Episode 324

Summary

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Sword and Scale – Episode 324 Summary

Episode Theme:
This episode of Sword and Scale explores the tragic shooting death of 13-year-old Amber Archuleta in rural Cuesta, New Mexico, at the hands of her 14-year-old friend, Porfirio Brown. The episode meticulously breaks down the chaotic aftermath, the initial cover-up attempts, the investigation, and the legal ramifications—including the first use of a new gun storage law known as "Benny's Law." Through raw police audio, interviews, and host Mike Boudet's signature no-holds-barred commentary, the episode examines questions of accountability, rural gun culture, and the failures of both adults and the justice system.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Breakdown

1. The Incident: Amber’s Shooting

• Timeline of Events (01:12–14:00):
  • Amber Archuleta is shot in the face at a friend’s (Porfirio Brown) house. Multiple children, including Amber’s brother Frankie and girlfriend Kiana, as well as Porfirio, are present.
  • Initial confusion surrounds the shooting location due to conflicting and panicked 911 calls and incorrect addresses.
  • First responders arrive to find Amber gravely wounded; desperate attempts are made to save her, but she is ultimately pronounced dead.
  • Quote [04:52], Detective/Investigator (about dispatch): "Shut the up dispatch."
  • Quote [13:10], William Brown (on Amber's death): "He's gone."

2. Initial Accounts and Attempted Coverup

• Attempted Misdirection (15:00–29:45):
  • The children first claim Amber was shot in a drive-by from a black SUV, sending police in the wrong direction.
  • Kiana’s accidental admission on a call with her mother reveals the truth: they were all inside, and Porfirio pointed a revolver at Amber, firing fatally.
  • Hostile, confused, and inconsistent statements from William Brown (Porfirio's father) and the children complicate the investigation.
  • Quote [25:21], Kiana Gonzalez: "We were all sitting in his kitchen listening to music… that's when he pulls out the gun and starts pointing it…"
  • Quote [31:00], Kiana Gonzalez: "[Porfirio] made that story ... he tried to make up the story that the drive by happened."

3. Breakdown of the Truth

• The Real Story Emerges (30:00–44:12):
  • Police interviews reveal Porfirio had a pattern of showing off and mishandling guns. Other kids knew he'd pointed guns at people before.
  • After shooting Amber, Porfirio moved her body, attempted to clean up the scene, and pushed the drive-by cover story.
  • Quote [38:49], Detective/Investigator: "Do you feel like he meant to do this?"—Kiana: "I don't know ... why would he have his finger on the trigger and just do that?"
  • Evidence establishes Porfirio accessed an unsecured weapon, resulting in Amber’s death.

4. Legal Aftermath: Benny's Law and Accountability

• New Mexico's Gun Storage Law in Action (44:12–49:04):
  • William Brown becomes the first person charged under New Mexico's Benny's Law, holding gun owners criminally liable if a minor accesses an unsecured firearm and causes serious harm.
  • Seven firearms are discovered in the Brown household, none secured.
  • William is arrested, expresses more concern for his future and employment than the tragedy.
  • Quote [49:13], Mike Boudet (on William's defense): "It was your firearm. That line hits hard."
  • Quote [47:45], William Brown: "They can't just be, like, I guess … unsecured, loaded, unlocked and accessible."

5. Trials, Verdicts, and Unresolved Justice

• The Courtroom Journey (53:25–58:48):
  • At trial, William Brown is found not guilty after jurors require proof beyond a reasonable doubt that his negligence directly permitted the shooting.
  • Porfirio faces second-degree murder and evidence tampering charges. The jury cannot reach a unanimous verdict, with all agreeing the shooting was accidental, though not all acquit.
  • Ultimately, Porfirio takes a plea deal for evidence tampering; murder charges are dropped, and he receives a year of probation.
  • Quote [54:15], Defense Attorney (verdict): "We, the jury, find the defendant, William Brown, not guilty..."
  • Quote [58:02], Defense Attorney: "Even the four that thought he was guilty said that they thought this was an accident."

6. Reflections on Loss, Community, and Failure

• Impact and Commentary (59:49–61:28):
  • Amber is remembered as fearless and joyful, a child let down by adults and systems meant to protect her.
  • The episode ends with a blistering critique of rural gun culture, community complacency, and the practical impotence of delayed legislation.
  • Quote [61:28], Amber's Family Member: "You don't point a gun at something that you’re not willing to shoot."
  • Quote [60:11], Mike Boudet: "Amber took her last breaths in the dry New Mexico dirt that afternoon. She was only 13 years old ... This story isn't about a teenager making a horrible mistake. It’s about the environment that allowed it to happen."

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Initial Chaos and Helplessness:
  • "She's still alive." (05:08, Police Officer)
  • "Where's the ambulance at?" (05:10, William Brown)
• On the Attempted Drive-By Cover-Up:
  • "It was a drive by." (33:12, Dispatcher/Police Radio passing along fake story)
• On Porfirio’s Behavior:
  • "He pulls that out... and he ends up pointing it at her ... And then you just hear a boom." (26:40–27:16, Kiana Gonzalez)
• On Failed Accountability:
  • "William walked out of the courtroom a free man. A real travesty of justice if you ask me." (54:27, Mike Boudet)
  • "He tried covering it up. And he drug around and threw her off that porch like a dog." (55:37, Amber's Family Member)
• On Systemic Neglect:
  • "Knowing the rules doesn’t mean everyone follows them." (61:29, Mike Boudet)

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Recap of Important Segments

[01:12–14:00]
– The shooting, immediate response, and Amber’s death.

[24:43–28:34]
– Break in the cover story; Kiana reveals the truth about the shooting to investigators.

[44:12–53:25]
– Legal implications: application of Benny’s Law, arrest and trial of William Brown.

[54:11–59:49]
– William acquitted, Porfirio plea deals, the family’s and community’s reaction.

[59:49–61:28]
– Emotional close: Amber’s family mourns; commentary on adult responsibility and rural gun culture.

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Tone & Style

• Raw, Unfiltered, and Direct: Host Mike Boudet employs dark humor, sarcasm, and a confrontational tone, holding nothing back in critiquing failures by individuals, family, local culture, and the justice system.
• Firsthand Accounts: Uses extensive real audio from police, 911, and witnesses, immersing the listener in the emotional chaos.
• Deeply Critical: Blasts both the accused and larger social/cultural structures for fostering environments where such tragedies occur.

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Conclusion

Episode 324 delivers a gut-punch investigation into how a community’s lax attitudes toward guns, a culture of denial and avoidance, and the justice system itself allowed Amber Archuleta’s death to not only happen but to go unpunished. Both the teenager who pulled the trigger and the parent who left weapons unsecured escape serious consequences, while Amber’s family is left to mourn and the flaws of rural American gun culture are laid bare.

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Transcript

[Mike Boudet]

Astro and Pendleton salutes the men and women of our military and veterans for the sacrifices they've made. Keep them in your thoughts, prayers and letters from home until these trying times are over. Our troops are fighting hard around the clock to defend our great country and.

[Detective/Investigator]

Keep freedom alive worldwide.

[Mike Boudet]

For this, we salute them and may God bless America. This from Astro on Southgate and Pendleton, reminding you we live in the land of the free, thanks to the brave. You know that big bargain detergent jug is 80% water, right? It doesn't clean as well.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

80% water?

[Defense Attorney]

I thought I was getting a better.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Deal because it's so big.

[Mike Boudet]

If you want a better clean, Tide pods are only 12% water. The rest is pure, concentrated cleaning ingredients.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Oh, let me make an announcement.

[Defense Attorney]

Attention shoppers, if you want a real.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

Deal, try Tide pods.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Stop paying for watered down detergents. Pay for clean.

