocket Science, available at podcast.unm.edu, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else you get your podcasts. You can also follow IPNRS on Instagram and TikTok.