New Mexico Supreme Court orders new trial for Portales daycare operators convicted of child abuse

PORTALES, New Mexico (KCBD) – The New Mexico Supreme Court reversed the reckless child abuse convictions of two former Portales daycare workers who left two children unattended in a hot car in July 2017. Sandi and Mary Taylor were found guilty of killing one toddler and severely injuring another and convicted in 2019.

Mother, Mary, and her daughter, Sandi, were each sentenced to 36 years in prison. The court has now ordered a new trial after a split decision on whether evidence presented “confused and misdirected” the jury on the defendants actions to have committed reckless child abuse.

“The problem with the jury instructions used at Defendants’ joint trial arises from confusion and misdirection due to the unfortunate use of an inappropriate conjunctive term in the complex, essential-elements instructions that set out the course of conduct the jury was required to find in order to return guilty verdicts,” the Court wrote in an opinion by Justice Michael E. Vigil.

The court’s majority found a new trial would not violate the Taylors’ constitution protections against double jeopardy and reversed their convictions.

The Taylors ran a licensed daycare out of their home and were trained on policies of the state Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD). Reports state the Taylors had driven 12 children in their care to a local park in two SUVs. When they returned, ten of the children were taken inside but the appeal states Sandi and Mary Taylor “failed to remove victims from the SUV, and both remained buckled in their car seats.”

During the Taylors’ trial, in order to convict them of reckless child abuse, jurors had to find that the defendants “did not follow the proper rules and procedures mandated by CYFD.”

Based on those instructions, the court’s majority explained, “the jury was allowed to return guilty verdicts solely on one or more of defendants’ alleged CYFD violations.”

At new trial date has not yet been set.

To read the decision in State v. Taylor, No. S-1-SC-38818, please visit the New Mexico Compilation Commission’s website using the following link:

https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsc/en/item/522417/index.do

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