[Mike Boudet]

If it's gotta be clean, it's gotta be tide pods. Water content based on the leading bargain liquid detergent, Sword and scale. Contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences.

[Detective/Investigator]

Listener discretion is advised.

[William Brown]

We don't have another place to go.

[Police Officer]

I mean, I.

[Mike Boudet]

You appreciate that there's a dead girl.

[Detective/Investigator]

On your porch, right?

[Police Officer]

Yeah.

[Detective/Investigator]

I don't have an option either.

[Mike Boudet]

15 year old Frankie Archuleta is running as fast as he can. Each step kicks up a cloud of dust as 104 Cabresto Road shrinks behind him. That's where police were supposed to go, but they missed it and now Frankie has to find them. His lungs burn partly from the running, but mostly from panic. Finally he sees the red and blue lights getting closer. Frankie frantically waves his arms, trying to flag them down. The cruiser barely slows to a stop before Frankie jumps in the backseat.

[William Brown]

Stop the job right here. This turn.

[Mike Boudet]

This turn.

[William Brown]

Turn right here.

[Police Officer]

No, no, the gate.

[William Brown]

Yeah, there's two gates. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Police Officer]

Just go in. I know. Dude, look at that.

[Detective/Investigator]

Oh my God.

[Mike Boudet]

It's July 28, 2023. And earlier in the afternoon, multiple calls came into the Cuesta Police Department. A 13 year old girl has been shot somewhere on Cabresto Road. But as dispatch tried to confirm the details, everything was blurred into confusion. Wrong addresses, contradictory witness statements, even someone mentioning that the shooting was a drive by. By the time police and EMS arrived, they weren't sure which house was the right one.

[William Brown]

Sort of.

[Mike Boudet]

God, she's.

[William Brown]

She's dead.

[Police Officer]

I think.

[William Brown]

I don't know. She's on the ground there somewhere.

[Police Officer]

Door.

[William Brown]

They're locked from the damn door.

[Mike Boudet]

Four zero four. Tails. They've already wasted precious minutes. Meanwhile, Frankie's sister is bleeding out.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

They can come by if they want, or they can patrol the area. I have a possible suspect. Vehicle of a black yukon, tinted windows. Node 28.

[Mike Boudet]

Frankie and the growing squad of Questa police officers run towards the patch of dry dirt near the back porch attached to the house. All of the properties off Cabresto Road are rural and sprawling. They're plots of land with blurred borders spotted with prefab homes and sheds, farming equipment, broken down vehicles and herds of fenced in farm animals. By now, there's a group of police officers huddled around Frankie's sister, Amber. She's lying face up, her wound bleeding into the dry ground around her head. Frankie is frantic, to say the least. Everything happened so fast, he hasn't even had time to call his dad and alert him.

[Police Officer]

Relax. Relax.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

I don't know.

[Police Officer]

Calm down.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

Roll up the 55.

[Police Officer]

I'm back.

[William Brown]

You need to back up.

[Police Officer]

You need to back up, dude.

[Mike Boudet]

No.

[Police Officer]

You need to back up. No.

[William Brown]

She lies wrong.

[Mike Boudet]

Tell me. Hold on, hold on, hold on.

[William Brown]

Yes.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and let you go so you can talk to them.

[Detective/Investigator]

Shut the up dispatch.

[Mike Boudet]

If Amber dies, the call to his father will be much more difficult for Frankie to make. Their mother just passed away the previous year. Frankie can't bear the thought of telling his dad they've lost another family member.

[Police Officer]

She's still alive.

[William Brown]

I'm feeling like she's. Where's the ambulance at?

[Police Officer]

I don't think you guys dispatched a residence.

[Mike Boudet]

What happened? Guys.

[William Brown]

She'S telling false.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Faster.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

I don't care.

[William Brown]

I don't know what happened. I'm.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Oh my God.

[Detective/Investigator]

What are we doing?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Trev, please hurry up and get someone here.

[Police Officer]

They're on the way.

[Mike Boudet]

Frankie wasn't the only person who witnessed the shooting. Crouching next to Amber's lifeless body is 14 year old Kiana Gonzalez. You can hear her crying. She's been on the phone with 911 dispatch. Her hands covered in blood. She's sobbing and at some point she got bit by a dog. Her medical needs are obviously not the top priority, but she doesn't care. Amber, the girl dying on the ground is Kiana's girlfriend. Where did this happen? Right here.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

And then I don't know what happened.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

We do have the ambulance coming from Red River.

[Police Officer]

Red River.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

Also, we did pay job quest to fire and fire.

[Police Officer]

Well, so much for them.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

Anyone's in the area, you want me.

[William Brown]

To knock the out. She alive?

[Police Officer]

Is there anything I can get? She still she still has a pulse, Bud. And I'm going to have to ask you, bro, what you're doing right now is not helping. I'm going to need you to go sit down over here or. Or just give us a second, okay? You don't need to be upset. I understand. I understand, but what you're doing right now is. I understand, but what you're doing right now is not helping, okay? I'm not trying to be an. To you. I'm not trying to be an. I'm trying to help you, buddy, okay? This. What you're doing right now isn't helping. Please just go over there with them. Well, here's the. Here's the thing, dude. The medics are on the way. All we can. All we can try to do is. Is keep her alive while the medics are. She is. She has a pulse.

[Mike Boudet]

How good? So you need.

[Police Officer]

It's. It's pretty good. So can you please just go over there and let us do our job? Please? It's okay. It's okay. But I understand you're upset. I totally get it.

[Mike Boudet]

Okay?

[Police Officer]

Put the cats inside.

[Mike Boudet]

What do you feel?

[Police Officer]

All right, guys, we're gonna need you to back up. Please, please, please. Guys, no. Being here is not gonna help, Believe me. Let us do our job. Let us do our job. Travis knows exactly what he's doing. Travis knows exactly what he's doing. I understand. I understand.

[William Brown]

She alive?

[Police Officer]

The closer you are?

[Mike Boudet]

Does she. Does she have a pulse?

[Police Officer]

She has a pulse right now. Yes, right now. She has a pulse right now. I just need you. I just need to step back for a second. I understand it's your sister. I understand you love her. We're gonna do everything we poss. Help her, okay? I promise you. I promise you that.

[Mike Boudet]

Okay?

[William Brown]

It's okay.

[Police Officer]

It's okay. I understand your Mac. I understand your map. I'd be mad, too.

[Mike Boudet]

Let go.

[Police Officer]

Buddy, I'm gonna need you to step back because they're working on her. Let. Let them work. Stop yelling at him. Stop freaking out. Just let us do our job, okay?

[Mike Boudet]

Frankie stomps off, deciding it's time to make that dreaded phone call to his dad. Meanwhile, EMS still hasn't arrived, so two of the officers start giving Amber cpr. So keep your arms straight and use your body weight. Don't wear yourself out too fast.

[William Brown]

Come on, Amber.

[Mike Boudet]

Come on, girl. See if you can get everybody's information and just start taking statements. I mean, I know it's fresh and everything, but at least identify everybody, please. Officers, begin asking around who owns the house? It isn't Amber's family's property. Within a few minutes, they confirm it belongs to 39 year old William Brown, an employee of the Taos County Jail. As far as anyone knows, William is still at work or on his way home. He definitely isn't here yet. His son, 14 year old Porfirio Brown, was hanging out with his three friends at the house when all of this went down. There were no adults around, but 14 is an age where a lot of parents feel comfortable leaving their kids at home alone. None of that changes what's happening in front of them. Amber is slipping away, and precious time is running out. Paramedics have still not arrived. I can. There's no other hold. Nothing. While one deputy does cpr, another gently tilts Amber's head from side to side looking for the bullet entry or exit wounds.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

I can't find anything.

