Linda Diaz, the former lieutenant governor of Pojoaque Pueblo in New Mexico, is asking the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals for a new trial in her hit and run case.

Diaz, 52, was convicted on February 19 of leaving the scene of a fatal accident and failing to render aid. She struck Philip Espinoza, 31, along a highway on the reservation, where he died.

Diaz says she deserves a new trial because an expert witness for the prosecution had a $3 million civil judgment against him in federal court. She says jurors should have known about the judgment because it could have affected their view of his testimony.

Prosecutors are opposing the request for a new trial. They say the judgment isn't relevant to Diaz's case and that her attorney could have discovered it and presented it to jurors.

Get the Story:
Feds Against New Trial for Diaz (The Albuquerque Journal 3/12)

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