Cops actions may mean cases dismissed

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Case dismissed.

Criminal cases are being tossed out because cops are getting into trouble. Since December Albuquerque has had three cops arrested and all three have resigned.

Now the question is, what happens to the criminal cases those officers handled against other people?

Ousama Rasheed is the president of the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. He's seen a lot of police officers come and go in his more than 20 years as a defense attorney.

“A lot of times if an officer is no longer with the department and not available to testify, then most of the cases they are associated with are likely to be dismissed,” said Rasheed.

Cases handled by these three now-former cops could be headed toward dismissal too.

Daniel Burge was arrested in December; accused of stealing a T.V. Detective Edwin Linson was popped for DWI last month. Just last week narcotics Sgt. Patrick Ficke was charged with domestic violence.

All three men are gone from APD; which does not mean they can not testify in court. 

“Does what the officer got terminated for or why they left the department, does it have to do with their credibility, and if their credibility is suspect the DA's office is likely not to want to put the officer or former officer in that situation,” Rasheed said.

Rasheed says if a police officer worked with a partner, the cases may still go forward.

“One officer his testimony may not be as critical and they may be able to make up for it with other officers or other witnesses.”

In some cases, like DWI arrests, that may not be the case.

“If there was a stopping officer and then an arresting officer, if the stopping officer isn't there you can't justify the contact with the person,” said Rasheed. “Why they stop them, why they pulled them over, what they observed and why they passed them on to a DWI officer.”

It's not just officers who've been in trouble that may miss court.

“A lot of times when they have put in 22-25 years on the department, they are finished and when they retire and that means they are retired,” Rasheed said.

Prosecutors can’t use the arrest warrant, criminal complaint or even lapel camera to prove the case, because the U.S Supreme Court ruled a defendant has the right to confront the officer and question his tactics and decisions.

Rasheed says often when an officer is close to retirement the agency will scale back his time in the field to make sure he doesn't have a lot of pending criminal cases when he turns in his badge.