DA’s office plans to retry Tai Chan for a third time

The Dona Ana County District Attorney’s office plans to retry Tai Chan for a third time, according to a court document obtained by ABC-7.

The notice of intent was filed by Dona Ana County’s Deputy District Attorney Gerald Byers Friday.

It states that the DA’s office gives the court and the defendant, Chan, notice that it intends to retry him on all counts of the grand jury indictment.

Chan is a former Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputy accused of shooting and killing his partner Jeremy Martin during a drunken argument at a Las Cruces hotel in 2014.

Chan is accused of first degree murder. Chan testified he acted in self defense.

His first trial in 2016 ended in a mistrial. His second trial just last month, also ended in a mistrial.

After the second mistrial, the Martin family said they weren’t sure if Martin would ever receive justice in a Las Cruces court.

In a statement to ABC-7 Tuesday, the Martin family said:

“We are hopeful we will get a guilty verdict in the retrial of Tai Chan for shooting Jeremy in the back while he ran for his life. Tai’s testimony at the last trial included his admission to shooting Jeremy in the back while he ran, knowing Jeremy was not armed. And the new physical evidence presented at the trial makes what happened that evening a lot more clear. We are hopeful a new pool of jurors will invest the time and energy required and not give up after only a couple of hours. Jeremy deserves justice and Tai ought not to be free to kill again — and of course, the people of New Mexico deserve clarity on when it is appropriate for a highly trained cop to kill an unarmed man.

As for the venue, because of the amount of false and misleading statements made by the defense to the media, we have not felt that Jeremy could get justice in Las Cruces. However, we ultimately trust the leadership of the District Attorney, and we are grateful for their work and dedication in fighting for Jeremy, his family, and the citizens of their community.”

Chan’s Defense Attorney John Day told ABC-7 while he hadn’t seen the document yet, they’d be ready to go to trial for a third time.

“Half the jury believed he was not guilty because he was defending himself against this attack, a violent attack,” Day said. “I understand that the prosecutors in Las Cruces are uncomfortable with the idea of self defense when you’re attacked but we believe the jury understands that, at least half of them did and we’ll be ready to try it again.”

In a statement the DA’s office said: “After consulting extensively with the family of Deputy Jeremy Martin, we have decided to pursue a third trial in the case against Mr. Chan. We feel this is what justice demands — for Deputy Martin and the family he left behind. While there are a few important matters that still must be addressed, we are fully committed to moving forward with this case.”