by Mark Schaaf
Daily Lobo
In the mid-1980s, David Iglesias was a defense lawyer for the U.S. Navy.
He dealt with a wide range of misdemeanors and felonies, but his most well-known case served as the basis for the film "A Few Good Men."
The UNM Law School graduate was a defense counselor in Guantanamo Bay when a man was accused of attempted murder by, among other hazing rituals, putting a sock down another man's throat.
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Iglesias shared his experiences in the federal government Tuesday in the Acoma Room of the SUB as part of Career Services' Partnership for Public Service speaker series.
"Federal service gives you a vehicle to make a difference," Iglesias told an audience of seven.
President George Bush nominated Iglesias in August 2001 for the U.S. attorney position, which "represents the criminal and civil interests of the United States," according to its Web site.
Iglesias said he was inspired to become a lawyer after meeting his sister's boyfriend, who was enrolled in the UNM School of Law.
"I knew early on I wasn't going to do anything else," he said.
During a question-and-answer session after his 30-minute speech, Iglesias laid out his priorities for New Mexico.
Among the problems he mentioned was immigration, which he said is a "terrible problem that's not going to go away."
Iglesias, the son of Latin American immigrants, said Congress needs to replace, not fix, current immigration laws.
He also said methamphetamines, particularly on American-Indian reservations, is a growing problem and often leads to violence.
Despite a decline in violence in New Mexico and nationwide, the state still has a crime rate twice as high as the national average, Iglesias said.
Student Jacob Gallegos said he thought Iglesias speaking about meth was particularly important.
"I think he's done a lot of good for our state overall," Gallegos added.
Previously, Iglesias worked in the military as a judge advocate general at the Pentagon and Guantanamo Bay.
In 1988, he left active duty and returned to New Mexico to serve as assistant attorney general in the special prosecution unit, which he said involved a lot of white-collar crimes and grievances against police officers.
Iglesias began the job three months after the Rodney King beatings in Los Angeles, which he said brought on numerous complaints against Albuquerque police officers.
"I'm just drowning in cases," he said of his 11 trials in 18 months. "For a civil practitioner, that's just ridiculous."
Iglesias also served for the secretary of transportation in 1994. It was his first exposure to federal civilian government.
"Our federal government is enormous, but you don't really realize that working in New Mexico necessarily," he said.
Iglesias then spent a year running for state attorney general, a race he lost.
"I didn't like losing, but I loved the experience," he said. "I met more people from more walks of life than I thought was possible."
But Iglesias, who is still a member of the Navy Reserves, said the highlight of his career has been the last four years as U.S. attorney, and will be tough to top.
