Perez will return to force, lawyer says

APD says it is reviewing whether to allow officer back

Friday morning, former Albuquerque police officer Dominique Perez was facing the possibility of a second trial in the 2014 on-duty shooting death of a homeless camper.

Today, he’s preparing to return to his job as a police officer.

Luis Robles, Perez’s attorney, said Friday that his client and the city are completing the terms of his return to the Albuquerque Police Department.

“It’s not a question of if; it’s a question of when,” Robles said.

But Celina Espinoza, an APD spokeswoman, said the department is still evaluating Perez’s return.

Police Chief Gorden Eden issued a statement after the district attorney announced that Perez and former detective Keith Sandy will not be retried in connection with the killing of James Boyd, but he didn’t say whether Perez could return to the department.

But Robles said Perez and the city are negotiating the terms of Perez’s return, which would include completing all of

the new training required for officers after a Department of Justice investigation found that APD had a pattern of excessive force, which included police shootings.

“He wants to be put in the field,” Robles said.

Perez and Sandy were charged with murder for the fatal shooting of Boyd, a homeless man, in the Sandia foothills in March 2014. Late last year, they went to trial, which ended in a hung jury.

Second Judicial District Attorney Raúl Torrez announced Friday that the case will not be retried.

Sandy retired from the department after the shooting and is collecting a $37,700 annual pension.

Perez, who had been with the department for nine years at the time of the shooting, worked on administrative assignment until a judge ruled there was enough evidence that the officers stand trial for murder.

In October 2015, Perez was fired for violating city and police policies. An Albuquerque police operating procedure calls for officers to be disciplined “up to termination” if they are formally charged with a crime.

Perez had appealed his termination to the city’s personnel board, but no decision had been made.

Before joining APD, Perez was a Marine who served in Iraq and was injured in battle. As a result of his lost job and legal fees, Perez went broke and at one point was on the verge of losing his home, Robles said.

“What an awful place to be in after you spent your entire adult life in public service, both to the city of Albuquerque and to your nation as a Marine,” Robles said.