Following an order from the New Mexico Supreme Court, 3rd Judicial District Judge Douglas Driggers will reconsider the probation of a former Las Cruces High School teacher convicted of sexually assaulted his students.
On July 18, the New Mexico Supreme Court ordered that the district court consider a resentencing motion filed by 3rd Judicial District District Attorney Gerald Byers in May, which would reinstate Patrick Howard's probation.
Howard is currently not on probation. A hearing scheduled for Aug. 1, 2024 was continued with no future date scheduled as of Friday.
In 2018, Howard was charged with four counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor, along with battery. According to court records, Howard pleaded guilty to one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor and the battery charge in May of 2021. The court agreed to a conditional discharge, five years of supervised probation and sex offender treatment. He did not have to register as a sex offender. The probation was amended in 2022 to allow Howard to drink alcohol in moderation and to possess firearms.
More: New Mexico AG files petition for Writ against District Judge Douglas Driggers
In a recent federal lawsuit, a jury awarded $44 million in damages to a victim who was 15 and 16 years old when the assaults occurred, on March 11, just two weeks before Howard's probation was terminated.
Howard's attorney made a motion to terminate the probation on March 15, 2024. On March 19, the court scheduled a notice of motion hearing on March 21, which Byers said violates the victim's constitutional rights that call for seven working days be provided by the court so that victims are able to attend any hearing.
According to Driggers's order to discharge Howard's probation, "the court finds that the Corrections Department approves said motion and that defendant has paid all fines and assessments. ... the defendant has satisfactorily fulfilled the conditions of his probation."
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in a May 10 press conference in Las Cruces that Driggers's termination of the five-year probation for Howard, violated legal mandates related to a required five years of probation for sex offenders, conditional discharge and the victim's rights to attend hearings and be heard under the Victim of Crime Act. As a result, the AG's office filed a petition for writ in the New Mexico Supreme Court against Driggers. The writ also asked to immediately stay the district court's order.
On May 20, the New Mexico Supreme Court granted a stay that placed Howard back on probation. But on July 18, the New Mexico Supreme Court lifted the stay and denied the petition for writ. If the New Mexico Supreme Court had granted the writ, Driggers's order on March 25 to discharge Howard from probation two years early and dismissed charges against him, would be null.
"Under the statutes, a person becomes a sex offender when they enter a guilty plea and (Howard) entered a guilty plea in this case," Byers said during a news conference in May. "That requires a mandatory period of supervised probation of no less than five years."
Driggers filed a response in the New Mexico Supreme Court on May 16, asking that the writ be denied to allow the district court to rule on the motion to reinstate Howard's probation.
According to the motion Driggers filed, "A direct appeal would adequately be able to address any error in the district court such that an extraordinary writ of prohibition or superintending control is not appropriate or warranted."
Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on X @jpgroves.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Las Cruces judge ordered to reconsider reinstating probation of convicted child rapist
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