[William Brown]

Right there in the eye, on the socket.

[Mike Boudet]

What I'm wondering about right here. Yeah. I just don't want to push. Yeah. Another 10 minutes go by and they take her pulse again. They're almost there.

[William Brown]

Come on, Amber. Almost here.

[Mike Boudet]

I don't feel anything anymore. Since you got shot on the road? I don't know.

[William Brown]

I think so.

[Mike Boudet]

Finally, they can see an ambulance pulling up.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

How long has CPR been in progress?

[Mike Boudet]

About 10 minutes now.

[Detective/Investigator]

It happened at 92.

[Mike Boudet]

Is that what we heard?

[William Brown]

Yes.

[Detective/Investigator]

So we're down 20 minutes.

[Mike Boudet]

Down 20 minutes. That means it took paramedics about 20 minutes to get there after the 911 call. But no one knows how long. She'd already been lying there before the call. The officers who were working on saving Amber can now leave the task to the paramedics while they gather evidence from the roadway. The spot where the kids said everything happened.

[Police Officer]

The fact that that gate was closed makes me think it was. It happened over here somewhere. And if they were shooting out the driver's side of the. Going this way looks like possibly a little blood right here. I'm not sure if that's oil or blood. They said she wasn't bleeding and she was shot.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

There's no way.

[Mike Boudet]

Some blood didn't come out. Kiana is the only one around now. Frankie has run off to talk to his dad on the phone. Porfirio is missing in action, and none of the parents are on the scene yet. Despite the terrible timing, all of this is about to change. As deputies walk back to the spot where Amber's body is now covered with a sheet, they hear the news go.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

Ahead and downgrade to code one. Again, all units not on scene, go ahead and downgrade to.

[Mike Boudet]

Okay, so we gotta shut it.

[William Brown]

Shut down, clear the scene.

[Mike Boudet]

Let's get some tape and start taping.

[William Brown]

Everything off.

[Mike Boudet]

Tape everything off. Put the unit in the road. I want to block off whatever we can. At the worst possible moment, Frankie and Amber's grandma pulls up in her red sedan. Their dad is in the front seat. Do you have the father walking in now? He's got carpenter knee pads on, a blue T shirt, and a baseball cap. Well, I'm trying to block everything off from right here, so I need you to kind of go back. Please, just. I'm sorry, I'm not.

[Detective/Investigator]

Hi, sir.

[Mike Boudet]

I understand. Sir, can you talk to me for just a couple minutes? The EMS just pronounced her deceased. Oh, my God, man.

[William Brown]

He's gone.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

What?

[William Brown]

He's gone.

[Mike Boudet]

No.

[Detective/Investigator]

Can I please go see him? Yes, sir.

[Mike Boudet]

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[Detective/Investigator]

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[Mike Boudet]

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[William Brown]

These things are huge.

[Mike Boudet]

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[Police Officer]

Freshness versus Gain Original liquid.

[Mike Boudet]

Super fresh, super clean. Gain super flings. Gain super flings for next level laundry. It's July 28, 2023, in the rural town of Cuesta, New Mexico. Thirteen year old Amber Archuleta has just been pronounced dead outside of her friend's house. She's been shot in the face. Three other kids were there when it happened. Her brother Frankie, her girlfriend Kiana, and her friend Porfirio. They were all childhood friends, rural neighbors, you could say they all lived within walking distance of each other's houses. And hangouts, like today, weren't abnormal. The kids tell police they all saw someone in a black SUV drive up and shoot Amber while they were all walking together near the road. This is Porfirio Brown's house, and his dad, William, works for Taos County Jail. Talking to him is critical. His dogs are trampling all over the scene, and one of them has already bitten two people. Not only that, but the layout of the property is set up so that herds of sheep block access to other fenced areas. Detectives need access to the whole property, and they need William to corral the animals. And there he is. Finally. He's standing at the front of the house, his cell phone placed to his ear. Porfirio is standing just a few feet away.

[Police Officer]

Porphyrio, can you get the dog in the house, please? Okay, where can we put the dog that won't be biting people? I understand, dude, but we need. I understand that you're upset and everything, but we have to get the dog off the property. We're gonna have. We're gonna have about 15 police officers here in about. About five minutes, and if your dog's not off the property, it's gonna be a problem. Dude, can you please get the dog in the.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

All right, bro.

[Police Officer]

They'Re going to be walking all through this area and they're going to be getting bit by your dog over and over again if you don't get it off the property.

[Mike Boudet]

William Brown, like we said earlier, works for the Taos County Jail. So he's no stranger to hierarchies of authority. But now his property is the subject of an investigation, and somehow he easily slips into the role of someone who's had more run ins with the law than moments working alongside them. What happens next isn't going to make him any more cooperative.

[William Brown]

You just said come here. Oh, to me now. Yeah. Our son's being detained.

[Mike Boudet]

Yes, he is.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

Yeah.

[Mike Boudet]

Step out of the way.

[William Brown]

Hey, come on, dude. Trying to fight, so. Hey, wait, guys, guys, just let me talk to him, okay?

[Mike Boudet]

Well, let me talk to him.

[William Brown]

Just let me calm him down. Let me help you get him up.

[Detective/Investigator]

We're just gonna make sure you don't.

[William Brown]

Let me. He doesn't have anything.

[Mike Boudet]

Procedure.

[Detective/Investigator]

Okay, you want to stand up?

[Police Officer]

I'm gonna grab your other shoe.

[William Brown]

All right, you gotta calm down. You gotta calm down.

[Mike Boudet]

You were swinging, bud.

[William Brown]

He wasn't even on it. Where are you taking him?

[Detective/Investigator]

To a unit.

[Mike Boudet]

A unit is just a patrol car, to be clear. But William doesn't care. Seeing his boy in handcuffs is all he needs to go into full blown Papa Bear mode. We haven't even seen half of it yet. For what?

[William Brown]

Well, what. He didn't do nothing.

[Police Officer]

He's being detained with us.

[Detective/Investigator]

That's.

[Mike Boudet]

That's. It's going to be in the end of it, okay? Not leaving. They're broke.

[Taos County Official/HR]

He's just going to sit me in this.

[William Brown]

You guys can't bring him to the house. The unit to the house.

[Mike Boudet]

No, because it's a crime scene. I can't.

[William Brown]

I can't let anyone in there. So that's the other thing. How long is this going to take?

[Mike Boudet]

As long as it takes.

[Detective/Investigator]

I can't give you an answer because.

[Mike Boudet]

I know.

[William Brown]

But what are you. How long is this going to take? Cuz you Know we can take anything 12 to 20.

[Detective/Investigator]

I just got to hold on to you.

[Mike Boudet]

Okay?

[William Brown]

We don't have another place to go.

[Police Officer]

Better.

[Detective/Investigator]

I mean, I.

[Taos County Official/HR]

You appreciate that there's a dead girl.

[Detective/Investigator]

On your porch, right?

[Police Officer]

Yeah.

[Mike Boudet]

I don't have an option either. As they walk back towards the house, William starts to yell at Porfirio not to talk to cops. Interesting timing. He also yells at the officer escorting him, telling him not to talk to his son. Never mind that he hasn't been Mirandized yet. Big daddy William Brown is on the case, acting like Porfirio's stand in attorney. If the attorney was Sar Goodman, that is.

[William Brown]

Then he started running around.

[Detective/Investigator]

He started running. There's no foot trying to load up and swing on us.

[Mike Boudet]

Really? A little kid. Yeah, right.

[William Brown]

Really a kid.

[Police Officer]

Sucks, man.

