MORA COUNTY A RIVER OF TRAPS

My name is Kathleen Dudley. I live in a box canyon in northeastern New Mexico where I came 26 years ago to marry my husband, minorities in an Hispanic county.

Shortly after arriving, I read the book by William deBuys , "The River of Traps” only to spend the next quarter century living in the midst of the duplicity and snares of this "land of enchantment." A neighbour harassed us unmercifully over a 20 year period, resulting in the State pressing charges and twice convicting him on harassment. When my marriage could no longer endure the local pressures, we divorced and I left New Mexico. For financial reasons, I returned in 2018 to sell my property, only to find that the harassment continued and this time, resulted in two lawsuits against me, ensnaring me further, more deeply into the darkness of the underbelly, known as Mora County, New Mexico.

Today I live alone here with my two kittens and my dog, Rose working my way through the lawsuits in the courts that have me pinned in New Mexico.

For the past several years, and going back even 12-13 years, I have been fighting for my life and my land.

First, a wealthy and politically well-connected Hispanic New Mexico family sued me to force me to widen my road on my private property, so that they could accommodate upwards of 100 family members plus hunters to access their mountain top hunting lodge. They have two other accesses to their land, one a granted easement, but prefer to cross my private property, out of “convenience,” they told the judge during the trial, but in truth---I think they just cannot stand a woman refusing these "patrones," let alone standing courageously for her rights. The judge gave them that easement without just compensation, considered a "takings" whether you argue this through Constitutional Rights, or the "legal" system. Kangaroo courts give the patrones what they want.

Second, I listened to the local sheriff’s department who advised me to file for a civil restraining order against my neighbor who began harassing me in 2019. Unknowingly, I filled out a 2 in 1 form sent to me by the court for a lawsuit, rather than a petition for a civil restraining order. Only a month ago did I finally figure out why I was countersued. For whatever reason, no one saw that little "detail," with the exception of the felon's attorney who countersued me which left me confused throughout the entirety of this case.

I represented myself sui juris in the court cases. I had fired my BAR attorney when he threw me into court on the easement lawsuit without even a discussion. I could not afford "court," let alone legal fees against such a wealthy Plaintiff. I also got trapped in this nightmare by getting some very bad advice about the court system from two people who claimed to know how to speak in the courts---it was Constitutional which has no bearing in today's administrative courts. Four and a half years I spent timely responding to each and every filing by the opponents to no avail, but worse than that, these actions dug me more deeply into harm's way.

Through this process, I discovered that my neighbor had served 14 years in prison for violent crimes, rape and aggravated battery, as well as harassment, theft, criminal trespass, drunkenly disorderliness, and so on. The only sense I can make of his involvement was his general base qualities resulting from alcohol and drug abuse along with his emotional rage that drove him to his antics, but specifically his "friends" were both the wealthy family suing me, and the "neighbour" who harassed my former husband and me. Proxy comes to mind.

The felon's attorney countersued me, claiming that I was a menace to my neighbors and a “nuisance” to be abated. He brought in nine lying witnesses during the trial who created a totally false story where they admitted they were only testifying by hearsay and opinion--and none of them knew me.

After this kangaroo trial in which the judge prevented me from presenting evidence or even telling my side of the story, the same judge ordered me to widen my road and to pay the felon's legal fees, all the while ignoring all the evidence I offered and facts which exposed what was really happening. I took these lawsuits on appeal, but I lost. The same attorney and judge were on both cases, until I exposed that the judge had represented the same twice convicted felon who was suing me, in a criminal trespass case. A new judge was then appointed.

Mora County, New Mexico is an old tightly knit family community, with few outsiders. 67% of the families speak Spanish. The people in both lawsuits are all friends, many related either by blood or ethnicity, thereby colluding in attempts to force me off my land. Recently, the Hispanic court-appointed criminal attorney told me that, “We all know of the known history of the locals running “outsiders” off their land."

The past nearly five years of battling these two lawsuits has interferred with my ability to make a living, has made selling my property difficult with two active lawsuits against me, and has essentially buried me in paperwork.

I was introduced to an outside advisor who offered to help educate me in law so that I could overturn the judgements on these cases. Disbarred, and with 36 years experience in the law, he agreed to take me on pro bono. He arrived in my life right after New Year’s Day….just as they had issued an “order to show cause” why I should not be locked up. They had me finally cornered and were about to put me in jail for “contempt” for failure to hand over effective control over my land.

With my new advisor's direction and assistance, I removed the harassment case to Federal Court with the intention of preparing lawsuits to expose the criminality and land theft actions. However, this "advisor" turned out to be a sham serial bankruptcy court filer and harmed me as deeply as the prior "help" with the Constitutional direction. Beware of those willing to "help."

I am writing this “Go Fund Me” because a serious lien debt was attached to my property as a result of the kangaroo court judgment. I have disassociated myself from the "advisor" and am now working to untangle the immensely complicated situation into which he put me. Through his direction, I went into further debt and must now manage those payments as well.

All of your donations will go towards payments to clear the debt from these illegitimate court demands and the financial harm by this serial bankruptcy filer. In return, I would be more than pleased to share what I have learned in order to help others avoid such a mess which in hindsight, I could now manage more effectively and without the depth of the financial harms.

I would appreciate your help. I believe that men and women need to learn how to stand up in a sensible manner to the system, and to hold judges and lawyers responsible for oppressive and unjust results. This would also include anyone posing as "advisors" who scam those in need of decent help. Lessons learned are not easy, but once learned, they are invaluable.

My website for writing, health and healing consulting:

https://katdudley.com/

With gratitude,

Kathleen

photograph by Sharon Stewart