OIS Review and Evaluation

Consistent with other District Attorney offices around the country, graphic materials related to officer involved shootings are not posted on our website. These additional materials may be requested under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act.

On-Scene Shooting Incident Attendance and File Creation

• Whenever possible, an on-call Assistant District Attorney for the Second Judicial District will attend the scene of an officer-involved shooting.
• Once the law enforcement agency completes an investigation of the shooting incident, it delivers its file for that investigation to the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Special Prosecutor Review of Shooting Incident

Once the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office receives the complete investigation file for an officer-involved shooting incident, it turns the file over to a sworn Special Prosecutor appointed specifically to review officer-involved shootings. The Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office does not direct or participate in the review process of the Special Prosecutor.

The Special Prosecutor:

• Reviews all aspects of the police investigation and requests additional information as necessary from the law enforcement agency;
• Reviews any relevant additional information other than law enforcement;
• Contacts victims or next of kin as appropriate to give them an opportunity to participate in the review process;
• Seeks additional review and analysis as appropriate from District Attorneys in other New Mexico districts;
• Determines whether there is sufficient admissible evidence and otherwise sufficient grounds to prosecute the shooting incident as a crime. To reach the conclusion that the shooting incident should be prosecuted, the Special Prosecutor must determine that a jury, considering the facts and law, would be likely to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the force used by the officer(s) involved was unjustified.

Special Prosecutor’s Report and Conclusion

• Once the shooting incident review is concluded the Special Prosecutor delivers a report of the review to the head of the law enforcement agency for the involved officer(s), to the Second Judicial District Attorney, and to other interested parties.
• If the Special Prosecutor concludes that the shooting incident should be prosecuted as a crime, the Special Prosecutor will proceed with that prosecution.
• If the Special Prosecutor concludes that the shooting incident should not be prosecuted as a crime, the Special Prosecutor will close the review file for that incident.

Independent Panel Review

• The Second Judicial District Attorney will review each report received from the Special Prosecutor and may solicit input from the law enforcement agency and from other interested parties about the report. If the Second Judicial District Attorney determines that there are clear, articulable facts about or matters of law regarding the underlying shooting incident that the Special Prosecutor did not address, the Second Judicial District Attorney has the authority, in coordination with the New Mexico District Attorneys Association, to convene a special panel of District Attorneys outside the Second Judicial District to conduct a second review of the underlying shooting incident.
• If after a secondary review the special panel determines that the force used by the officer(s) involved was unjustified the matter will be referred for prosecution either to the office of one of the panel District Attorneys or to a special prosecutor.

Officer-Involved Shooting Reports Issued to Date: