November 9, 2022

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has appointed Shonnetta R. Estrada to Division XI of the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, after recommendation from the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Criminal Court Nominating Commission. She succeeds Judge Sandra Engel, who retired in September.

Judge Estrada will serve in the court’s Felony Division, where she will primarily hear Felony First Appearance Hearings and Preliminary Examination Hearings. She will be sworn in on Monday, November 14th.

“From a young age, I have felt a deep responsibility to serve my community in the most-impactful way I can. Growing up, I witnessed the significant impact the criminal justice system had on my community. My lived experience has taught me to value empathy, accountability, opportunity, fairness, discipline, justice, and representation, and I am looking forward to being a part of the ongoing efforts to improve equitable access to justice,” Judge Estrada shared.

Judge Estrada served as a prosecutor in the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office for the past four-and-a-half years, where she most-recently worked as a senior trial attorney and assistant supervisor in the Major Crimes Division after quickly working her way up from the General Crimes Division.

While pursuing her Juris Doctor at UNM’s School of Law, Judge Estrada held Legal Externships over various periods with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office and with the Law Offices of the Public Defender. She was admitted to the New Mexico Bar in the spring of 2018.

Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, Judge Estrada earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology and minor in Flamenco Dance from the University of New Mexico in 2012.

Judge Estrada currently is a member of the New Mexico Black Lawyers Association and the State Bar of New Mexico’s Young Lawyers Division and has served as a member of the National District Attorney’s Association and the H. Vearle Payne American Inn of Court. She also served as UNM’s Black Law Student Association President while in law school.