Tri-Cities

Bloomfield man accused of child abuse will get new attorney

Judge Curtis Gurley to accept withdrawal when new attorney is appointed
Joseph Bresch, 38, faces child abuse charges for reportedly slitting his infant daughter's throat in 2021.

Attorneys for a man who has been accused of slitting his infant daughter’s throat have asked to be removed from the case, while the child’s mother has a preliminary hearing in October for charges filed in the same case.

Jack Fortner and Dominique DiNallo entered a motion to withdraw as the attorney for Joseph Bresch, 38, of Bloomfield.

Joseph Bresch is charged with two counts of first-degree child abuse resulting in great bodily injury in a case that the Bloomfield Police Department investigated in October 2021.

Michelle Bresch, 38, has been charged with one count of third-degree felony child abuse for placing a child in a dangerous situation after allegedly failing to report the abuse.

The violent acts allegedly perpetrated against Bresch’s 2-month-old daughter were described in a nine-page affidavit for arrest warrant that details what happened to the infant in the two weeks she lived with her parents.

The “visible” injuries on the infant included a “bruise to the left eye, burst blood vessels in the left eye, malformation similar to cauliflower ear on the left ear, splitting skin and laceration to the back of the left ear, blood around the mouth and nose, swollen nose and eyes, bruise on the left scapula, broken ribs, severe diaper rash and most concerning was a laceration across the anterior neck near the base of the jaw,” the affidavit states.

Doctors estimated the cut to the throat was about five days old and had been so deep “the underlying tissue and structures of the neck” were visible. It “exposed tissue of the esophagus and needed advanced treatment that only a hospital could provide,” according to the affidavit.

In a June 27 interview with the Tri-City Record, Michelle Bresch said her husband “instilled this fear into me. I had knives thrown at me, machetes thrown at me, guns pointed at my head.”

On June 27, the New Mexico Children Youth and Family Department gave Michelle Bresch full custody of her daughter, who is now 3 years old. It is unclear whether the child remains in the mother’s custody with the charges raised again.

During the Sept. 5 hearing, Joseph Bresch told District Judge Curtis Gurley that he has been working on himself, while living outside of the area.

“I’m working full time. I’m going to NA (narcotics anonymous), one-on-one counseling and parenting courses,” Joseph Bresch said, “doing whatever I can do to better my life as an individual citizen.”

Joseph Bresch was released from San Juan County Detention Center to serve his federal probation. He wears an ankle monitor that requires that he return periodically to the Farmington area, so his locations can be downloaded by 11th Judicial District Court services.

Judge Curtis Gurley opened the hearing by saying there were several pending motions in the case, but the first to be considered was the request from Fortner and DiNallo to remove their legal services.

Fortner stated that should Gurley sign off on the motion the New Mexico Public Defender’s Office would appoint a new attorney within 24 hours.

“I’m not going to sign any other orders until there is a new counsel,” Gurley said. “I’m not going to let Mr. Bresch be unrepresented even for 24 hours.”

Gurley explained that it “was not the court’s experience” to have the Public Defender’s Office reappoint an attorney that quickly.

Fortner said he requested a new attorney be appointed that afternoon, but Public Defender’s Office said, “They would wait until the judge signs the order.”

Gurley asked, “If it’s a problem this week, why wasn’t it a problem in June?”

“What is the nature of the conflict?” he asked.

“There are a number of conflicts,” Fortner said, adding one is the fact that he will be the new San Juan County District Attorney in January.

However, Joseph Bresch’s trial was set for later this month, and a special prosecutor had already been appointed.

“I was appointed special counsel because Mr. Fortner is going to DA’s office. I am a conflict appointment,” said Johanna Cox, an attorney in Albuquerque.

Fortner said the other conflict has to do with an attorney in his private practice office. That attorney, Shane Goranson, who used to serve in the Public Defender’s Office.

“Shane Goranson created the conflict,” Fortner said, adding that Goranson previously provided legal representation to a “key witness” in the case.

Gurley said he would not call motions or hearings until he received an entry of appearance from a new attorney. He also asked if there were “time issues we need to talk about?”

Cox stated that both the defense and prosecution were working on pretrial interviews.

“We had attempted to start scheduling them when these issues with the other conflict arose,” she said, adding the attorneys tried to complete interviews earlier this summer. “We stopped when the conflict came up.”

Gurley stated that the pretrial conference and trial were vacated and would be rescheduled to a later date. “I’m doing nothing else until I get a substitution of counsel,” he said.

The preliminary hearing for Michelle Bresch is set for 8:30 a.m. Oct. 3 in Aztec Magistrate Court, and there is a notice that should she not attend a warrant will be issued for her arrest.