At the Law Office of Todd J. Bullion, we are dedicated to defending the rights of individuals and families affected by police misconduct throughout New Mexico as well as other government agencies such as CYFD. Due to New Mexico’s sunshine laws settlements made by governmental agencies, including police departments, are public record in New Mexico. In 2020 Todd successfully held accountable several police officers who had physically assaulted two persons including the unlawful use of a taser. The City of Espanola paid $800,000 to settle this lawsuit.
Todd has also successfully represented government employees who acted as whistleblowers who uncovered gross misconduct at CYFD recovering $300,000 to compensate them for CYFD’s unlawful retaliation against them under New Mexico’s State Whistleblower protection act.
New Mexico Civil Rights Law
New Mexico Civil Rights Law
At the Law Office of Todd J. Bullion, we are dedicated to defending the rights of individuals and families affected by police misconduct throughout New Mexico as well as other government agencies such as CYFD. Due to New Mexico’s sunshine laws settlements made by governmental agencies, including police departments, are public record in New Mexico. In 2020 Todd successfully held accountable several police officers who had physically assaulted two persons including the unlawful use of a taser. The City of Espanola paid $800,000 to settle this lawsuit.
Recent Developments in New Mexico Civil Rights Law
Over the past 20 years it has been increasingly difficult to hold police officers accountable in court for the use of excessive force and other civil rights violations because of the legal defense of qualified immunity. The qualified immunity defense was created by judges in an effort to protect police officers and other government actors who violated the civil rights of individuals when acting in “good faith”. An example of this good faith defense would be a police officer who mistakenly shoots someone they genuinely and actually believed was going to imminently cause death or great bodily harm to another person.
Over time courts moved away from the good faith defense and began requiring that plaintiffs show that the police or other governmental defendants had violated their rights in a way that any competent government actor or police officer would know is unconstitutional. The requirement of plaintiffs to show “clearly established” law through past cases morphed into near abusoute immunity as courts required that the law be clearly established through the use of cases with nearly identical fact patterns. Inconsequential fact differences from previously published cases led to case after case being dismissed under qualified immunity.
Why Choose Todd Bullion to Represent You?
In New Mexico police shootings are typically investigated by the New Mexico State Police. As a former prosecutor Todd reviewed these investigations and knows how they are supposed to be conducted. This is incredibly helpful in spotting any missteps in the investigation which could occur intentionally or subconsciously due to the police having a favorable opinion of other police officers.