[Mike Boudet]

Don't square up with him. Stop. Stop.

[William Brown]

I'm not well. He said my attitude sucks, but what do you say?

[Police Officer]

You have a dead girl? In your severity of this, I do.

[William Brown]

Sure.

[Mike Boudet]

Go that way.

[William Brown]

I've been trying to cooperate with the cops. Hold on, hold on. Well, they're taking him. He said I could walk with you guys. You need to calm down.

[Mike Boudet]

I am.

[William Brown]

You're on the couch. I wasn't even talking to them.

[Mike Boudet]

And I just told him to leave.

[Detective/Investigator]

So he didn't aggravate you anymore.

[Mike Boudet]

But you can't keep doing this because then I'll put you in cuffs and I don't want to do that. You've done nothing wrong.

[William Brown]

Well, let's walk over there. They're still talking to him.

[Mike Boudet]

It doesn't matter. Once they get Porfirio in the back of the squad car and away from the adults, the state police who have been on the scene for a while, have to explain everything to William and his girlfriend, Ashley. Well, as much as they can, that is.

[William Brown]

Would you be okay to give us a statement? I wasn't even home. Okay, so you just got here, just now? Or did you just get here after the incident? Yeah, I was at work when my son called me about it happened. Did your son tell you anything? Anything like that? He just said that there was a girl that was shot and didn't know what to do. Did he say who shot the girl? You can. Ashley, you can't go there. Did he say who shot the girl? He said a black suv. Black suv? Yeah, that's all he said.

[Mike Boudet]

I.

[William Brown]

Well, he referred to it as. He said it was a black suv is all he said.

[Detective/Investigator]

We.

[William Brown]

I don't know. Was it a Yukon? I can't remember, cuz. We refer to as another girl's car. Delilah's her name. That her family drives that car. But it wasn't that vehicle. It's just the way we. Because that's what he told me. He said it was a car that looked like Delilah's, and it looked like Delilah's.

[Mike Boudet]

Yeah.

[William Brown]

Look at. That's another girl that lives in town. She has nothing to do with it, but it's. What's Delilah's car?

[Mike Boudet]

Her mom's.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

It's an older one, but.

[William Brown]

Did she see who shot him or. No, no, he never said. He just told me the vehicle. He didn't tell you who it was? And I. He told me that that happened. I was at work, and I just left. And then everything else was done with Questopedia there. So there was nothing else that he told me other than, you know, we. We've been cooperating the whole time till now.

[Mike Boudet]

Appreciate it.

[William Brown]

Because this guy asked us to take off his pants and stuff, and we put him in a bag there on the counter for you. He was basically watching to the window.

[Mike Boudet]

Yeah, he's actually insinuating that one of the officers was creeping through the window, enjoying the view of Porfirio, removing his bloody pants and putting them in an evidence bag. Also, ain't it weird that the guy who keeps asking the same questions over and over again, just like his son, by the way, questions which have been answered, mind you, was content with his son only giving him vague details about the dead girl on his property. Weird, right?

[Detective/Investigator]

So, Mr. Brown. This is who I am, Agent Falker. I'm with New Mexico State Police. I'm the case agent for this case. Okay. I know you said that your son had already spoken to a lawyer, so then we'll get a hold to him and. And see what he wants to do. All I can tell you is that this is all brand new to. To us. We just showed up. I understand your frustrations, but let us do our jobs. I can promise you all I'm here for is the truth. So. Right. Right this second, he's just being detained. I'm gonna get a hold of Mr. Gower.

[William Brown]

So why is he being detained?

[Detective/Investigator]

I mean, obviously, because of preliminary information. Preliminary information that we've received has given us the right to detain him for right now. I can't. I can't. There's a lot of. There's a lot of stuff that I can't tell you. I'll tell you as much as I can. I'll be as straight up with you as I As I can, but there's just information that I don't share and that just. Just to protect the integrity of the investigation. I'm the case agent. The buck stops with me. Okay? So if you have any questions, by all means, call me, but right now we just have a lot. A lot of other stuff to do that's all preliminary, so we don't have a lot of information either. But the. The initial stuff that we do have gives us the right to detain your son.

[Mike Boudet]

William has already noticed something strange, though. His son Porfirio seems to be the odd one out in his group of friends.

[William Brown]

And one of the other ones going to be picked up as.

[Detective/Investigator]

As soon as I get. As soon as I get to that point. Bottom line. I. I can't give you a time frame.

[Defense Attorney]

Thank you.

[Detective/Investigator]

Do you know where they're at?

[William Brown]

They let them leave. I have no idea.

[Detective/Investigator]

Okay.

[William Brown]

Actually, don't say anything to nobody.

[Mike Boudet]

I'm the.

[William Brown]

So I'm not saying anything to anybody. The attorney's already said.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

I just want to explain something to her.

[Mike Boudet]

Okay. I'm just.

[William Brown]

You can listen, Ashley, but you don't speak until the attorney speaks.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

I'm not going to ask her any questions.

[William Brown]

I'm just telling you.

[Detective/Investigator]

Mr. Brown, I understand your first frustration, but let us work.

[William Brown]

Well, yeah, I'm not saying. I just.

[Detective/Investigator]

And I. And I appreciate that, but that's. That's where we're at.

[Mike Boudet]

Okay. If this family of Karen's is so insufferable with a dead girl on their porch, can you imagine what the local Walmart supervisor has had to put up with over the years? Yeesh. Everything happened so fast, just like the shooting. But before police gave William this vague explanation, they'd already spoken to Frankie and Kiana. While the kids waited to give their official statements, one officer happened to be standing near a car. The door was open. Kiana was talking to her mom. And what she said to her changed everything. This is going to be a little bit hard to hear, but we're going to play it anyway.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Sitting in his kitchen, listening to music, having fun. And that's when people started playing and.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

It starts pointing me.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

And as a reaction. As a reaction, of course you're gonna go like, try to move their head and shit. And she did that. I look, I see a little flash that's hurts. And the fucking dumbass operator is being so stupid. Of course I'm be freaking out. And she's like, shut the up. Shut up. Just listen the hardest you can. I don't know what the Fuck.

[Narrator/Reporter]

To tell you.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

And then she tries to tell me, do you have any form of ID? I'm 14. If I tell you I'm. I was born in 2009.

[Detective/Investigator]

The.

[Mike Boudet]

Does that mean, hello, this dumb bitch's friend just murdered someone, but she's mad at 911 instead? Yeah, there's a lot of that going around. Anyway, in the beginning of this clip, if you listen real close, you can hear what she told her mom. She said everything was perfectly fine. We were all sitting in his kitchen listening to music. And that's when he pulls out the gun and starts pointing it. Will you look at that? Turns out New Mexico State Police had a really good reason to detain Porphyrio Brown.

[Police Officer]

Okay, so go ahead and tell me what exactly would happen from. From the moment before she was shot.

[Mike Boudet]

Okay.

[Police Officer]

What were you guys doing before she was shot?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

We were all chilling, having a good old time when we just, like, went to his backyard, and, like, we're done messing with these goats, and. And we ended up going to the front, and we ended up going back into his house. And then next thing you know, he pulls out. I think it's a revolver, the one that has, like, a spinning barrel.

[Police Officer]

Okay.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

He pulls out one of those.

[Police Officer]

It was a handgun.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Yeah. He pulls that out.

[Police Officer]

So just to. Just to get it straight, you guys are. You guys are in the back of the house, right? You're hanging out, playing.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

At first, we were perfectly fine, just chilling, nothing wrong. And then we ended up going inside, and then that. That's the one. He pulls out that gun, and I was like, dog, don't even be doing that, because I could be loading his also. And then he ends up pointing it at her. And she went. And she went to go like. Like, take it away from her face. Right. All of a sudden, you just hear a boom. I look, and I see her fall to the ground.

