On July 16, 2020, District Court Judge Jeffrey Shannon denied a request by convicted murderer Micola Sopyn to be transferred from Central New Mexico Correctional Facility to house arrest. The state, represented by Eighth Judicial District Senior Trial Attorney Carmela Starace, argued for denial of the inmate’s transfer out of the correctional facility. Judge Shannon’s ruling came after five hearings, approximately 10 hours of argument, testimony from eight witnesses, including Mr. Sopyn and one medical expert, and review of over 900 pages of medical records. Amy Romero of EMTZ Tracking, which provided electronic monitoring services to Mr. Sopyn while he was on house arrest in 2016, testified that Mr. Sopyn was routinely non-compliant with the requirements of his house arrest and also concluded that, based upon her experience, Mr. Sopyn was not amenable to similar supervision in the future. In reaching his decision to deny transfer to house arrest, the Court noted there was no evidence that Mr. Sopyn was “the changed man” he purported to be. Judge Shannon also noted that while Mr. Sopyn is at high risk of COVID-19 because he resides in an institutional setting, there is also no doubt that the New Mexico Department of Corrections is aware of these risks and is taking measures to address them. Ultimately, the judge held that Mr. Sopyn had not presented sufficient cause to reduce his sentence nor justify a temporary transfer to house arrest during the COVID pandemic.
For further information on this case: https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/briefs/former-mr-new-mexico-sentenced-in-shooting-of-taos-woman/article_fc040f2e-b700-50da-9cbf-0c41428f2a68.html
