NM DOJ Drops Failure-to-Appear Charge as Ex-NMSU Player Prepares Virtual Hearing

Overview

• Deshawndre Washington is charged with 15 felonies tied to an alleged hazing incident during the 2022–23 NMSU men’s basketball season.
• Washington did not appear for the start of his trial on Aug. 3 and Aug. 5 because he was playing professionally in Lebanon for Sagesse S.C., and his agent says Interpol seized his passport.
• The New Mexico Department of Justice moved to dismiss the August felony failure-to-appear charge after the U.S. State Department requested the change because the charge was complicating extradition, and prosecutors said they could refile it after Washington returns to the U.S.
• Washington’s agent has said he will appear virtually for a motion hearing scheduled for Monday, Nov. 9, and court records show an 8 a.m. arraignment that morning tied to the dismissed charge.
• At the 1:30 p.m. motion hearing, defense filings expected before Judge Conrad Perea include a bid to dismiss the entire case for alleged prosecutorial misconduct, a move that could lead to pretrial dismissal or long evidentiary fights if the judge considers the claim.