State police: No charges in lawmakers' tiff

A New Mexico State Police investigation has concluded that evidence does not support an allegation by State Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, that State Rep. Sandra Jeff, D-Crownpoint, "slugged" her in the arm three times during a contentious conversation Dec. 4.

The investigation report, dated Dec. 9, 2009, states that state police determined no charges were warranted and have closed the case. The Navajo Times obtained a copy of the report Jan. 28 after several weeks of requesting it.

"I never touched her," Jeff told the Navajo Times in a Dec. 28 interview. "I want to let my constituents know that I'm sorry that this has become a distraction. All I want to do is focus on helping my constituents."

The state police launched their investigation after Lundstrom drove from Santa Fe, where the alleged attack occurred, to the Gallup state police office three days later and filed a complaint against Jeff.

Lundstrom claimed that Jeff approached her in the Roundhouse and was angry with her over uranium-related legislation that Lundstrom was sponsoring.

Lundstrom told investigators that Jeff repeatedly "slugged" her in the arm during the conversation, and called her a "slimy snake" and a "liar."

She also claimed that Jeff called her former employer, State Sen. Lynda Lovejoy, D-Crownpoint, a "blithering idiot."

Police, however, said that a surveillance camera recorded the two women apparently engaged in conversation on the occasion in question, but the recording did not show any physical action by either woman.

Jeff told the Navajo Times that Lundstrom approached her to talk, but immediately became confrontational once the two were alone in a hallway of the state capitol, where the surveillance camera picked them up.      

Jeff claims that Lundstrom said, "'You mind your own f------g district.'"

Lundstrom also allegedly stated that she wouldn't support Jeff's proposed bill for capital outlay projects on the New Mexico portion of the Navajo Nation because of the financial problems facing the state government. Gov. Bill Richardson proposed cutting state funding for capital outlay projects as part of his program to cure a budget deficit expected to top half a billion dollars this year.

Jeff said it wasn't the first time Lundstrom had confronted and belittled her, and that when she pointed that out to Lundstrom, "She told me she would work against me with fellow colleagues to get me out of office. She told me that I was a stupid Navajo and that I don't know what I'm doing."

As of press time Wednesday, Lundstrom had not responded to repeated efforts to reach her for comment by telephone and e-mail.

Jeff's attorney, Sam Bregman of Albuquerque, noted that a day after filing her complaint against Jeff, Lundstrom contacted state police again and asked them to drop the investigation.

"Her story continues to change," Bregman said.

State police Lt. Stephen P. Cary reported that Lundstrom telephoned him at 3:24 p.m. on Dec. 8, 2009, and "asked if we could discontinue our investigation into this matter.

"I told Rep. Lundstrom that we were nearly complete with our investigation and that we would complete the process and forward the case to the 1st Judicial District Attorney's Office for review," Cary said. "Rep. Lundstrom told me that she had discussed the case with the legislative counsel and they thought the incident would best be handled through the legislative counsel."

Jeff said she reported Lundstrom's history of behavior towards her to Speaker Ben Lujan Sr., leader of Democrats in the New Mexico House of Representatives where Lovejoy served before joining the Senate. Lujan also did not respond to e-mail and phone messages from the Times.

Leonard Tsosie, who held Lovejoy's Senate seat prior to stepping down when he was elected to represent Pueblo Pintado, Torreon and Whitehorse Lake in the Navajo Nation Council, speculated that Jeff's efforts to do her job well may have rubbed some colleagues the wrong way.

"It's based on my experience," Tsosie said. "When I first got to Santa Fe, when you get to be a little too progressive, you face the wrath of senior legislators.

"And Rep. Jeff was able to unseat a legislator from Gallup and Lundstrom's from there and I'm sure she despises that, and hence her motive," he added.

Jeff succeeded Irvin Harrison of Gallup to represent District 5.

Tsosie said Jeff was the only state legislator to travel to Window Rock to talk about the impact of losing state funding for capital outlay projects in Navajo communities.

"We gave her thanks at state legislative meetings and you could see that her fellow legislators didn't really like the gratitude for helping us with Navajo causes," he said. "And Jeff's bill is the only bill to address capital outlay for the Navajo Nation. I guess Lundstrom and a few legislators believe that Jeff shouldn't be meddling in other precincts.

Tsosie noted, "Of course there's no law against doing that but they do guard their little precincts."

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