ALBUQUERQUE – An independent team of prosecutors from around New Mexico will comb over evidence and testimony from the case involving two former Albuquerque police officers accused in the 2014 shooting death of a mentally ill homeless man as part of a review announced Tuesday by metro Albuquerque’s incoming district attorney.
It will eventually be up to Bernalillo County District Attorney-elect Raul Torrez to decide if former Officer Dominique Perez and now-retired Detective Keith Sandy should be retried in the fatal shooting of James Boyd following an October mistrial because of a hung jury.
The review will be carried out by seven senior trial prosecutors from judicial districts around the state. The team’s findings and recommendations are expected earlier next year.
Torrez said the case needs a prompt, thorough review and that the evaluation will be guided by the law and the facts. He acknowledged that the case has polarized the community and has become a focal point of reforms within the Albuquerque Police Department.
“However, everyone must understand that criminal trials are fundamental tests of individual criminal liability and are not the appropriate vehicles for airing philosophical or political disagreements about the fundamental nature of our institutions,” he said.
Last month, the special prosecutor who handled the first trial filed a notice to dismiss without prejudice a second-degree murder charge against Perez, leaving open the option for prosecutors to file charges later.
Sandy rejected an agreement in November to plead guilty to a lesser charge. His retrial is tentatively scheduled for July.
Defense attorneys argued during Perez and Sandy’s three-week trial that the shooting of Boyd was justified.
Video from Perez’s helmet camera showed the final moments of the standoff with Boyd, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Boyd is heard yelling threats at officers in short bursts of outrage, but he also said he feared they would hurt him. Nineteen Albuquerque and state police officers arrived on the scene after Boyd pulled two pocket knives on the first two officers to respond to a resident’s complaint of his illegal campsite.
It was among some 20 fatal shootings by Albuquerque police in a four-year period that had outraged activists and relatives of the dead.
Under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for more than a year over allegations of excessive force, Albuquerque police faced a scathing federal report after Boyd’s death describing a “culture of aggression” and faulting officers for using unreasonable force with the mentally ill.
With a significant backlog of other shootings involving officers, Torrez and other district attorneys said Tuesday they plan to ask the state Legislature for more funds to establish an independent review process for those high-profile cases that warrant an outside look to eliminate conflicts of interest.
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas also has initiated a review of policies and procedures governing the investigation and prosecution of deadly shootings by law enforcement officers.
Rick Tedrow, president of the New Mexico District Attorneys’ Association, will be among those participating in the review of the Albuquerque case. Among other things, he said the team will consider the fact that nine jurors voted to acquit.
“As prosecutors, one thing that we do like to say is we recognize and we respect the decisions of either the court or the juries, so I think that will weigh in,” Tedrow said. “As many of us in the prosecution world know, that carries a message. That sends a message.”
