This is part one of a series on child abuse and the professionals who are tasked with handling these cases. Read part two and part three.
It was the culmination of five years of hard work—Krista Cruz was about to be sentenced for her role in the 2019 murder of her four-year-old son, after he suffered years of abuse.
In the courtroom for the state, was Deputy District Attorney Savannah Brandenburg-Koch, who leads the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office’s Special Victims Unit.
Wearing black pants, a black shirt and a brown and black plaid coat, Brandenburg-Koch described in detail the abuse James Dunklee Cruz suffered for years before he died, and the injuries he sustained the day he was killed.
She sat down, and the defense attorney began to speak.
Brandenburg-Koch listened nervously. She took a sip of water, jotted down some notes, and every now and then picked up a photo of James, gazing at the young boy. She didn’t look at Cruz.
Hers is a hard job, but, she said, leading a team of attorneys who fight for New Mexico’s children is her passion.
The SVU is made up of five attorneys and last year they tried 37 cases of child abuse in Bernalillo County. Of those, 22 ended with a conviction, four in not guilty verdicts and 11 hung juries or mistrials.
This year, they’re on-track for another heavy case-load and have already tried five cases in January.
Throughout the state, statistics aren’t great for children.
According to the 2023 Kids Count Databook, New Mexico ranks 50 overall in the well-being of children, and in Fiscal Year 2023, the child abuse rate across the state increased from 11 children in every 1,000, to 13.2 children per 1,000.
How it began
On a Friday afternoon after a long week of work, Brandenburg-Koch and a senior trial attorney Rebekah Reyes sat down with City Desk ABQ to talk about their passion for this work and how they got into it.
Serving New Mexico’s children is something Reyes is passionate about, because this is the place where she was a kid. She graduated from high school in Santa Fe, and attended the University of New Mexico for her undergraduate degree, and her law degree.
While in law school at the University of New Mexico, Reyes said she knew she wanted to work in crimes against children, and interned at the DA’s office. That experience was invaluable to her career.
“Getting to learn from some of the amazing people that I got to learn from, I just fell in love with it, and I knew coming out of law school that’s where I wanted to be,” she said.
Brandenburg-Koch, is no stranger to the legal community. Both of her parents are attorneys, and her mom, Kari Brandenburg, was the Second Judicial DA for 16 years.
Her father Ron Koch was a well known Albuquerque defense attorney during the 1990s. He died in 2000.
Brandenburg-Koch said she was inspired to work in the SVU after trying several child abuse cases while working in Los Lunas.
“It’s usually a hard, ‘no,’ or a hard, ‘yes,’” she said. “Most people aren’t like, ‘sure, put me anywhere,’ and I was open to go anywhere, so I went there, and then I definitely found my passion.”
A day in the life
No day is the same for the two attorneys. Brandenburg-Koch is a supervisor, so she has additional duties other than preparing cases and going to court, but both spend time talking to child and adult victims, writing and responding to motions and interviewing witnesses.
Meeting a child or an adult for the first time, Reyes said, is a humbling experience, and she learns something from every victim she talks to.
“They just have the most thoughtful answers,” she said. “That’s probably one of the best parts of this job, getting to know and getting to work with these kids and teens that are just so incredible.”
But with this work, there is a process. Reyes emphasized that children don’t immediately disclose abuse, and then when they do and start going through the legal process they can be shy.
“The first time we bring a kid in, I don’t talk to them about the case at all. We have a playroom upstairs, so we might just sit there, we might play a board game, we might utilize one of the facility dogs,” she said.
Sometimes Reyes asks them about school, sometimes they draw together.
“We have a dollhouse that’s very, very popular, because it’s beautiful. It’s wooden, it’s handmade and the kids really love it,” she said. “So we just talk about whatever the kids are interested in, and we don’t talk about the case, or what happened to them the first time we meet them.”
She said these meetings are an important way for attorneys to get to know the children before they go on the stand to testify in court.
“You have to know how they talk. You have to know how they disclose information. You have to know how they react. You have to know all of those things so that when testimony starts to go a different direction, you’re able to bring them back. So we spend a lot of time with them,” Brandenburg-Koch said.
But it’s also a difficult process for the victims because they have to recount the worst thing that has ever happened to them, she said.
Since children don’t usually disclose abuse right away, Reyes said after meeting with the SVU team sometimes they regress because it’s so hard for them.
A long process
After that first meeting it can take up to two years to complete a case through the justice system, which, Reyes said, can be hard for a child because during that time they are usually attending counseling and learning how to heal from what happened to them.
Then they have to take the stand and testify.
“In kid cases at least, the abuse either physical or sexual—happened years before we even get the case, just because of how kids disclose information. So they’re waiting years, not just when the case gets started in the criminal justice system, but they’ve been processing this a very long time,” said Brandenburg-Koch.
Reyes said she wishes things would move faster in court.
“So that these kids can actually heal during that time…it’s like ripping off a band aid, you know, it’s their back on the stand having to talk about really, really horrible things,” she said.
For the love of special victims
Last year, the Special Victims Unit tried 37 cases between five attorneys, with trials running between four days to a week long. Brandenburg-Koch said it was difficult, but she is proud of the work her unit did.
“We all kept it together, surprisingly, but I did want to give those(statistics) because that’s a lot of trials. That’s not a normal amount,” she said.
The reason she believes her unit was able to make it through last year is the knowledge that they’re helping someone.
“These are very traumatic situations for the people involved, but also other people such as law enforcement and all the partners that we work with…,” she said. “You’re living and breathing those facts for however long that takes…I want people to know that this is taxing and that it’s very hard emotionally, and it takes a lot out of everybody, but of course, not as much as the victim.”
Brandenburg-Koch said each attorney deals with the stress differently, but as a supervisor, she tries to build morale within not only her team, but also within the major crimes team. They also encourage attorneys to take time off from work, to make sure their mental health is intact, but for some, that can be a hard thing to do.
“We all have to work on that, including myself, but I think it’s important. I think more people should talk about it because of how bad the trials are, and specifically what we see every day, and hear every day, and live and breathe every day,” she said.
With a Mexican Mocha in hand, Reyes said one of the ways they get through their intense caseload is by drinking lots of coffee.
Soccer, dogs and yoga help attorneys cope
Child welfare statistics in New Mexico are difficult, but Reyes said she’d rather be working in a system where things are hard, so she can help make it great.
“I feel like the harder that we work, and the more that we do, the more people are willing to understand and take steps to protect kids, and that’s really our ultimate goal…if I am out of a job someday, I would be thrilled. I don’t think that’s a reality, but I can dream,” she said.
Reyes is the handler for one of the courthouse dogs, a golden retriever named Jake, and when she isn’t at work, she can be found playing indoor soccer.
“I play goalie. I play indoor football. I’m short so I don’t play outdoor goalie, because I’m only halfway to the goal, but in football, the goal is much shorter, so I can jump and take people out. I get my aggression out,” she said.
And—according to Brandenburg-Koch—Reyes is an excellent soccer player.
As for Brandenburg-Koch, when she isn’t heading up the Special Victims Unit, she teaches hot yoga at Blissful Spirits. It’s something she’d done for the past 11 years.
“I started in law school, and I think that’s one thing that’s probably kept me able to continue to do this job for a long time,” she said.
She also has a dog.
“She’s my everything. Her name is Warner. She’s a 14-year-old lab mix,” she said.