DA offers James Maestas' gay bashers plea deals
Prosecutors have offered plea deals to at least five of the six defendants charged in connection with the gay bashing of James Maestas and Joshua Stockham outside a Santa Fe motel. District Attorney Henry Valdez refused to comment about any plea bargains offered by his office, although the attorney for David Trinidad, pictured, is taking the deal. In the past, Valdez had said he was prepared to invoke New Mexico's hate-crimes law to seek enhanced sentences for those found guilty in connection with the beating. The 2003 statute, which has not yet been used in New Mexico, allows an additional year of prison time to be imposed for a felony determined to be a hate crime.
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