[Police Officer]

So he shot her in the face with the handgun?

[Mike Boudet]

Yeah.

[Police Officer]

Where were you guys when he shot her with the handgun?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

I think the kitchen.

[Police Officer]

You guys were inside the house when it happened?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Yeah.

[Police Officer]

Were they joking around? Was he mad at her? What was the reason for him to pull the gun out?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

I don't know.

[Mike Boudet]

You're not sure?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

It was perfectly fine. Everyone was joking, laughing. And he pulls it out. I don't even know where he got it from. And then he goes. Because, like, how it was is there's a table against the wall, and, like, I was standing against the window, and she was, like, standing right there in the middle, and he points that at her. And so she like went to go move it. And that's when you just hear the loud bang and a little bit of a light. And then she drops. And next, you know, she just starts to bleed.

[Police Officer]

Okay.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

But next thing you know, when like she does fall, we all look and then that's supposed to freak out. And he's like, let's take her to the back. And Frankie's all like, well, call 911. And I was like panicking, so it took me a minute to get my phone out of my pocket and just to dial in general.

[Mike Boudet]

Okay.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

And finally we were able. He was able to get her out, and then me and Frankie were standing out there with her. Well, Porf went somewhere, I don't know where.

[Police Officer]

He just took off back into the house?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Yeah, I think so.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I'm not sure.

[Mike Boudet]

Guys, guys, guys, before you get outraged, remember it's the gun's fault the inanimate object murdered this girl, not the ignorant brown kid growing up in gangsta culture with the approval of his ignorant brown gun owning parents who weren't even home at the time. Remember to assign your blame in a proper woke fashion. Everyone. Good. Now that all the idiots have left and stopped listening, let's continue. While all this was happening, a detective pulls out his radio and quietly cancels the BOLO alert.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

Hey, what's going on? Hey, can you do me a favor and cancel that BOLO for that black suv? Yeah, we kind of already did. Okay, perfect. Okay, any other updates or. Nothing. So for right now, say police is on scene, their IV guys are out here, their crime scene guys are out here. So it looks like they'll probably end up taking this one over from us. But we do have possible suspect in custody. Huh? And we're going to be turning them over to sick police.

[Mike Boudet]

Okay.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

And so, yeah, I don't think we have anybody. Any other suspects outstanding.

[Mike Boudet]

It isn't until much later, during a follow up interview that Kiana explains why she didn't tell the truth from the beginning.

[Detective/Investigator]

So there was. There was a story of a vehicle driving by.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Yeah, he. He made that story of whenever he shot her and took her outside when.

[Detective/Investigator]

What did he tell you about that?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

He tried to make up the story that the drive by happened like, right, like next to that dumpster in front of his, like on the road tries to see a drive by happened right there. And that her brother went to his house freaking out about it and they ended up dragging her over there.

[Mike Boudet]

But.

[Detective/Investigator]

But that's not even close. So was he telling you guys to Say that?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

I think he wanted us to, or.

[Detective/Investigator]

He was just saying that version. Was he on the phone at that time or something?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Yeah, I think he was.

[Amber's Family Member]

Who.

[Detective/Investigator]

Do you know who he was on the phone with, by chance?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

It might have been one of his parents. I'm not sure though, so.

[Detective/Investigator]

So he made sure that you heard him talking on the phone when he. When he gave that.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Yeah. Cuz he walked around me and her when I was still next to her on the floor, and he ended up saying like, I heard him on the phone. He was. It was a drive by. All of a sudden some car passed by and we shot her.

[Detective/Investigator]

Did he ever ask you to move her down anywhere?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

He did ask us to help him pick her up, but no one else helped because that's. That's fucked up.

[Detective/Investigator]

And where. What did he want to do?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

I don't know if he like, wanted to, like, take her outside and like, hide the whole fact that he shot her.

[Detective/Investigator]

Well, I mean, if it's talking about a drive by, that makes sense.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Because later on, like, even like when he was on the phone with his dad, he even told him that he didn't shoot her.

[Mike Boudet]

Assigning blame to a random third party. Weird. That's not at all what criminals do. I guess now would be a good time to play the beginning of that 911 call for you.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

What's the location of your emergency? What the fucking location is. Hello? Oh, my shot. Give me the address. Give me the address. What's the address? Guys are yelling and I can't understand. Thank you. What happened? My girlfriend got shot. Your girlfriend? Yes. Where did she get shot? In her nose. By her nose. Okay, okay. What's your. What's your name? My name is Kiana. Okay, Amber. Is she alert?

[Mike Boudet]

Huh?

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

Is your girlfriend alert? Oh, she's unconscious right now. Please hurry. Okay, we're gonna get somebody out there right now. Stay on the line with me. Don't hang up. Please don't hang up. We're getting somebody out there, but don't hang up on me, okay? Don't. Come on, just don't. Hello? Just keep her comfortable. Okay. Oh, I think. I don't know if she.

[William Brown]

I don't know how my voice.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

Sir?

[Mike Boudet]

Yeah.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

Is she still unconscious? Sir, is the person that shot her still there? Yeah. Wait, no, they. They drove by. It was a drive by. Do you know who they were?

[William Brown]

No, I wasn't even really around.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

I was up in the film. Okay, do you have an idea of what kind of vehicle maybe. No, ma'. Am. Okay. I'M not sure, though. I'm. I'm not sure.

[Mike Boudet]

Let me ask you something, and I want you to rub those two brain cells together real hard and see if you can come up with an answer. If you had just watched someone murder someone else, would your first instinct be to cover for them? If so, kindly fuck off and unsubscribe. Now. Now let's hear what Frankie says when he's confronted with these inconsistencies.

[Detective/Investigator]

At what time did tell you guys about the taking her to the road?

[William Brown]

That's when he, like. That's when she was actually outside.

[Mike Boudet]

Outside.

[Detective/Investigator]

That's when she was already outside.

[William Brown]

Yeah.

[Detective/Investigator]

And you guys had called 911 yet?

[Mike Boudet]

I think.

[William Brown]

Well, like, right when he, like, kind of, like, drug her out to, like, the final spot, he kept saying. He said that, and I was like, no. And then I called in.

[Detective/Investigator]

Okay, but you. You and Kiana and Porf, all three talked about a vehicle driving by, about Amber being shot from a vehicle that drove by.

[William Brown]

I know. I don't know about dj, but I don't remember me seeing a vehicle.

[Detective/Investigator]

I know Porf did.

[William Brown]

Yeah, he did. I know he did.

[Detective/Investigator]

So what. What did you hear? Like, did he tell you that story he kept.

[William Brown]

I kept him hearing him saying, like, help me, help me, because that he was gonna, like, his dad was gonna, like.

[Detective/Investigator]

And he was on the phone when he was saying, help me.

[Mike Boudet]

No.

[Detective/Investigator]

Or who is he talking to?

[William Brown]

To, like, trying to tell us to, like, help him. Okay.

[Detective/Investigator]

All right. And what did Porf do with the gun?

[William Brown]

I have no idea. That's one thing I don't know what he did with after the fact.

[Detective/Investigator]

Do you know what Russian roulette is?

[Mike Boudet]

Yeah.

[Detective/Investigator]

Was he playing that?

[Mike Boudet]

No.

[Detective/Investigator]

You're positive?

