By Wheeler Cowperthwaite
Special to the SUN

A Hernandez man faces four to seven years in prison for stabbing his cousin repeatedly in the neck with a screwdriver, after his attorney dropped concerns around his competency.

Rodney Gallegos Jr., 35, pleaded guilty, April 2, to the charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. His sentencing has yet to be set.

The plea sets his sentence at four to seven years and leaves it up to District Judge Jason Lidyard to decide. While aggravated battery normally carries a maximum three-year sentence, Gallegos admitted to being a habitual offender in four previous cases, from 2015-2022. That admission increases his maximum possible sentence.

His past convictions were for possession of a controlled substance in 2015, burglary and receiving a stolen vehicle in 2016, aggravated fleeing an officer in 2019 and conspiracy to evade an officer in 2022.

The plea deal comes a year after Lidyard ordered Gallegos be sent to the state’s mental hospital in Las Vegas, after finding him not competent to stand trial and a danger to the community.

He was supposed to be there for up to nine months, to attain competency, but 10 days after arriving at the New Mexico Behavior Health Institute on June 3, the doctor there, Timothy Kockler, found him competent to stand trial, his attorney, Sam Ruyle, wrote in an objection to a final forensic report filed on June 24.

Ruyle wrote that he objected to his client being sent back to jail and the finding that he was competent, and that the reason he raised the issue of competency wasn’t addressed during his 10-day stay.

“Despite the conclusions of the June 13, 2025 report, defense counsel maintains a good-faith and reasonable belief, based on ongoing observations and interactions with Mr. Gallegos since his return from NMBHI, that he continues to lack a sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding, and/or a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him,” Ruyle wrote.

Finding him competent just 10 days after he was admitted to the facility, and two months after two other doctors found him not competent, “raises significant questions about the thoroughness, methodology, or reliability of the second evaluation, especially given the defense’s persistent concerns,” Ruyle wrote.

Notes from that report say that Gallegos understands courtroom personnel, the charge, his plea options and is “very well versed in the court system and the charges.” However, Ruyle wrote that he “continues to find deficient in practice, particularly regarding his ability to rationally assist in his defense.”

“The report includes nursing notes expressing concerns that Mr. Gallegos was ‘influencing his roommate in a bad way’ and seemed to be the ‘ring leader’ influencing other patients,” Ruyle wrote. “While the report concludes he is cooperative, this reported behavior raises questions about his judgment, compliance with institutional rules, and overall mental state that may not be fully reconciled with a finding of competency, particularly concerning his ability to consistently maintain appropriate courtroom decorum and follow legal instructions.”

Ruyle wrote that his own observations “strongly suggest” that Gallegos wasn’t competent.

Ruyle withdrew his complaint of Gallegos not being competent by Aug. 25, paving the way for the plea hearing on April 2.

Gallegos has been held without bail for two years, since the Oct. 28, 2023 incident.

What Happened?

Gallegos was initially charged with first degree murder even though the victim, Moses Gallegos, did not die.

Rodney Gallegos is accused of stabbing his cousin after he called him an expletive. New Mexico State Police arrested Rodney Gallegos after the alleged stabbing.

After Rodney Gallegos was found and arrested by State Police officers, he allegedly said “a statement like ‘I sticked that guy’ or something to that effect,’” Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jonathan Coriz wrote in court documents.

After being read his Miranda rights, including his right to remain silent, he told deputies that he stabbed Moses Gallegos three times in the neck with his “shank,” Coriz wrote.

He demonstrated for deputies how he was positioned when he stabbed his cousin, and how he did the stabbing, he wrote.

Rodney Gallegos allegedly told deputies that he wished he could have killed his cousin, who was calling him names, Coriz wrote.

SUN Managing Editor Jennifer Garcia contributed to this report.