Legal fees a pricey problem for Las Cruces [Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M.]

Aug. 01--LAS CRUCES -- The city has paid out more than $1.5 million of taxpayer money on cases brought against the Las Cruces Police Department since 2000.

It sounds like a lot, but it averages out to less per year than what the city spends on potholes. Hoping to reduce that amount, the city is looking into purchasing what's called law enforcement liability insurance. Right now, Las Cruces -- like other cities including Albuquerque and Farmington -- is "self-insured" when it comes to police liability.

"We have, really, no insurance policy," said Mayor Ken Miyagishima, who also is an insurance agent. "We figure out what we think claims are, what we would pay in premiums and tuck it away. Out of that is what we use to pay claims."

More than $750,000 has been paid out in settlements in 32 lawsuits against the police department over the last decade. Most recently, the city agreed in April to a no-fault reduced settlement of $75,000 in a wrongful death lawsuit in the case of Michael Molina, who was shot and killed by Las Cruces police in 2006 -- Molina's family had demanded $850,000.

In addition to the settlements, $757,152 has been paid in outside legal fees on closed and pending cases from 2006 to midway through this year, which City Manager Terrence Moore says represents "the vast majority" of outside legal fees in the last decade. The city has four of its own attorneys, one of whom is assigned primarily to utility issues, plus two attorneys

tasked to the district attorney's office, Moore said. Outside counsel is called in on complicated cases, and defense and settlements can cost as much as $100,000 in one year -- but drop down to a few thousand or no cost in the next year, Moore said.

For a city of 100,000 residents served by 170 commissioned officers, "that is not an unreasonable amount of money for the city of Las Cruces to pay in defense and settlement of cases," said New Mexico Municipal League risk services director Ed Zendel.

"People make claims against officers that may sound, in theory, like there's something there -- but in fact, are made because they didn't like the way the officer treated them," Zendel said. "Of the statistics that I know, $1.5 million is not a lot of money for a department that size and for a population that Las Cruces is ... Those are definitely not unreasonable amounts of money for the city to expend over that time in defense of police liability claims."

That's not to say that a case in the future couldn't devastate the city's coffers, he said.

"If they're bare, the potential for a verdict in federal court is unlimited. There are no caps to protect the city from a runaway verdict, so if they're looking at the potential to purchase insurance, it's probably because they're looking at a risk-assessment verdict that would go beyond the city's ability to pay," Zendel said.

Critics weigh in

Las Crucen Fred Chilton, who settled a brutality claim against the police in 2006, disagrees.

"The overall figure doesn't surprise me because they hire these lawyers to keep these cases out of court. They know that if they jury hears the details of these incidents, they probably will not win a case," Chilton said.

Chilton said the money spent on lawsuits against LCPD would drastically decrease if officers changed the way they responded to perceived threats -- especially when they're coming from people like Lance Hummell, who was shot and killed in July after advancing on officers with a 4-foot samurai sword.

Unfortunately, he sees the deaths and the lawsuits -- and the costs -- continuing.

"If the two most recent (officer-involved shootings) go to court, those figures could go into multimillions," he said. "These last two killings will probably go to court and that total figure, a million and a half, could escalate real fast. And that's not even considering the ethical parts."

Complaints wide-ranging

The city pays attorney's fees and settlements in plenty of non-police disputes -- everything from an injury caused by a sidewalk to city vehicles backing into private property. In just the first half of 2010, city government approved 10 non-police settlements totaling just over $31,000, in which claimants had collectively demanded almost $66,000 in compensation.

"It's important to keep in mind that the city of Las Cruces has a budget of $400 million for total operation per year. Because of good fiscal management, that's been reduced to $314 million for the new fiscal year," said Moore. "Relatively speaking, ($1.5 million over 10 years) is a very small amount."

Moore added, "None of it has ever been an admission of guilt. It's important to point out that much of (the settlements) have been -- truthfully -- business decisions, to get the matter off the board, but it hasn't been an admission of guilt."

Any change that saves public funds has the support of Police Chief Richard Williams, he said Thursday.

"We certainly do recognize that spending taxpayer money on lawsuits is not anything that we want to occur," Williams said. "We are in a high-liability business and we make attempts to reduce our liability through appropriate training, the proper policies and then, follow-up training with officers through legal updates."

Each settlement was approved by the city council, noted city attorney Pete Connelly.

"We absolutely do not want to spend any money on liability issues," Williams continued. "However, that's not practical. In practicality, we do have to spend dollars on that ... There's definitely a better use for that money. We want to use those dollars to protect our citizens and develop programs to make our community safer."

The mayor says the city could definitely reduce what it spends on lawsuits brought against the police.

"I'd like to see less of them, of course, but one could never predict when a crime is going to occur," Miyagishima said, drawing a comparison to the amount of catastrophic insurance claims companies are paying out due to weather-related damages after hurricanes and tornadoes: "I think, yes, it is a lot. And it's unusual. And it just -- we need to figure it out and bring it down."

Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462.

Attorney's fees paid by the city

--$3,061 -- The family of Antonio Medrano Jr. is suing LCPD after two officers shot and killed the 25-year-old Jan. 17 after he advanced on them despite repeated orders to drop a knife and a bat.

--$5,856 -- A Las Cruces woman sued LCPD after a now-resigned officer asked for a hug and kiss in exchange for tearing up traffic citations in 2005. The woman received $40,000 in a 2007 settlement in federal court.

--$8,479 -- A Las Cruces man and two Alamogordo women sued LCPD for restraining and searching them at a late-night party in 2007. Their federal case alleging police used excessive force was dismissed in April.

--$9,482 -- A Las Cruces man sued LCPD for what he said was false arrest and subsequent searches while they were investigating a burglary in 1999. (The charges were ultimately overturned and it was determined the arrest and evidence had been improperly obtained.)

--$22,069 -- LCPD continues to face a lawsuit brought by the family of an elderly man struck and killed by an accused murderer during a police chase in 2005.

--$22,748 -- A Las Cruces man with a mental disability is suing LCPD for searching his home without a warrant while investigating a near hit-and-run in 2007 and hurting his arm and wrist when he fell down his porch stairs.

--$28,600 -- A Las Cruces man sued LCPD claiming he was beaten and falsely arrested outside Graham Central Station in August 2003. The case was settled and dismissed in 2006.

--$41,449 -- A Las Cruces man is suing LCPD claiming wrongful arrest and fabricated reports after a fight with an officer's father at a party in 2008.

--$53,534 -- A man claiming full disability due to seizures and degenerative nerve disease is suing LCPD for wrongful arrest and detention on charges of drunken driving in 2006.

--$64,812 -- Three Las Cruces residents sued claiming wrongful arrest and rough treatment they said was racist after they were arrested in 2004 during a brawl over an umpire's call at a baseball game.

--$89,130 -- The family of Michael Molina sued LCPD after the man refused to drop a butcher knife and was shot and killed by officers responding to a domestic dispute. The city paid a $100,000 settlement in April.

--$173,895 -- A federal court jury found in favor of LCPD after a Las Cruces man sued in 2005, alleging racial profiling, false arrest, false imprisonment, excessive force and personal injury after he was arrested in 2003 and charged with drunken driving. The man originally demanded $1.062 million in damages.

--$222,191 -- 14 jail inmates sued LCPD and the county for failing to provide adequate mental health care to detainees in 2006 and 2007. (The inmates demanded $573,122, of which the city paid $150,000 in a settlement.)

Source: City of Las Cruces

To see more of the Las Cruces Sun-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lcsun-news.com.

Copyright (c) 2010, Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544)