Police Blotter: Official still serving on school board, chapter despite DWIs

By Cindy Yurth
Tséyi’ Bureau

CHINLE

According to witnesses, a school board member and chapter official in Sanostee, New Mexico, has continued to serve in both her positions as late as Sunday in spite of a complaint filed against her by the Department of Diné Education for allegedly failing to disclose two alcohol-related offenses on her candidacy application.

In addition, Temara Lewis-Emerson, 30, has an active warrant out for failing to appear in the Albuquerque Metropolitan Court on a Sept. 16 driving while intoxicated charge.

Witnesses in Tsé Alnaozti’i Chapter reported Lewis-Emerson was in her usual seat as chapter secretary-treasurer Sunday. She also reportedly attended the last meeting of the Sanostee Day School Board of Education.

Contacted by telephone, Lewis-Emerson said she had no comment, and added, “Don’t call this number again.”

Navajo Nation law prohibits a person from serving on a school board if he or she has had an alcohol-related offense. It also requires candidates for office to list any criminal offenses on their candidacy applications for chapter positions, which Lewis-Emerson didn’t do.

Matthew Tso, legislative analyst for DODE, confirmed the department had filed a complaint against Lewis-Emerson with the Navajo Nation Election Administration about two weeks ago asking that Lewis-Emerson be removed from her school board post.

“We handed them all the documents on a silver platter,” Tso said. “It’s up to them (election administration) to enforce the law.”

Navajo Nation Election Administration Director Edbert Little did not return a phone call by press time. In a previous interview on the subject, Little said he was not at liberty to discuss individual cases.

According to online New Mexico court records, Lewis-Emerson was charged on April 4, 2013, in Farmington with driving while intoxicated, driving on a suspended license, improper turn and having an open container of alcohol. The other three charges were dropped in exchange for a guilty plea to the DWI.

According to DODE, she also had an underage drinking charge in 2008 in Chama, New Mexico, but a Rio Arriba Magistrate Court employee was unable to confirm that.

The most recent charge stems from a Sept. 16, 2017, incident in Albuquerque in which she was charged with aggravated DWI, speeding, failure to maintain traffic lane, driving on a suspended license and having an open container of alcohol in her vehicle. Lewis-Emerson was pulled over while she was in Albuquerque for a conference of the Diné BiOlta School Board Association titled “Re-Thinking Accountability.”

The failure to appear charge was added Nov. 3 after she was a no-show at her Nov. 2 arraignment.

The situation is frustrating for Tsé Alnaozati’i Chapter President Frank Smith, who was booted from the board of Shiprock Associated Schools Inc. last year after a 1988 alcohol conviction surfaced. Smith said he had no memory of the incident, which he later disclosed when running for chapter president during a special election. (The rules for chapter officials do not preclude a prior alcohol conviction, as long as it is disclosed on the candidate’s paperwork.)

“When it happened to me, I got my letter (from the election office) and I was out of there,” said Smith. “What’s it going to take for the election office to do their job? Or are they just picking and choosing who they come down on?”

Smith pointed out that Stanley Hardy, who he says also has an undisclosed prior DWI conviction, is still serving as Two Grey Hills Chapter president in spite of the matter having been brought to the attention of the election office.

An online search of New Mexico court records connects the name “Stanley Hardy” with a 1945 birth date to three convictions: driving under the influence of a drug in Albuquerque in 1989, driving under the influence of alcohol in Gallup in 2001, and another DWI in the Farmington/Aztec District Court in 2005.

The Times was unable to confirm whether any or all the convictions were for the same Stanley Hardy who is the chapter president.

Contact information for Hardy could not be found.

Police captain fired

By Donovan Quintero and Cindy Yurth
Navajo Times

WINDOW ROCK – A Navajo Nation Police captain who had faced complaints of sexual harassment over the past several years has been terminated, according to Navajo Nation Chief of Police Phillip Francisco.

Francisco did not state the reasons for his termination.

Capt. Dempsey Harvey, 46, of Chinle, had been with the force for 24 years. He had received many commendations, including being recognized by the Navajo Nation Council last year for “dedication, courage and service in providing for the safety and protection of the Navajo Nation.”

But some women who worked under Harvey at the Chinle Police District say he had a dark side, commenting on employees’ bodies, interfering in their personal lives and sending inappropriate texts.

In 2015, Police Officer Falana Hadley appealed to the Navajo Nation Supreme Court after a sexual harassment claim against Harvey was rejected by the Office of Navajo Labor Relations and the Navajo Labor Commission.

The Supreme Court last year reserved the commission’s decision and remanded the matter back to it.

Over the summer of 2017, another female employee wrote a letter to Harvey’s supervisors saying he was making suggestive comments and texting her and asking that he be fired.
Hadley’s attorney, David Jordan, said Harvey’s firing would come as welcome news to some of his clients.

“I’ve had a few cases against Mr. Harvey over the years, of which Falana’s was the most high-profile,” he said. “There was definitely a pattern of behavior. During Mr. Harvey’s tenure, there was a substantial reduction in the number of women serving in the Chinle Police district – and there was also testimony from some men who very unhappy there as well.

“I can’t speak to Mr. Harvey’s abilities as a police officer, but there were enough problems with his management style that I think this is good news for the employees of the Chinle Police District.”

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