{"id":16493,"date":"2025-09-18T02:59:58","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T08:59:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/former-montezuma-da-hatfield-not-guilty-in-2024-dwi-case\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:58:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:58:40","slug":"former-montezuma-da-hatfield-not-guilty-in-2024-dwi-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/former-montezuma-da-hatfield-not-guilty-in-2024-dwi-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Montezuma DA Hatfield \u2018not guilty\u2019 in 2024 DWI case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Christian
Christian Hatfield<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Former Montezuma County District Attorney Christian Hatfield was found not guilty of all counts in connection with an alleged drunken driving crash in August 2024.<\/p>\n

After a two-hour bench trial Sept. 17 in 11th Judicial District Court in Aztec, District Judge R. David Pederson handed down the verdict, clearing Hatfield on charges of misdemeanor DWI and open container.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very pleased with the verdict and with my attorney,\u201d Hatfield said. \u201cI\u2019m glad it\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hatfield\u2019s attorney, Arlon Stoker, said, \u201cThis was not a prosecutable case, and it should have never been filed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hatfield was charged Dec. 20 \u2013 nearly 16 weeks after the Aug. 30 single-vehicle crash at the intersection of U.S. Highway 64 and County Road 5099. The charges came after the San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Office received a report from the New Mexico State Lab regarding a blood sample, which Stoker said was illegally obtained from Hatfield.<\/p>\n

Pederson agreed the sample was inadmissible and threw it out before trial.<\/p>\n

In addition to the lack of blood evidence \u2013 which would have shown whether Hatfield was intoxicated \u2013 the charging officer, sheriff\u2019s Deputy Avery Killifer, was not in court for the trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are missing a very necessary witness. I\u2019ve never tried a DWI case where the charging officer was not present,\u201d Stoker said, asking for the case to be dismissed.<\/p>\n

Special Prosecutor John Lovelace said Deputy Killifer was on active duty with the U.S. military and could not appear in court.<\/p>\n

\"Christian
Christian Hatfield, 59, after an alleged DWI crash on Aug. 30 on U.S. 64 outside of Bloomfield.<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Instead, Lovelace called New Mexico State Police Officer Joseph Cloyd, who testified about an empty can of Mexican lager and a prescription pill bottle labeled Ambien found on the passenger floorboard of Hatfield\u2019s blue Toyota Forerunner, which had crashed into a guardrail.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter documenting it from a distance up close with this picture, I did take possession of the can, where I was able to hear a liquid residual in the can,\u201d Cloyd said.<\/p>\n

Stoker and Judge Pederson asked Cloyd to estimate how much alcohol was in the partially crushed can.<\/p>\n

\u201cLess than half an ounce,\u201d Cloyd said.<\/p>\n

Stoker asked whether Cloyd could state that Hatfield drank from the can.<\/p>\n

Cloyd stated he could not.<\/p>\n

Stoker then asked if the can was taken into evidence and whether the liquid was tested.<\/p>\n

Cloyd said he \u201cdid not seize the container.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cloyd, a crash reconstructionist, said Hatfield was driving eastbound on U.S. 64 before veering off the road and crashing into the guardrail.<\/p>\n

There was \u201cno evidence the vehicle attempted to slow down before the crash,\u201d Cloyd added.<\/p>\n

He said the cause of the crash was \u201cundetermined,\u201d and he was not on scene to conduct a DWI investigation.<\/p>\n

\"Christian
Christian Hatfield is interviewed at the scene of his crash at the intersection U.S. Highway 64 and San Juan County Road 5099 about 1 a.m. Aug. 30. (Screenshot from body camera)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Bloomfield Police officer Chase McDonald also testified, saying he was called to the scene to \u201ccheck injuries, check the dog and hold the fort down for the San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Office.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald testified that he smelled \u201can odor of an alcoholic beverage\u201d on Hatfield and that Hatfield \u201cseemed heavily slurred.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed to me like he was having some trouble balancing,\u201d McDonald said.<\/p>\n

Stoker pointed out that Hatfield was severely injured in the crash, suffering from a collapsed lung. He asked McDonald if it was possible the \u201calcohol smell could have been caused by a beer sloshing on him?\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald agreed it was possible.<\/p>\n

Paramedic Gabriel Facka, the first on scene, also said he smelled alcohol on Hatfield and that Hatfield \u201cfailed to construct a conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facka testified that he asked Hatfield whether he had anything to drink, and Hatfield said, \u201cbeers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The paramedic said Hatfield presented with \u201cslow responses, slow body movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facka said one of their \u201cconcerns\u201d was intoxication, because of the \u201csmell of alcohol, slurred speech,\u201d Hatfield\u2019s inability to carry on a conversation, and his \u201cbrief statement of ingesting beer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stoker pointed out during cross-examination that all of those signs could have been indicative of Hatfield\u2019s injuries, which included two collapsed lungs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I know is he stated beers. I don\u2019t know what or when,\u201d Facka said, adding that Hatfield\u2019s reactions could have been from \u201csevere\u201d injuries, which required paramedics to \u201cbreathe for him\u201d and perform \u201cneedle compression\u201d in the lungs \u201cso air can get into the lung.\u201d<\/p>\n

In closing, Lovelace said he proved that Hatfield drove a motor vehicle and \u201cat the time the defendant was under the influence of intoxicating liquor, unable to exercise clear judgment and steady hand to operate a motor vehicle safely to the slightest degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lovelace said Hatfield was unable to maintain his balance, had slurred speech, and there was not only an open can of beer but an odor of alcohol on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defendant was unable to exercise clear judgment,\u201d Lovelace said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was an odor of alcohol, the open container with liquid still in it. We believe the defendant consumed that alcohol in the motor vehicle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Stoker countered that there was no evidence Hatfield drank from the crushed beer can and that if having a crushed beer can in a vehicle is a crime, \u201csomebody better warn the Boy Scouts,\u201d who collect aluminum cans to recycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very, very politically motivated prosecution,\u201d Stoker said. \u201cThere is no evidence he was even slightly impaired by alcohol or drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pederson agreed with Stoker that the evidence was limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been concerned when open container gets charged, and law enforcement doesn\u2019t seize the can or test it,\u201d Pederson said. \u201cThe condition it was in \u2013 it didn\u2019t seem like it was a fresh, half can of beer sitting in the console for the driver to consume.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added there was no evidence as to what liquid was in the can, because it was not seized or tested.<\/p>\n

The judge acquitted Hatfield on the open container charge.<\/p>\n

\"The
The intersection of U.S. Highway 4 and San Juan County Road 5099, where a Jeep reportedly driven by Montezuma County DA Christian Hatfield struck the guardrail around 1 a.m. Aug. 30.<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Pederson added that there was no doubt Hatfield was driving, but that the smell of alcohol is not enough to garner a conviction.<\/p>\n

The New Mexico Supreme Court more than seven decades ago ruled in State v. Lopez that \u201cthe odor of alcohol does not equate intoxication or a DWI,\u201d Pederson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not see Mr. Hatfield staggering around with his arms out for balance,\u201d Pederson said, referring to video evidence admitted at trial by the prosecution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the bottom line on that is Mr. Hatfield suffered a severe injury,\u201d Pederson said.<\/p>\n

Pederson acquitted Hatfield of the DWI, saying, \u201cI am finding Mr. Hatfield not guilty of the DWI. There was no evidence he was impaired even to the slightest degree. This matter is concluded.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

successfully argues case \u2018not prosecutable\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-16493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16493"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20233,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16493\/revisions\/20233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16493"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=16493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}