Archuleta v. Santa Fe Police Dept.

108 P.3d 1019

137 N.M. 161

2005 NMSC 6

Jerry ARCHULETA, Petitioner-Respondent, v. SANTA FE POLICE DEPARTMENT, ex rel., CITY OF SANTA FE, Joanne Vigil Quintana, John Whitbeck, and Danielle Wilson, in their capacity as members of the Grievance Review Board of the City of Santa Fe, and The Grievance Review Board, Respondents-Petitioners.

No. 28,630.

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

February 28, 2005.

Bruce T. Thompson, City Attorney, Mark L. Allen, Assistant City Attorney, Miller Stratvert, P.A., Paula G. Maynes, Santa Fe, NM, for Petitioners.

Comeau, Maldegen, Templeman & Indall, L.L.P., Joseph E. Manges, Santa Fe, NM, for Respondent.

Patricia A. Madrid, Attorney General, Albert Roland Fugere, Special Assistant Attorney General, John W. Wheeler II, Special Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, NM, for Amicus Curiae, New Mexico Department of Public Safety.

Serra, Garrity & Masiowski, L.L.C., Diane M. Garrity, Santa Fe, NM, for Amicus Curiae, New Mexico Association of Counties. Michael Schwarz, Santa Fe, NM, for Amicus Curiae, New Mexico National Employment Lawyers' Association.

OPINION

MINZNER, Justice.

{1} The City of Santa Fe, on behalf of the Santa Fe Police Department (SFPD), appeals from a memorandum opinion issued by the Court of Appeals in which the court reversed the demotion of Jerry Archuleta, a Department employee, on grounds that he was denied due process in the administrative proceedings. Archuleta v. Santa Fe Police Dep't., No. 23,445, ___ P.3d ___ (N.M.Ct.App. Apr. 5, 2004). The sole issue on appeal is whether it was error to deny Archuleta access to the disciplinary records of fellow police officers in his post-demotion hearing before the City's Grievance Review Board. We conclude that the denial of discovery was reasonable and did not deny Archuleta due process. We reverse the Court of Appeals and affirm the Board's decision.

I.

{2} Archuleta was hired by the SFPD in 1991 and promoted to lieutenant in October, 1999. On June 7, 2000, he was the highest ranking officer in charge of the "grave-yard" shift at the North Side Division. One of his officers who was on duty that night was Issac Valerio. At 11:03 p.m. Valerio was flagged down by Evelyn Romero who reported that her seven year-old son, Robbie Romero, had been missing since 5:00 p.m.¹ Valerio entered the child's information into a national registry but never issued a bulletin or advisory notice; he then searched for the child throughout most of the night without success until his shift ended at 6:30 a.m. Although Valerio searched for the child for nearly seven hours, Archuleta never asked him about the case, provided additional resources, or notified an on-call detective as required by the SFPD's regulations. Archuleta claimed he was not aware that the case involved a missing seven year-old until 4:30 a.m. on June 8, although there was evidence that this information was available to him at least twice during the night. Once he was aware of the situation, he did not take any action, even though a seven year-old had been missing for nearly twelve hours. Robbie was never found.

A.

{3} Two supervisors, Captains Leroy Lucero and Andrew Leyba, requested that Internal Affairs investigate whether Archuleta and Valerio had complied with SFPD regulations. On September 20, 2000, after conducting a taped interview with Valerio and Archuleta and reviewing dispatch tapes, one of the investigators issued a report, in which he found that Archuleta violated two SFPD regulations: Patrol Investigative Procedure 13.G — failing to notify a CID commander of the missing seven year-old child upon being made aware of the case; and Administrative Order A-25.1 — failing to "adequately supervise and direct the activities of personnel assigned to him and properly inspect their work for effectiveness, efficiency and adherence to established policies and procedure." Valerio was not faulted for failing to issue a bulletin or notice, because he was never given a copy of SFPD directives and Archuleta did not have a copy available for his team office. Valerio was exonerated on the charge that he failed to notify Archuleta about the missing child; dispatch tapes verified that at 11:03 he advised dispatch that he was flagged down about a missing person, at 11:39 he told dispatch that he was searching for the "seven year-old," and at 1:52 a.m. he asked Archuleta permission to travel outside the jurisdiction to La Cienega to search for the "seven year-old."

