UNM Alumna Erlinda Johnson appointed Special Prosecutor in the Alec Baldwin Case
June 13, 2024
Erlinda Ocampo Johnson, University of New Mexico School of Law graduate (’95), has been appointed the special prosecutor in the Alec Baldwin case, which is currently scheduled for trial in July. She will be pursuing an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin due to his fatal shooting on the film set of Rust.
Born in Nicaragua, Johnson’s family sought asylum in Santa Fe, New Mexico during the Nicaraguan civil war. Johnson now works in personal injury, criminal defense, civil rights, and criminal immigration at her law office, Law Office of Erlinda Ocampo Johnson, LLC. Johnson also works on undercover and informant operation cases, drug interdiction cases, racketeering cases, and complex multi-defendant federal murder cases.
Immediately after graduating from the School of Law, Johnson began working as an Assistant District Attorney in the Second Judicial District. There, she prosecuted crimes, including DUIs, assault and battery, violent crimes, and murder cases. She worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for six years before opening her own practice. She also has experience working as a federal prosecutor on drug enforcement and organized crime investigations.
Johnson has been involved in the New Mexico Bar since 1995 and is a member of five other Bar Associations. Johnson is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. She has also recently joined as an Alumni Board member for the School of Law. As a board member, she helps strengthen the relationship between the School of Law, its students, its alumni, and the state’s legal community.
