Council defers action on Han family legal fees

City sued in 2012 over police handling of evidence at death scene

Nine years later, Mary Han’s death still stirs debate.

Albuquerque City Councilor Diane Gibson met resistance in her latest bid to stop the city from collecting legal fees from Han’s family, as fellow councilors and Mayor Tim Keller’s administration urged her to wait a little while longer.

Han’s survivors had in 2012 sued the city alleging police had mishandled Han’s 2010 death scene and spoiled evidence. Han — a civil rights attorney who had a history of suing police — had been found dead in her garage, and the Office of the Medical Investigator determined she died from carbon monoxide poisoning and ruled it a suicide.

A federal judge in 2014 dismissed most of the claims and granted a city motion seeking legal fees. They amount to $5,000.

But Han’s family scored a victory last year when a state District Court judge ordered OMI to amend Han’s official cause of death to “undetermined,” writing that “the evidence needed to make this (suicide) determination was spoiled by the acts of the investigating agency.”

Gibson’s resolution said that attempting to collect legal fees from the family given the case history “is unfair and seemingly punitive.” She said during Monday’s City Council meeting that the resolution would help “close this very sad and very disappointing chapter of Albuquerque’s history.”

But a city attorney on Monday told the Council the resolution might violate the state’s antidonation clause, while the city’s Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Rael suggested it would set a problematic precedent. The pair asked for a deferral so the legal department could have settlement discussions with the family.

“We don’t believe things were handled appropriately (in the case), but we’d like to ask your support in doing this deferral so we can have one more opportunity to have a conversation with their attorney,” Rael said.

Several councilors said they supported Gibson’s idea but had concerns about the implications of forgiving one city debt.

“We’re kind of opening up a Pandora’s Box, and it makes me very uncomfortable,” Councilor Cynthia Borrego said.

Gibson called the anti-donation concerns “absurd” and said city attorneys have had years to negotiate a settlement. But she begrudgingly moved to defer the matter for two weeks, a motion that passed 7-0.

“I see that I don’t have full support (to pass this), and I’m really tempted just to call for a vote and get everybody on record for that, but ... the most important part for me on this is that we try to restore just a little bit of dignity back to Ms. Han’s name and show the family some compassion, and that will not happen if this resolution fails,” she said.

Gibson had proposed a similar resolution in 2014. Council approved it on a 5-4 vote, but thenMayor Richard Berry vetoed it.