Prosecutors charge Albuquerque police in homeless man's death

[January 13, 2015]  By Eric M. Johnson
 
 (Reuters) - Prosecutors in New Mexico filed murder charges on Monday against two Albuquerque police officers in the 2014 shooting death of a knife-wielding homeless man, a killing that sparked protests in the city over concerns about excessive use of force.

The Second Judicial District Attorney filed court paperwork proposing charges ranging from manslaughter to first-degree murder against former police detective Keith Sandy and current officer Dominique Perez for the March 16 slaying.

"We have evidence in this case that helps us establish probable cause," District Attorney Kari Brandenburg told reporters. "Our job is to do justice."

The charges come amid a national debate over police use of deadly force, especially in the wake of the police shooting deaths of African-American men in Missouri and New York and the decision by grand juries not to charge the officers involved.

In Albuquerque, Sandy and Perez shot 38-year-old James Boyd after a four-hour standoff in the Sandia foothills. Accused of illegally camping, Boyd was armed with two small knives, local media reported.
 

The shooting prompted protests critical of the Albuquerque police department, which the federal government found has used excessive, even deadly, force against civilians. It is facing reforms and is under federal monitoring.

The charges are the first to be raised against Albuquerque police in connection to a shooting, Brandenburg's office said. First-degree murder could carry a life sentence.

The officers will face a preliminary hearing before a judge to decide whether there is probable cause to hold them over for a trial on any charge. No date has been set.

Brandenburg told reporters that filing the "criminal informations" allows her office to charge the officers without presenting evidence to a secretive grand jury.

The officers could be arraigned after a judge rules on the specific charges. It was unclear when the officers would be arrested.

"Keith, as a police officer, had not only the right, but the duty to defend a fellow officer from a mentally unstable, violent man wielding two knives," defense attorney Sam Bregman said in a statement. "He followed his training and probably saved his fellow officer's life."

Boyd can be seen in a police helmet camera video attempting to comply with orders to come down from a location before the officers close in while shouting orders at Boyd, later firing six rounds after he appears to pull out the knives, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Andre Grenon, Tom Brown and Eric Walsh)

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