By Raam Wong
Albuquerque Journal
The sister of a Raton man who died in police custody has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
Jesse Saenz, 23, died in November 2007 after Raton police restrained him by firing a Taser and sitting on his lower back.
An autopsy found that Saenz died of cocaine intoxication. But the report also concluded that the actions of police officers played a contributing role in his death.
For that reason, the Office of Medical Investigator classified Saenz’s death as a homicide - meaning someone helped cause the death - as opposed to death by accident, natural causes or suicide.
The suit names as defendants the city of Raton, thenpolice chief Vincent Mares and the three arresting officers, Chris Edmondson, Nolberto Dominguez and Leonard Baca.
Monica Saenz’s lawsuit in state District court comes a month after a grand jury indicted the three officers for involuntary manslaughter. Dominguez and Baca pleaded not guilty last month, while online court records do not indicate Edmonson’s plea.
Raton Mayor Joe Apache said Friday that it would be premature to comment on the civil suit.
The suit states that on Nov. 18, 2007, the officers were dispatched to Oliver Street, where Saenz was kneeling on the ground in a home’s yard, clawing at the grass, putting grass and dirt on himself, and yelling in an irrational manner.
The home’s residents asked for assistance in removing Saenz from their yard.
The suit states that Baca cooperated fully as he was handcuffed but that he refused to get in the back seat of the police car.
The officers then gave Saenz a “bump tase,” in which the Taser was applied directly, rather than firing a dart, to the back of the neck area between the shoulders, according to the complaint.
Edmondson then ordered both Baca and Dominguez to deploy full Tasers, and the weapons were fired 23 times over the course of a few minutes, the complaint states. The officers later told New Mexico State Police investigators that they believed their Tasers, which deliver 50,000 volts, malfunctioned the night of the incident.
Saenz was placed face down on the back seat of Baca’s police car, whereupon Dominguez sat on Saenz’s neck and upper back, then later his lower back and hips, the complaint states.
“Dominguez held Saenz’s legs towards his own chest while Saenz was handcuffed behind his back and face down on his stomach in the back seat of the patrol car,” according to the suit. “This position made it virtually impossible for Saenz to breathe and increased the stress on his heart.”
By the time police arrived at the Colfax County Detention Center with Dominguez still on Saenz, Saenz was “was unconscious, limp and unresponsive,” according to the complaint.
Efforts to perform CPR by the police and later emergency personnel were unsuccessful, and Saenz was transported to Miners Colfax Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to the complaint.
Among other things, the suit contends that the officers failed to conduct a meaningful investigation before taking law enforcement action.
“Had they done so, they would have known that there was no need to confront and antagonize Saenz, no need to escalate the situation, and no need to use any force, let alone excessive force, on Saenz,” the suit states.
The officers should also have known the risk of “Sudden Custody Death Syndrome,” according to the complaint.
Meanwhile, the suit faults Chief Mares for his supervisory role over the officers.
The suit was filed by Santa Fe attorney Bob Rothstein.
Copyright 2009 Albuquerque Journal