DA to pursue murder charges against officers in Boyd shooting

The Bernalillo County district attorney will pursue murder charges against the two Albuquerque police officers who fatally shot homeless camper James Boyd in the foothills last March.

District Attorney Kari Brandenburg filed documents in district court Monday seeking to charge officers Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez with an open count of murder. The documents will result in a preliminary hearing for both Sandy and Perez.

Brandenburg held a news conference in which she discussed the charges at 2 p.m. Monday.

“A grand jury is a secret proceeding,” Brandenburg said during the news conference Monday. “I think this case is important. I think officer-involved shooting cases are important across the country. We want to share all of that information with the public. We want them to see it as it’s unfolding. I think that that’s critical to be transparent, and I believe that will be part of the healing process.”

View: Document charging Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez

Officer Perez is still with the Albuquerque Police Department and has been on administrative leave since the shooting occurred in March.

Sandy announced his retirement from APD in November.

Sandy’s attorney emailed a statement shortly after the announcement, saying Sandy had the right and the duty to defend a fellow officer from Boyd.

“The decision to charge Keith Sandy with murder is unjustified and a bad decision on the part of the DA’s office,” said Sandy’s attorney, Sam Bregman, in a statement. “While Mr. Boyd’s death is a tragedy, it is not the result of any criminal act by Keith.”

Bregman held a news conference discussing the charges at 1:30 p.m.

“This is a bad prosecution and there is no justification for it,” attorney Sam Bregman said at the news conference. He told reporters Sandy followed APD training “to the T” and said the lapel video of the shooting must be put into context. The attorney said the police department had not released another lapel camera video of Boyd assaulting two APD open space officers, and said Boyd was mentally unstable, dangerous and armed with two knives.

Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry issued a statement regarding the filing of the charges Monday afternoon:

“We trust the judicial system will provide the family, our community and the officers a fair, transparent and unbiased opportunity to explore and present the facts as they relate to this tragic event. It is important for all of us to allow the process to progress without prejudice in order for our community to move forward.” 

The Albuquerque Police Officers Association, the union that represents city officers, also released a statement regarding the charges:

“We are disappointed in the District Attorney’s decision to pursue charges. This was an unfortunate situation, but in no way criminal…While many think they know exactly what happened on the mountain that day because they saw a short snippet on video, the simple truth is that lapel cameras cannot capture the entirety of any situation and there is so much more to this story that will come out in court. This was a tense, hours-long standoff with an individual who repeated threatened to kill officers and who had a long history of making good on his threats to harm law enforcement.”  

A spokesperson for the New Mexico District of the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday the federal investigation into the shooting is still open.

“The Justice Department will be closely monitoring the local prosecution arising out of the officer involved shooting of James Boyd.  The federal investigation into matter remains open,” said Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Martinez.

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On March 16, 2014, police said Boyd refused to come down from a makeshift campsite in the foothills near Tramway and Copper when officers confronted him. According to APD, Boyd was carrying knives and refused to drop them.

Two officers, Sandy and Perez, shot him during the standoff.

Police footage of the incident prompted international criticism and local protests against APD’s use of force.

In the video, Boyd starts to gather his belongings when an officer is heard saying, “Do it.” A flash bang is fired and a police dog runs up to Boyd. Boyd drops his bags and reaches into his pockets. The officers yell, “Get on the ground,” and Boyd can be seen turning away before gunshots are fired.

The Office of the Medical Investigator’s autopsy report shows Boyd died from three gunshot wounds. One hit him in his lower left back.

Officer Sandy has been heavily scrutinized for his role in Boyd’s shooting death. A KOB investigation revealed that hours prior to shooting Boyd, Sandy told another officer he wanted to shoot Boyd in the groin.

At the scene, Sandy saw former colleague State Police Officer Chris Ware. Sandy didn’t realize Ware’s dash cam was rolling and picked up their conversation.

Sandy: What do they have you guys doing here?

Ware: I don’t know. The guy asked for state police.

Sandy: Who asked?

Ware: I don’t know.

Sandy: For this f***ing lunatic?  I’m going to shoot him in the penis with a shotgun here in a second.

Ware: You got uh less-lethal?

Sandy: I got…

Ware: The Taser shotgun?

Sandy: Yeah.

Ware: Oh, I thought you guys got rid of those?

Sandy: ROP’s got one… here’s what we’re thinking, because I don’t know what’s going on, nobody has briefed me…

In April, APD internal investigators asked Sandy about what he meant by the “shooting in the penis” comment. In an internal investigation transcript, Sandy is quoted saying, “Jokingly, just kind of locker room banter, just told him, you know, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll shoot him in the pecker with this and call it good.'”

But a few minutes later, the transcript shows Sandy recanted his statement. The investigator asked, “Did you say anything to Chris Ware about shooting him in the pecker?”

Sandy responded, “I don’t…no, I don’t think I did.”

Officer Sandy submitted his notice of retirement in November. He and Perez had been placed on administrative leave since the incident. Under New Mexico law, Sandy would not be entitled to a pension if he filed for retirement after a conviction.

Albuquerque police have been involved in more than 40 shootings since 2010. Twenty-seven of the cases were fatal.

This case will mark the first time an APD officer has been charged with murder in connection to a fatal officer-involved shooting.

The Department of Justice announced reforms for APD in October following an investigation into the department’s use of excessive and deadly force.