By Mary Alice Murphy

Jim Foy of Jim Foy and Associates, attorneys in Silver City, called a press conference Friday afternoon at his office to address allegations against Sixth Judicial District Court Attorney Francesca Martinez-Estevez, who was present.

"I have called you to address the June 11 allegations against Mrs. Estevez, accusing her of driving drunk," Foy said. "It is not her not wanting to talk. It is me directing her not to speak. I don't know that no charges will be filed. She has not been charged with anything."

He said Estevez lives in Gila and had that day been making soup for Sharon Wilguess, one of her co-workers who was recuperating from surgery. Estevez was on her way to deliver the soup to Bayard.

"(Estevez) does not drink alcohol," Foy said. "I imbibe and I have never seen her drink in 30 years." He cited the names of several people, including her husband, who can attest to the fact that she never drinks alcohol.

"She has prosecuted crime here for more than 20 years," he continued. "Her life has been threatened."

Foy said he had reviewed the entire tapes from the driver, whom he called Mr. Ritter, and from the police lapel cameras. Foy alleged that KRQE and KOB took snippets from the more than two-hour segment of police footage and concluded she received preferential treatment and was not charged with DWI.

"Mrs. Estevez never asked for special treatment," Foy said. "She was not impaired, as you can see on the tapes if you looked at them.

"I am going to suggest there was a mechanical problem and it was a flat tire," Foy, who had the tire in the room, showed the about 2 -+-inch gash in the inside sidewall.

He said after about two minutes of Mr. Ritter's video, one could see she began to have trouble controlling the vehicle.

"When a tire is flat, it is difficult to control, ...and one tends to over correct to get it back to the right direction," Foy said. "The second thing is that Mr. Ritter was tail-gating her. He was about two to four or five stripe lengths behind her. If they are the standard of New Mexico roads, the stripes are 12 feet long and there are 20 feet between them. He was 44 feet to 108 feet behind her. At 60 miles an hour, 88 feet a secondG