[Mike Boudet]

Kids can be pretty stupid. As evidenced by this detective's question about Russian roulette. If the false story about a drive by came from Porphyrio, it might seem strange that Frankie and Kiana went along with it. But these four kids were close. Frankie and Porfirio were best friends. His best friend had just shot his sister. And in that moment, Frankie wasn't thinking about justice. He was thinking about damage control. He didn't know exactly what had happened, but he knew one thing for sure. It had to be an accident, didn't it? The story Frankie, Kiana and Porfirio gave to the police has completely fallen apart. The black SUV simply didn't exist, and the real shooter is now sitting in the back of a patrol car. Porfirio Brown is 14 years old, and he had access to at least one gun. For some reason, he pointed it at a 13 year old named Amber Archuleta in the face and pulled the trigger.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

I'm at 14 years old at that.

[William Brown]

All of them know, they're all classmates.

[Defense Attorney]

All of them.

[William Brown]

That was my, my daughter's girlfriend.

[Mike Boudet]

To have that happen. That's good. These were classmates. They lived in the same neighborhood. They were childhood friends. Porfirio's father worked for the Taos County Jail in the past. He was even a guide for the hunter's safety course. The family should have known gun safety like the back of their hand. Should have been second nature to them because in many ways it was their job.

[Detective/Investigator]

So when he pointed it at her, about how far away was he? About.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Probably about like this.

[Detective/Investigator]

So did she approach him to get a hold to the gun?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Well, she was like this. And I don't know if they went closer or what. Then like they started struggling like this. And then like in time here or up here? Yes.

[Detective/Investigator]

And what was he doing with the other guns you said?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

I'm not sure if he was just pulling them out to show them off to see if he was cool or what, but he just pulled them out and he didn't do nothing with them. But then he ended up doing. I think he put him on the counter or something. I don't even know. Cuz I thought like generally he was really chill guy. Like we always used to hang out and chill, have a good time. He was like always the homie. Never really thought anything bad about him. Thought he'd do anything bad. Like I always knew like he always like, like to like beat people up if they like disrespect him or whatever.

[Detective/Investigator]

But I didn't really like to fight.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Yeah, but I didn't.

[Detective/Investigator]

I grew up in espionage. It's not that big of a deal.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

But I didn't think he'd ever like pull a gun out on someone, like actually like shoot them.

[Detective/Investigator]

And he never. And he was never mad about anything.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Everyone was laughing, having a good time.

[Detective/Investigator]

Everybody was just having a good time. Do you feel like he meant to do this?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

I don't know. Because if you think about it, he didn't seem mad or anything. But then why would he have his finger on the trigger and just do that? So I don't really know.

[Detective/Investigator]

Did he ever. Do you ever know of him to pull guns out on somebody else and other people?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

I've heard about it, but I wasn't sure if it was true.

[Detective/Investigator]

You've heard about it but you've never.

[Mike Boudet]

Seen, Seen it, yeah.

[Detective/Investigator]

Was he, is he known to carry a gun?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

I'm not sure about like all the time, but sometimes.

[William Brown]

Yeah, sometimes.

[Detective/Investigator]

Like what kind of gun?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Well, even before, whenever, like everything happened, when we were showing the car, he pulls out like maybe a Glock, I don't know, but it's like mini handgun, black. And then he also had I think a rifle in the car, but.

[Detective/Investigator]

And do you know, does he hunt stuff like that?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

That I think he does, yeah.

[Detective/Investigator]

Does he talk about that a lot?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Yeah, sometimes.

[Detective/Investigator]

Has he ever talked about hurting anybody else, like shooting anybody else?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

I mean when you talk about beating people's butt ass before, but other than that, not like gun violence.

[Mike Boudet]

What 14 year old needs to be carrying around a pistol? And why didn't anyone teach them the rule that every gun owner knows you never point a gun at a target that you don't intend to shoot?

[Amber's Family Member]

You know, and I'm really upset because he's, you know, I know him, you know, I, I know him and the wife and everything and you know, I never knew that he was a guy, but you would think he would have known better being a guide in the hunter's safe, horses and stuff.

[Detective/Investigator]

Got several guns in that house. I'm sure you've seen a lot of guns in that house. Like locks.

[Mike Boudet]

They're just a patriotic gun loving family. Right. But after the shot was fired and Amber collapsed, Porfirio didn't run for help, he didn't call 911. He started cleaning up and staging the scene.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

He just had her by her arms and no one was helping him and he just started dragging her.

[Detective/Investigator]

What do you mean he wanted you guys to help? Did he say something?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Whenever he first grabbed her under her arms, he was all, help me, help me. We just looked at him. We guess maybe still in shock or something because no one helped him.

[Detective/Investigator]

And then so he, he takes her to the porch or did he take her all the way to where she was?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

He took her. He stopped her at the porch. That's why there's some blood there.

[Detective/Investigator]

Right.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

And then he triggered off the bay.

[Detective/Investigator]

And he got on the phone right away and. And I know this is tough, but do you remember a lot of blood being in the house? You said he cleaned up.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

I'm not sure how much, but probably a decent bit. And you could tell that he cleaned because there's a mop bucket and there wasn't like there was like a little streak of blood next to my bucket. But tell he tried to hide some, but one thing is whenever I did end up going back to talk whenever they moved me from the cop car. It did seem like he changed his clothes.

[Detective/Investigator]

Okay, so a second ago, you said you didn't know if he hid or did something with the guns.

[Defense Attorney]

Yeah.

[Detective/Investigator]

Like multiple guns.

[Defense Attorney]

Yeah.

[Detective/Investigator]

So what do you mean by multiple guns?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Because even at first, before everything happened, he even pulled out, like, an ak, and it seemed like an ak. It looked like it. And then some sort of other gun. I don't know my guns, but it was like, about. I would say maybe about this. Maybe a little bit bigger. It was camouflage. And they were full rounds. Like, the clip was full, but I don't know if there was one in the chamber. He ended up putting those away. And then that's when he. He pulls out the revolver.

[Detective/Investigator]

Did he threaten you guys at all? Were you scared of him?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

In that point of the. I didn't know what could have happened. Like, he probably could have if he really wanted to.

[Mike Boudet]

That's the question, isn't it? Did he really want to hurt Amber? Or was he just a dumb kid trying to look cool in front of his friends? Here's Frankie again.

[Detective/Investigator]

Do you know Porf to carry a gun sometimes? I mean, besides a rifle?

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Once in a while.

[Detective/Investigator]

Once in a while.

[Amber's Family Member]

You know, it's coming out a lot that he's actually been pointing that gun.

[Mike Boudet]

At a lot of other kids in.

[Detective/Investigator]

The community, and I'm curious about that as well.

[Amber's Family Member]

And, you know, some other people said that only the kids knew, but last weekend at the farmers market, you know, there's a little program for the kids to live there, but I guess it only went around the kids. He had the gun in his thing the whole time here at the farmers market, but nobody knew. Except.

[Detective/Investigator]

Have you seen him point a gun at somebody else? Oh, are you sure?

[Amber's Family Member]

Be honest with you.

[William Brown]

No, I'm honestly.

[Detective/Investigator]

Okay.

[Mike Boudet]

This is all starting to paint a clear picture. None of the adults knew it at the time, but Porfirio had apparently brought a gun to work at the local farmer's market. He'd been known to show off his guns, pull them out, and even point them at other kids. And now a girl was dead. The escalation couldn't have been more obvious to anyone that was paying attention, that is.

[Detective/Investigator]

But as as far as evidence, I feel very strong for our case. I can't tell you exactly what he'll be charged. I mean, I can tell you exactly what he's been charged. Yeah, he's. It's called an open countermeasure. That is a You know, that's kind of an all income single charge.

