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Sept. 24 First News: Sheriff Rodella's Lawyers Attempt To Cast Doubt On Plaintiff (Listen)

Defense lawyers were trying Tuesday to cast doubt on a motorist's account that Rio Arriba County Sheriff Tommy Rodella roughed him during a heated traffic stop. Rodella’s attorneys questioned Michael Tafoya over his claims that the lawman injured him following an alleged road rage chase in March. Rodella is standing trial for federal charges of deprivation of rights and brandishing a firearm. He has pleaded not guilty. Tafoya, who’s 26, told jurors he begged for his life as Rodella pulled a gun on him and gave him a bruise under his right eye. But defense lawyer Robert Gorence questioned Tafoya on why didn't some photos taken after the encounter show facial injuries. Testimony in the trial is scheduled to continue this week.

After a lengthy stalemate, negotiations between Christus-St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and the union representing its nurses and medical technicians resumed Tuesday. Talks will resume today. The labor contract between the two sides expired at the end of July, and talks had broken-off until Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales intervened, asking both sides to take part in a mediated conversation.

A nonpartisan national group reports that Republican Governor Susana Martinez has spent four times as much as Democratic challenger Gary King on television advertising in New Mexico's race for governor. The Center for Public Integrity says Martinez has aired about 37-hundred ads through September eighth at a cost of about one-point-seven million dollars while King has spent a little over 400-thousand dollars to broadcast about 800 ads in his primary and general-election campaigns. The Republican Governors Association has pumped more than 400-thousand dollars into the New Mexico governor's race to run about 700 ads that targeted King. The lopsided ad war partly reflects King's fundraising struggles. Martinez had a 24-to-1 advantage in campaign cash at the start of the month.

Heavy rain and flooding have hammered parts of New Mexico over the past week, but all the moisture hasn't been enough to scare the drought away. Forecasters with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque say the southern third of New Mexico has seen 200 percent or more of its average rainfall so far this month, but nearly 70 percent of the state is still dealing with some degree of drought. Despite September's rains and close-to-average precipitation in August, New Mexico is still behind by nearly seven-inches when the last three years are factored in. Forecasters say there's at least a 60 percent chance of an El Nino weather pattern developing this fall and winter. That means New Mexico could be in line for some more moisture.

Santa Fe County authorities are trying to identify a man whose nude dead body was found in the Santa Fe River Tuesday. Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Deborah Martinez says a passer-by discovered the body yesterday morning near State Route 599 and the El Camino Real Park trailhead. Cause of death isn't immediately known but Martinez says it had numerous bruises, possibly as a result of rocks and debris during flows from overnight storm runoff. Martinez says investigators haven't found the man's clothes or ID and that they have no reports of a missing person matching his description. The man is described as being in his 40s or 50s, 5-foot-8 or 5-foot-9 and weighing about 175 pounds. He had black hair and mustache.

A heads-up from Santa Fe County that a portion of the Santa Fe Rail Trail will be closed starting tomorrow and lasting until May 2015 to improve a five mile section of the trail. Trail users are told to plan another route. The work will close the trail from Avenida Vista Grande  and the Spur Trail. Trail users should plan an alternate route during this trail construction and closure.

A ranching family is asking the state Supreme Court to weigh in on a fight over a 600 million-dollar proposal to pipe billions of gallons of water from rural western New Mexico to more populated areas of the drought-stricken state. Attorneys for Ray and Carol Pittman filed a motion this week asking the court to order the state's top water official to reject the latest application by Augustin Plains Ranch to pump and pipe water to supplement dwindling supplies in the Rio Grande Valley. The commercial venture's previous application was rejected two years ago. It was one of the most contested filings in the history of the state engineer's office. The state engineer's office is reviewing the latest application but has yet to make any decision.

Santa Fe Weather: Mostly sunny today and tomorrow with highs in the upper 70s and a chance for showers and thunderstorms both days. Tonight, partly cloudy with the overnight low 53.