SANTA FE — As New Mexico's elected attorney general, Gary King said he walks a tightrope when it comes to discussing his work.

Unable to speak in great detail publicly about pending cases for fear of tainting a jury pool, King nonetheless said he strives to publicize work by his staff to show New Mexico citizens what they're getting in return from his office for their tax dollars.

That tug-of-war of competing interests was apparent during King's recent re-election bid.

Although King, a Democrat, secured a second four-year term in the November election, his Republican opponent, Curry County District Attorney Matthew Chandler, had attacked him for not being more aggressive in prosecuting public corruption cases.

"I really think the criticism about me about not being aggressive in prosecuting corruption has more to do with what we're willing to talk about than for what we're doing," King said during an interview at his Santa Fe office.

During his first term, King routinely refused to disclose if his office was investigating alleged misconduct and he minimized publicity when he indicted current or former public officials.

The most visible case being prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office involves former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron, who was indicted in August 2009 in an alleged fraud and money laundering scheme involving more than $6 million in federal funds for a voter education project.

Vigil-Giron has pleaded not guilty and faces trial in January.

King's office also confirmed investigations into allegations of wrongdoing in the office of current Secretary of State Mary Herrera, who lost her re-election bid in November, former Region III Housing Authority Director Vincent "Smiley" Gallegos and Public Regulation Commissioner Jerome Block Jr.

Here, again, King said he faces a balancing act.

Attorneys for Vigil-Giron and Gallegos have filed motions raising conflict of interest concerns, saying King's prosecutors shouldn't be able to pursue criminal charges because attorneys on the civil side of King's office provided legal counsel before charges arose.

"We have worked to be extra careful to create what's called a Chinese wall between the prosecution side of the house and the civil side of the house," King said. "Frankly, the civil advice given in both of those cases didn't have any particular relevance to the issues in the criminal case.

Meanwhile, King also said he must be careful about what he says in front of a microphone to ensure the state is best positioned to secure convictions.

Defense attorneys, he said, can and will challenge a case if there's any suggestion that King or his attorneys might have improperly influenced a jury.

"The defense lawyers don't have the same constraints as I do in talking about the trial," King said.

King said he's sensitive to arguments that the public deserves information about what's going on with whatever his office pursues. To that end, his staff has been reviewing American Bar Association standards on what prosecutors can say publicly about a case.

"We will at least go in and review those rules and see if there's something more we can do that comports with American Bar Association standards, where we might be able to give a little more information but it wouldn't be able to be used against us," King said.

During his first term, King's office established task forces to address domestic violence, human trafficking and animal protection. He traveled around New Mexico, holding seminars for county and municipal governments on how to comply with the state's open records law.

Looking ahead to his next four years, King said he plans to continue efforts to fight drunken driving and violence against women. Through federal grant programs, his office has hired two new prosecutors who specialize in those fields.

He said he's also focused on border violence and recently received a federal grant to expand prosecutions of cases involving human trafficking, drug cartel money laundering and illegal firearms.

Whatever the topic, King also promised to be more open about discussing his office's work, although he maintains that's always been his approach.

"There's not a new Gary King," he said. "I've always been willing, if anyone sat down and asked the question, to answer it."




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