Bobby Ray Baldock

How Judge Baldock rules, drawn from 12 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Judge Baldock no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.

Court
United States District Court for the District of New Mexico
Position
district
Status
Elevated to a higher court
Served
1983–1986
Appointed by
Ronald Reagan (Republican)
Commissioned
1983-06-07
ABA rating
Qualified
Education
New Mexico Military Institute, 1956; University of Arizona College of Law, J.D., 1960
Signed orders read
12

How Judge Baldock decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

Baldock denied suppression after finding that a checkpoint stop was systematic, the driver lacked a demonstrated privacy interest in the rental car, and the ensuing consent was voluntary.

“This court finds that the stop of the defendant was part of a lawful roadblock designed to check driver’s licenses and car registrations of all oncoming traffic, insofar as safely possible.”

He treated an extraordinary and deliberately harmful use of an automobile trunk as unforeseeable when defining the manufacturer's design duty.

“The court holds that the plaintiffs use of the trunk compartment as a means to attempt suicide was an unforeseeable use as a matter of law.”

Procedural preferences

Baldock required suppression motions to connect specific facts to the governing law before granting an evidentiary hearing.

“There must be some specific factual basis underlying the defendant’s constitutional theory of suppression.”

In parallel federal and state water-rights litigation, he remanded the state actions and dismissed the federal action without prejudice to allow a comprehensive state adjudication to proceed.

“It serves no good purpose for this unfocused federal trespass action to linger while the general adjudication proceeds.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Nichols v. United States
· 1985-07-17
Motions to dismiss (defendant United States) Granted

“Defendant’s motion will be granted.”

United States v. Dyer
· 1983-12-28
Motion to suppress statements (defendant Delnita L. Peterson) Denied

“WHEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that defendant Delnita L. Peterson’s Motion to Suppress Statements and Motion to Suppress be, and the same hereby are, denied.”

Motion to suppress physical evidence (defendant Delnita L. Peterson) Denied
United States v. United Nuclear Corp.
· 1985-04-18
Motions to dismiss (plaintiff United States) Granted

“IT IS ORDERED that the counterclaim of United Nuclear Corporation is dismissed without prejudice.”

United States v. Romero
· 1984-11-02

Baldock concluded that favorable provisions of the repealed Youth Corrections Act remained available when sentencing a defendant whose offense predated repeal, because eliminating those options would be retrospective and disadvantageous.

Wojciechowski v. Harriman
· 1985-04-26
Motions to dismiss (county and municipal defendants) Denied

“The court, having considered any accompanying memoranda submitted by the parties, the relevant law, and otherwise being advised fully in the premises, finds that the motions are not well taken and should be denied.”

Daniell v. Ford Motor Co.
· 1984-03-23
Summary judgment (defendant Ford Motor Co.) Granted

“IT IS ORDERED that defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is granted.”

Brashar v. Mobil Oil Corp.
· 1984-12-19
Motion for partial summary judgment (defendants and third-party plaintiffs Mobil Oil Corporation and Mobil Producing Texas and New Mexico, Inc.) Granted in part

“NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the Motion for Partial Summary Judgment against Coleman Drilling Co. submitted by the defendants and third-party plaintiffs Mobil Oil Corp. and Mobil Producing Texas and New Mexico, Inc. is granted in part and denied in part.”

United States v. Obregon
· 1983-08-31
Motion to suppress physical evidence (defendant) Denied

“IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that Defendant’s Motion to Suppress Physical Evidence and Motion to Suppress Statements be, and the same hereby are, denied.”

Motion to suppress statements (defendant) Denied
Seay Bros., Inc. v. City of Albuquerque
· 1985-02-07
Motions to dismiss (defendants City of Albuquerque and city officials) Granted

“IT IS ORDERED that defendant’s Motion to Dismiss is granted and that plaintiff shall take nothing by its complaint.”

Stephenson v. Esquivel
· 1985-07-30
Motions to dismiss (defendants Rios and Mendoza) Granted in part

“The court, having considered the memoranda submitted by the parties, the relevant law, and otherwise being advised fully in the premises, finds that the motion is well taken in part and should be granted in part.”

United States v. Bluewater-Toltec Irrigation District
· 1984-02-27
Motions to dismiss (United States in Kerr-McGee Corporation v. United States) Denied

“the United States’ Motion to Dismiss (pleading no. 8) is denied.”

Motions to dismiss (United States in City of Grants v. United States) Denied

“the United States’ Motion to Dismiss (pleading no. 15) is denied.”

Motions to remand (plaintiffs in Kerr-McGee Corporation v. United States) Granted in part

“the plaintiffs’ motions for remand (pleading nos. 3 & 17, respectively) are granted in part in that these two cases were removed improvidently and without jurisdiction and now are remanded to the New Mexico State District Court for the Thirteenth Judicial District, Cibola County.”

Motions to remand (plaintiffs in City of Grants v. United States) Granted in part
Motions to dismiss (defendants in United States v. Bluewater-Toltec Irrigation District) Granted

“certain defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (pleading no. 1378) is granted and this case is dismissed against all defendants, without prejudice.”

United States v. Austin
· 1985-08-19
Motion for release pending appeal (defendant Austin) Denied

“Bail will be denied pending appeal.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

No assigned-case timeline was available for this closed district tenure. The located writings span criminal suppression and bail, civil rights, federal torts, products liability, antitrust, environmental review, oil-field indemnity, and water rights, but they do not establish the distribution of Baldock's full district caseload.

A historical record

Judge Baldock no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.