County makes move to settle lawsuit
Maximum payment offered to avoid trial in shooting by deputy
Bernalillo County appears willing to pay relatives of a man shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy the maximum amount they could receive if their lawsuit goes to trial.
Luis Robles, an attorney for Bernalillo County in the case, filed a motion this month asking the district judge in the case to allow the county to deposit $750,000 into the court’s registry for the plaintiffs and to decline to hold a trial. That’s the most money the plaintiffs could receive for the state court claim they’ve filed in connection to the Nov. 17 fatal shooting of Martin Jim, 25.
Meanwhile, Sam Bregman, an attorney for the mother of Jim’s child, this week filed
a lawsuit against the county in federal court, where there is no cap on damages, alleging civil rights violations.
He also sent a letter to the state Attorney General’s Office asking for an investigation into Sheriff Manuel Gonzales for allegedly intimidating a witness because a deputy was placed on administrative leave after he gave a deposition as part of the state court lawsuit.
“To already quit before the first hearing in a court and say, ‘We will give all the money we could have to give under the law for these state claims,’ that doesn’t sound like a department who is very proud of their deputy,” Bregman said.
The sheriff didn’t return a phone call or emails on Friday and Monday. And neither Robles nor a county government official could be reached for comment.
The shooting in question happened in November. Deputy Joshua Mora shot and killed Martin Jim, 25, and Isaac Padilla, 23, after Padilla led deputies on a chase in a stolen vehicle through parts of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County.
Jim, who was unarmed, was a passenger in the truck, and police had crashed into it to force it off the road before Mora opened fire.
Bregman’s lawsuit alleges that Joshua Mora, the son of Undersheriff Rudy Mora, was given preferential treatment by the sheriff and undersheriff. The lawsuit claims Joshua Mora was allowed to breeze through the academy despite struggling to pass driving courses and injuring fellow deputies during training exercises.
Deputy Leonard Armijo, who was an instructor at the academy when Joshua Mora was a cadet, said during a deposition on May 24 that he had pulled Mora and other cadets from a driving course. But the sheriff and undersheriff showed up at the track in an attempt to intimidate Armijo, and Rudy Mora repeatedly told Armijo that his son was going to pass, according to Armijo’s deposition.
Gonzales, who is a defendant in the lawsuit, sat in on Armijo’s deposition.
On July 2, after the Journal had asked the sheriff for comment about what was said during the deposition, the sheriff called for an internal affairs investigation into Armijo, according to a memo from Gonzales to the internal affairs lieutenant.
Bregman, who is now also representing Armijo, said Armijo, who was placed on paid leave after his May 24 deposition, was interviewed by internal affairs this week. Bregman said all the questions centered on what Armijo said during his deposition.
Bregman, who previously compared Gonzales to a “mob boss,” said that amounted to intimidation of a witness.
David Carl, a spokesman for Attorney General Hector Balderas, confirmed that the office had received Bregman’s letter. He said the office is reviewing the allegation against the sheriff.
“Attorney General Balderas takes accusations of abuse of a public office very seriously,” he said. “All complaints received by the Office of the Attorney General are fully reviewed, and appropriate action is taken.”