The Pershing County 11th Judicial Court met on Monday, Dec. 7.
Christopher Wayne Quintana, 29, came to court from jail, represented by Kyle Swanson.
He pleaded guilty to battery with substantial bodily harm, a Category C felony. The charges stemmed from an incident at C-Punch Inn and Casino on Dec. 26, 2019. Quintana admitted to punching a victim with enough force to break their jaw.
“I was under the influence of alcohol and drugs,” he said. “I shouldn’t have hit the guy. I apologize for that.”
After his arrest, Quintana was released on his own recognizance but, according to pretrial services, he did not comply with the conditions, including testing. Judge Jim Shirley issued a bench warrant.
At the time of his arraignment, Quintana had been in the county jail for one week.
Swanson argued for Quintana’s release from custody until his sentencing on Feb. 17, 2021. He said the defendant was tired of the lifestyle, wanted to stay clean and promised to cooperate with the drug testing regimen.
Quintana faces the possibility of one to five years in prison. According to DDA Todd Banks, probation is also a possibility at the discretion of the court.
The judge agreed with Swanson’s recommendation but reminded the defendant that failure to cooperate could hurt him at sentencing.
“The State would view noncompliance as evidence against you,” he said. “I would anticipate that the State would argue, ‘if he can’t comply with pretrial services how is he going to comply with probation?’”
He warned Quintana that the court would treat a no-show the same as a dirty test. Either occurrence would land him back in jail until sentencing.
