A proposal to expand the New Mexico's three-strikes law for sentencing habitual offenders has passed its first House committee vote.
The House Regulatory and Public Affairs Committee voted 4-3 along party lines Thursday in favor of the bill filed by Rep. Paul Pacheco, an Albuquerque Republican.
He says the current three-strikes law in New Mexico includes crimes that already can result in life sentences and is so narrow that no one has been convicted under it since it was enacted two decades ago.
His proposed changes to the three-strikes law would add new crimes to the list that make defendants with at least three prior convictions eligible for life sentences, including voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, first-degree child abuse, armed robbery and aggravated burglary.
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