{4} Captains Lucero and Leyba then recommended that Archuleta be demoted to the rank of sergeant and attend "first line supervisor training" as an appropriate disciplinary action. Archuleta received notice of his predetermination hearing, which was held and recorded on September 28. Archuleta, who was represented by counsel, testified and questioned witnesses at this hearing. The next day, Chief Denko notified Archuleta that he was approving the disciplinary action and of his right to appeal that decision. Archuleta provided a written response to the Personnel Director and the City Manager indicating that the action was excessive and unfair in light of SFPD's progressive discipline policy, and he described three cases in which he alleged other officers received lesser or equal punishment for more serious infractions. Both officials notified Archuleta that, after reviewing his information, they concurred with the recommendation that he be demoted, effective November 25, 2000.

B.

{5} Archuleta appealed the action to the Board. A hearing officer was assigned to preside at the appeal hearing and issue recommendations to the Board. The hearing officer issued a letter setting forth the procedures for the hearing. Both parties would exchange witness and exhibit lists, submit position statements, and, as agreed by the parties, make witnesses available for brief, informal interviews and two depositions per side. The City bore the burden to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, the basis for its discipline and the appropriateness of the discipline. Each side would be allowed to make opening and closing statements, call and cross-examine witnesses, introduce evidence, and invoke the rule allowing for the exclusion of witnesses from the hearing. Although the rules of evidence would not apply, the hearing officer reserved the right to exclude any evidence that was irrelevant, unduly burdensome, repetitive, harassing, or involving multiple hearsay.

{6} On May 17, 2001, five days before the hearing was initially set to begin, Archuleta moved for a continuance and to compel discovery from the City for "all prior cases involving the suspension, demotion or termination of an SFPD officer (of any rank) in the last five years, e.g. from 1996 to present." The City opposed the motion on the basis that the information was confidential, that the probative value was de minimis, and that it was irrelevant, overly broad, and unduly burdensome. A telephonic hearing was held off the record, after which the hearing officer denied the motion without explanation. The parties submitted their position statements and objections to proposed exhibits.

{7} A hearing on the record was held on July 11, 12 and 13, 2001, during which the following evidence was elicited. As commander, Archuleta was required to direct and supervise all of the officers under his command, monitor their activity on the radio, allocate resources, review reports, and gather more information on pending cases, if necessary. Although Valerio had experience as a police officer, he was a recent-hire at SFPD and had been on his own for only three weeks. After responding to the Romero call on June 7, 2000, at 11:03 p.m., Valerio called in a "missing person" report to dispatch, reported that he would be searching for a "seven year-old," and entered the information into the national registry. Valerio searched for Robbie for about an hour-and-a-half until he took another call. He resumed his search for Robbie at 1:21 a.m.; by that time dispatch had changed the code for his report so that it indicated a runaway or a child in need of supervision, which had a lower priority. At 1:52 a.m., Valerio contacted Archuleta for permission to travel outside the jurisdiction to search for Robbie. The radio transmission indicates that Archuleta was told that Valerio was working on a case involving a runaway or a child in need of supervision and the "seven year old ... may be in La Cienega ... with a suspect in a case [involving the Romeros' daughter]." Archuleta told Valerio to take another officer with him; he did not inquire into the circumstances, apparently, because he did not hear the information about the seven year-old or that a possible suspect was involved in the disappearance. Valerio's search in La Cienega was unsuccessful, and he returned to Santa Fe at 3:06 a.m. for a meal break. He turned in his report to Archuleta at 4:27 a.m. Although Valerio was with Archuleta for twenty minutes, Archuleta made only a few minor spelling corrections to the report; he did not discuss the report, which clearly indicated that Valerio had been searching throughout the night for a seven year-old, or address several deficiencies in it. Valerio resumed his search from 4:49 to 6:30 a.m. Archuleta rejected Valerio's offer to continue his search until he was due in court at 9:00 a.m. and told him he would have another officer take over the investigation.

{8} For five and a half hours, from the time Robbie's disappearance was reported until Valerio turned in his report, Archuleta never asked Valerio about the incident or why he was spending so much time on it. Archuleta explained that he thought he was dealing with a runaway, which he considered a low priority. He testified that he first realized that Valerio had been searching for a missing seven year-old child at about 4:30 a.m., although he admitted that this information was relayed to him earlier — once by dispatch, which he was supposed to be...