[Mike Boudet]

Now Porfirio has to face the full weight of the law. His dad might see him as just a kid, but when you kill someone, the law doesn't always agree. Oh, and the dead girl in the dead girl's family don't care how old he is. The word of the day on sword and scale here is irrelevant. Say it with me. Irrelevant. William Brown was focused on his son's legal battle. What he didn't know was that he was about to become the first person charged under the new state statute. By the end of the day, both father and son would be in handcuffs. The law is called Benny's law and it took effect in June of 2023, less than a month before Amber's murder.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It's been nearly two years since tragedy hit Washington Middle School in Albuquerque and.

[Mike Boudet]

Just rippled throughout our community. What should have been a harmless schoolyard.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Argument turned deadly when 13 year old Benny Hargrove was shot and killed by a classmate. Witnesses say Benny was just standing up to a bully. And police say that teen was able to bring the gun to school because it wasn't stored properly at home. This year, state lawmakers passed the Benny Hargrove bill in an effort to prevent another similar tragedy. And today that new law officially is going into effect. Democratic representative Pamela Herndon spearheaded this bill.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

As one of the sponsors.

[Detective/Investigator]

What we are expecting as a result.

[Mike Boudet]

Of Benny Hartgrove bill going into place is that parents or adults who have.

[Detective/Investigator]

Responsibility for firearms will absolutely restore those.

[Mike Boudet]

Will store them safely so that children, minors, do not have access to them at all.

[Narrator/Reporter]

House Bill 9 acts as a gun safety bill.

[Mike Boudet]

If a kid gets a hold of their parent or guardian's gun and commits.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

A crime, that caretaker can be charged with a misdemeanor.

[Mike Boudet]

The purpose was not necessarily to punish.

[Detective/Investigator]

Adults, but the purpose was to make.

[Taos County Official/HR]

Sure that they are thinking about what they're doing.

[Mike Boudet]

Gun fanatics. And by gun fanatics, I mean those nutty Democrats that want to take away everyone's constitutional right to self defense will never admit that conservative gun right activists are more critical on gun safety than anyone else. If you have a kid, especially a teenage boy, and you're not locking up your guns properly, then you deserve everything that's coming to you. Unless William had his eyes glued to the news, he probably had no idea that unsecured firearms could now land him in jail. You see, he wasn't paying attention. But whether he knew it or not, William Brown had just become a test case. And the Thing is, the guns were all over his house. Big macho grande in that one. There's probably like, seven or eight in that one, too. We need to do secondary.

[Detective/Investigator]

Everyone good? We're good. We're good with this side. All right, so I have here a return of inventory. I'll have you sign. We have.

[Mike Boudet]

We secured a bunch of firearms.

[William Brown]

Okay?

[Detective/Investigator]

We didn't take any firearms, but we secured a bunch of firearms because there was a bunch just laying around. And with that new law in place.

[William Brown]

They can't just be, like, I guess.

[Mike Boudet]

Unsecured, loaded, unlocked and accessible. As you just heard, there weren't just one or two guns lying around. Deputies found at least seven firearms in a single bedroom. When they locate William Brown to explain the situation, he stands stiff, his arms crossed, wearing the blank, defiant stare of a toddler who knows they're in trouble but doesn't think it's fair.

[Detective/Investigator]

So here's the thing, okay? I need you to understand that we're just. We're doing our jobs. We're gonna do our jobs best of our ability. We've got information about what alter place, and as far as a black suv, it's not. That's. That's not enough. Okay, does that make sense?

[William Brown]

If you're saying I don't. I can't tell you because I was at one, okay?

[Detective/Investigator]

And I get that. But another thing that you need to understand is there's a lot of guns in that house, right? And none of them are secured.

[William Brown]

I have a few that are out.

[Detective/Investigator]

You have a few that are out. Okay, with that. With that right there. Have your hands. Put your hand behind your back.

[William Brown]

Point one is that negative. Making a firearm accessible to a minor.

[Kiana Gonzalez]

Resulting in great ball, harm or death.

[William Brown]

So this is four degrees.

[Mike Boudet]

Yes, so.

[William Brown]

But it was my firearm.

[Mike Boudet]

That's.

[William Brown]

That.

[Detective/Investigator]

We.

[William Brown]

We have enough false costs you to.

[Detective/Investigator]

Actually, under that statute.

[William Brown]

It was.

[Mike Boudet]

The bottom line is that it was normal for the Brown family to give their kids unfettered and unsupervised access to deadly weapons. It was your firearm. That line hits hard. But was William thinking about the girl his son killed? Or was he already thinking about how to protect himself and his son Porfirio? Before the ink could dry on his charging documents, William started spinning his own version of events. One where he was the victim, not the dead girl. Him. Within minutes of his arrest, the whole group was on speakerphone with his employer at the Taos County Jail.

[William Brown]

Hey, I don't know what you call Danny and see, they're arresting me because there was A shooting. Shooting at my house. And they're saying, yeah, for negligent of that. A firearm unsecured. I don't know. The state police have me in cuffs already so that he's holding the phone now. And I'm just calling you to. They said, maybe if I see a judge, see if he can call the judges, maybe I can get out tonight.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

Okay, so what are his charges then?

[Detective/Investigator]

So it's like he. Like he explained his. He had a weapon that was not secured. His son had access to that weapon. And a 14 year old girl was shot and killed.

[Mike Boudet]

While he waited for his first court appearance. Something must have gotten lost in communication because Taos county had placed him on leave. But he showed up to work anyway. During the time he was there, he had a lot to say about his case.

[Taos County Official/HR]

We were still getting the letter. I was trying to find a way to put him on administrative leave without pay. I don't want him sitting out there. We're doing it our own internal investigation for policy violations. We're procuring universal to do the investigation. I don't know who's been assigned signed yet, but we're going to look at our own policy violations and I'm gonna. Outside of what you guys are doing. And then the other thing that just struck me and so I just told Jason is we may. You may have to interview the shift this morning because I don't know what was relayed to the other folks on duty because of the miscommunication yesterday. He showed up to work this morning.

[Mike Boudet]

Morning.

[Taos County Official/HR]

And then they pulled him aside and had him sit in the office when Jason handed him the letter that he was on paid administrative leave is what he mentioned. Anyways, I'm going to be. I'm going to be back to work next week because there's no gun. They're going to drop all the charges and I'll be back to work. And then when HR conveyed to him, hey, this isn't about your case, this is about policy infractions, he was like, oh, and. But I was thinking about it now. He disclosed that the NRA is going to pay for his legal defense and he's not worried about it. And I thought to me, you need to hold your cards close and just these little things, I know they're not lengthy conversations, but it's just.

[Mike Boudet]

I just thought.

[Detective/Investigator]

Interesting.

[Taos County Official/HR]

Just interesting.

[Mike Boudet]

Yeah.

[Detective/Investigator]

Okay.

[Mike Boudet]

William didn't seem to be worried at all. He was convinced for some reason that they'd never find the gun, that the NRA would foot the bill for his defense and that he'd be free of this whole inconvenient ordeal sooner rather than later. William Brown would be the first person in New Mexico tried under Bennie's law. This added a political layer to the case. Even so, he was sure he'd walk, that it's not about a firearm.

[Detective/Investigator]

It's not about any firearm.

[Police Officer]

It's about the firearm used in the.

[Detective/Investigator]

Killing of Ms. Amber Archuleta.

[Defense Attorney]

Brown testified in his own defense today, claiming none of his guns were missing after the deadly shooting. Prosecutors tried to poke holes in Brown's testimony by showing him a picture of a gun that was in his home that he didn't testify about. They reiterated investigators found unsecured guns around his home.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

What do we know? Well, we do know that we had.

[Mike Boudet]

A house, it was the Brown residence, owned by the Browns, and that the guns in there belonged to Mr. Brown. So we've got photos of the house and of the weapons and how they were secured.

