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SANTA FE — New Mexico law enforcement officers can enter tribal lands to investigate crimes committed off-reservation by American Indians, the state’s highest court has ruled.
The unanimous decision by the state Supreme Court on Tuesday carved out an exception to long-standing legal doctrine in New Mexico that state and local law enforcement have no authority over tribal members on Indian lands.
The court affirmed the drunken-driving conviction of David Harrison, a member of the Navajo Nation, and allowed the use of DWI evidence gathered on the reservation by a nontribal law enforcement officer.
