The judges-

Three judges were prominent during the arrest and trials of Frank Carr, many other judges appear previous to his first arrest. We will deal with them later, as there are many.

The Three:

Henry Prelo, Magistrate Judge. Prelo was from Tularosa but served in Alamogordo. Around forty years on the bench, he was well liked, respected by the police. Prelo had no power to do anything legally without a Grand Jury indictment or a signed complaint. Prelo had sent people out of the county to file complaints.

Prelo issued the arrest warrant for Carr after the first Grand Jury issued a “true bill” based on testimony from some victims, one was seven (7) when Carr raped her- her father was involved.

Robert Doughty II, District Judge, ex-lawyer, District Attorney then appointed as judge. Doughty had been District Attorney while many complaints involving Carr floated around. Doughty buried every note and any leads not “lost” were disappeared. As District Judge, Doughty quashed (removed) the Prelo arrest warrant. The Grand Jury and its “bill” were gone. Doughty was one of the “bank-boys.”

George Zimmerman, District Judge. Zimmerman was an ex-lawyer then district Judge, He was a neighbor of Carr's, a “bank-boy” and a member of Carr's church. He presided over the second Grand Jury. Initially he controlled the subpoenas. After many no-shows and failure to deliver returns the Grand Jury told him to give them signed, blank subpoenas or they would complain to the state Supreme Court. He delivered a stack of pre-signed subpoenas. Presiding over the arrest and both Carr hearings he lost much of the respect he had once had in the local community. The first hearing stunned everyone in the packed courtroom- no jail time!

The rest of the Carr Grand Jury/courtroom/arrest warrant story is elsewhere.