SENATE BILL 17
54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first special session, 2020
INTRODUCED BY
Antoinette Sedillo Lopez and Gail Chasey
and Patricia Roybal Caballero and Gerald Ortiz y Pino
AN ACT
RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE; PROVIDING A REPORTING MECHANISM AND AN ASSIGNMENT OF AN IMPARTIAL PROSECUTOR FOLLOWING THE USE OF FORCE BY A PEACE OFFICER RESULTING IN GREAT BODILY HARM OR DEATH; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. A new section of Chapter 31 NMSA 1978 is
enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] USE OF FORCE BY A PEACE OFFICER RESULTING IN GREAT BODILY HARM OR DEATH--REQUIRED NOTIFICATION-- EVALUATION BY A RELEVANT PROSECUTING AUTHORITY--REQUIRING A REPORT FOR DECLINATION TO PROSECUTE--PROVIDING CONCURRENT JURISDICTION.--
A. The procedures provided in this section shall
apply when a peace officer uses force against a person in the course of the peace officer's duties that results in great bodily harm or death.
B. Within twenty-four hours of a person suffering great bodily harm or death as a result of a peace officer's actions, the sheriff or the chief of police of the jurisdiction in which the great bodily harm or death occurred shall report the great bodily harm or death in writing to the district attorney of the judicial district in which the great bodily harm or death occurred. The sheriff or chief of police shall report all instances of suspected great bodily harm to the appropriate district attorney, even if a more thorough assessment of great bodily harm will be undertaken at a later date.
C. Within twenty-four hours of receiving written notice pursuant to Subsection B of this section, the district attorney shall report the incident in writing to the governor and the attorney general. The governor shall keep a log of reported incidents, which shall be considered public records pursuant to the Inspection of Public Records Act. The log shall, at a minimum, include the date of occurrence, the date of the report made to the district attorney, the location, victim information, peace officer information and a description of the incident.
D. Within seventy-two hours of receipt of the written notification pursuant to Subsection C of this section by the governor and the attorney general, the district attorney shall advise the attorney general of the district attorney's intent either to evaluate the matter for prosecution or to request that the attorney general select an assistant attorney general or appoint a district attorney from a different judicial district or a practicing member of the bar of this state as a special prosecutor to evaluate the matter for prosecution. An appointment and oath shall be required of special prosecutors in substantially the same form as that required for assistant district attorneys in Section 36-1-2 NMSA 1978. Whoever proceeds with the evaluation pursuant to this subsection shall be considered the "relevant prosecuting authority".
E. The department of public safety shall be the default investigative agency charged with investigating instances of peace officers using force resulting in great bodily harm or death, unless the use of force is committed by or against a department of public safety employee, in which case the sheriff of the county or other competent investigative agency as otherwise provided by law or agreement shall be responsible for investigation. All law enforcement agencies shall fully cooperate with and promptly respond to requests for information from the relevant prosecuting authority and the law enforcement agency or independent investigator charged with authority over the investigation.
F. The relevant prosecuting authority shall be responsible for determining whether the facts and applicable law allow for prosecution of the peace officer for criminal liability resulting from the alleged use of force resulting in great bodily harm or death. The relevant prosecuting authority may also assist a concurrent investigative grand jury to subpoena witnesses, records and physical items related to the investigation as otherwise permitted by law. The costs of the investigation shall be paid out of the general fund of the county in which the investigation is made, and the costs of any prosecution arising out of the investigation shall be paid as are the costs in cases prosecuted by district attorneys.
G. During an investigation, the relevant prosecuting authority shall provide quarterly reports to the attorney general, to the district attorney in whose judicial district the offense is alleged to have occurred and to the governor, providing any material updates that do not impair the investigation. These quarterly reports shall be considered public records pursuant to the Inspection of Public Records Act. Any declination of prosecution by the relevant prosecuting authority shall be documented in a detailed report citing all relevant evidence to the attorney general, to the district attorney in whose judicial district the offense is alleged to have occurred and to the governor and shall be considered a public record pursuant to the Inspection of Public Records Act.
H. At all times during an investigation pursuant to this section, the attorney general shall have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute unlawful uses of force resulting in great bodily harm or death and to prosecute any unlawful use of force involved in a failure to comply with the requirements for electronic recordings of custodial interrogations pursuant to Section 29-1-16 NMSA 1978 or a failure to record the incident by using a body-worn camera approved by the department of public safety.
I. As used in this section, "peace officer" means any public official or public officer vested by law with a duty to maintain public order or to make arrests for crime, whether that duty extends to all crimes or is limited to specific crimes; "peace officer" also includes a correctional officer employed by a privately operated correctional facility."
SECTION 2. EMERGENCY.--It is necessary for the public peace, health and safety that this act take effect immediately.
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