[Defense Attorney]

Jurors took just two hours to deliberate the first of its kind case.

[Detective/Investigator]

We, the jury, find the defendant, William Brown, not guilty of negligently making a firearm accessible to a minor as charged in count one of the grand jury indictment or criminal information.

[Mike Boudet]

William walked out of the courtroom a free man. A real travesty of justice, if you ask me. But sometimes juries are full of idiots. So is earth. So it tracks. Had he been found guilty, he would have been facing up to 18 months in prison, which still seems to me a bit of a walk in the park for something so serious. For Amber Archuleta's family, it felt like a second blow. The man who owned the gun, who should have known better than to leave it available for his teenager to use to flash around and brag about, had walked away a free man. But William wasn't the only one they wanted held accountable. William's son Porfirio, the boy who'd pulled the trigger, was still facing murder charges.

[Detective/Investigator]

But I know the DA's office is going to try and have him charge. Charged as an adult.

[Amber's Family Member]

I would love that. That's.

[Detective/Investigator]

But that's. There's no guarantee because of his age.

[Amber's Family Member]

I understand that, but I would truly try it as an adult just for the fact that he.

[Detective/Investigator]

Absolutely.

[Amber's Family Member]

He tried covering it up. And he drug around and threw her off that porch like a dog.

[Detective/Investigator]

Absolutely.

[Amber's Family Member]

So I definitely want him to be punished to the police.

[Detective/Investigator]

And that's. And I'm doing everything I can.

[Amber's Family Member]

You know, at first I was on. On the fence about it because they were friends, you know, that she was there because she trusted him. But after him, what I seen her in, you know, in the condition I want him, is to, you know, to the fullest extent.

[Mike Boudet]

Porfirio's first trial began In February of 2024, just a few months before his father's not guilty verdict. Porfirio was 15 by this point and was charged as a youthful offender. It sounds counterintuitive, but this meant that he could be tried and sentenced as an adult. At trial, he faced charges of second degree murder, tampering with evidence, and attempted assault of a peace officer.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Porfirio Brown. He went on trial for second degree murder last week, but jurors couldn't make a unanimous decision.

[Defense Attorney]

I think there was a lot of emotion from myself, my client. It's just you put in so much effort for these trials. You really believe in your defense. When a jury can't come to a conclusion, can feel a little invalidating almost.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Bunker says the jury had questions about several pieces of evidence. First, the initial 911 call.

[Defense Attorney]

The story has been that my kid wanted to create this drive by story. But if you listen to the evidence on the 911 call, it's actually the brother who first tells 911 that his sister was shot in a drive by.

[Mike Boudet]

We'll let you decide. The likelihood of Frankie coming up with a story on his own versus the story coming from Porfirio, who didn't even think to call 911 and was instead busy cleaning up what he had done.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Bunker says jurors also asked about a hug between the brother and Brown on body camera.

[Defense Attorney]

While the girl is laying there dying, the brother actually comes up to my client and gives my client a huge hug. And so to me, that was very inconsistent because why are you hugging my client if he just shot your sister?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Blood on the brother's arms also came into question.

[Defense Attorney]

He has perfect circular spots of blood on his arm. He's got blood on the back of his eyes, elbow. He has a watch on. And then he goes home. So he and the other juvenile witness, they leave the scene and they're together at another location for over an hour.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Eight jurors found Brown not guilty. Four thought he was guilty. But Bunker says they all agreed on one thing.

[Defense Attorney]

Even the four that thought he was guilty said that they thought this was an accident. And so what they're trying to charge him with is intentional murder. And all the jurors unanimously agreed that whoever the shooter was, this was an accident.

[Narrator/Reporter]

District Attorney Marcus Montoya says it's likely his office will Retry the case.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

Guns and gun violence and gun control are very serious issues. And this was unnecessary and very traumatic loss of a young life. And we can never say that often.

[William Brown]

Enough or loud enough.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Montoya might also have a personnel issue to address connected to the case. Bunker says the lead prosecutor wasn't there for closing arguments.

[Defense Attorney]

We were told she went to the hospital. The judge indicated he may have smelled alcohol on her breath. So not entirely sure what happened there.

[Dispatcher/Police Radio]

There may be rumors about that. Nothing, certainly, that I can verify. And even if, you know, we conducted an investigation to find that anything like that was a potentiality, that would be an internal and personnel issue for me to deal with.

[Mike Boudet]

Bunger. What an unfortunate name. Then again, who am I to Judge Bidet anyway? Rather than face a second trial, Porfirio accepted a plea deal. In August of 2024, he pleaded guilty to one single count of tampering with evidence. In exchange for accepting the deal, the remaining charges, including second degree murder, were dropped. He was expected to serve a year of probation. And by the time this episode airs, his punishment will be over. His victim will still be dead. In the end, the courtroom decisions can't change what happened. Amber Archuleta is gone forever.

[Amber's Family Member]

She was outgoing. She. She had no fear. If there was a hill, she'd climb it. You know, her and her brother, you know, riding their bikes. She was the one popping the wheelies and ramping and stuff like that. I just want him to remember her for the sweet little thing that she was. You know, she. Like I say, she touched a lot of people, and I just want them to have those good memories of her.

[Mike Boudet]

Amber took her last breaths in the dry New Mexico dirt that afternoon. She was only 13 years old, full of creativity, making her way through adolescence and surrounded by kids who were supposed to be her friends. This story isn't about a teenager making a horrible mistake. It's about the environment that allowed it to happen. Adults who never want to take accountability and leave weapons out within reach, laws that arrive too late, and a culture that trusts children around firearms more than the car keys or voting ballots. Oh, and also really fucking dumb juries, because who the hell wants to get out of work to go do that? Especially if you have a good job and like it. Imagine that.

[Detective/Investigator]

Well, we're all taught in rural areas like this. Gun safety.

[Amber's Family Member]

Yeah. Yeah, that's.

[Detective/Investigator]

We all know gun safety. Yeah.

[Amber's Family Member]

And that's part of our.

[Detective/Investigator]

You know, that's how we're brought up.

[Amber's Family Member]

Yeah.

[Detective/Investigator]

I grew up in Espanola and Chamita.

[Amber's Family Member]

Yeah.

[Detective/Investigator]

And it was no different.

[Amber's Family Member]

It's a little. Yeah.

[Detective/Investigator]

You know, I, I, I knew how to handle a gun from an early age, and I knew that you don't point a gun at something that you're not willing to shoot.

[Amber's Family Member]

Exactly.

[Mike Boudet]

But knowing the rules doesn't mean everyone follows them. You see, being an adult, not to mention being a parent, requires that you get off your ass and actually do things that are inconvenient from time to time. Like, oh, I don't know, getting a gun safe, actually using it, and actually teaching your dumb kids about gun safety and about what not to do with a deadly weapon. But who has the time when you're busy yelling at the Walmart manager and asking repeatedly why the rutabagas aren't on sale? They were last week. So why aren't they this week? Are you starting to see how that works? Well, that does it for another episode of what the Fuck Is that Guy's Problem Anyway? Or as I like to call it, Sword and Scale. Thanks for joining us. If you like the show, you can get a video version of it. We call it Sword and Scale Television or just Sword and Scale really. But it's available 20 episodes of it right [e-mail] youm can get it on Tier 2 or Tier 3 of our plus subscription platform. It's a great way to support the show. Another great way to support the show is to buy a T shirt or a baseball cap or a pair of boxer shorts or a pair of socks from our [e-mail] but before I forget, before I forget, this is news you want to hear. This is good news. First of all, we're gonna be gone for a little bit, but then we're gonna be back. And then next year we're going to have season three of something we like to call Sword and Scale Nightmares.