Senate Republican Whip Bill Payne on removing Statute of Limitations

On to Senate Judiciary-
Remove Statute of Limitations for All Homicides
Unfriendly Amendment Removed Limitation on Only One Charge
“Mindboggling all New Mexicans would not be on board with seeing justice served for a confessed killer.”
Santa Fe –The bill to remove the statute of limitations on being able to charge someone with homicide will move on to its second committee, to Senate Judiciary. This afternoon, Senate Public Affairs put unfriendly amendments on the bill to only remove the statute of limitations for one charge- for second degree murder- and not to remove it on all other charges of homicide that currently have statute of limitations.

Currently, only first degree murder has no statute of limitation, or time limit for bringing a charge of first degree murder against an alleged murder.

An amendment also lengthened the statute of limitations on all other homicides such as 3rd and 4th degree murder, voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, and vehicular homicide to ten years instead of the shorter five and six year limitations.

The two sisters of Michael Snyder, the man whose wife was convicted recently for his death back in 2002 after his remains were unearthed outside his Albuquerque home in 2010, testified at the Senate Public Affairs committee.

“It is surprising to me that there is opposition to this bill. Why wouldn’t all New Mexicans want justice to be served for a confessed killer. It is quite mind bobbling to see why others are not on board with this,” Teri Johnson said.

“We thought the law and criminal justice would be on our side, but it was not. We are trying to keep someone else from going through what we have had to do. It is not just and we do not want other New Mexicans to go through this,” Laura Bowman said. “Step in someone else’s shoes. If your love one was murdered and they did not get the justice they deserved, how would you feel if the killer not only hid the murder for so long and then was not accountable for the confessed murder because the statute of limitations ran out.”

SB 37- No Time Limit to Prosecute Certain Crimes is sponsored by New Mexico Senate Republican Whip Bill Payne.