A judge heard arguments Thursday on whether District Attorney Kari Brandenburg should be thrown off a high profile police shooting case. Earlier this year her office charged two former Albuquerque police officers with open counts of murder in the fatal shooting of homeless camper James Boyd.
Lawyers representing Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez argued that Brandenburg has a conflict of interest because she was the subject of an investigation for bribery and intimidation by the Albuquerque Police Department. That investigation has been forwarded to the Attorney General.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Deborah DePalo is the one who is actually assigned to prosecute the Boyd murder case. She said none of the reasons for a district attorney to be disqualified are present in this case.
“The defense has thrown a bunch of things in a caldron. They’ve thrown some sticks and some stones and a little bit of dirty water and a lot of hot air,” DePalo said. “They are trying to convince the court that they can somehow produce soup out of this, and it isn’t so.”
District Judge Alisa Hadfield gave the parties 10 days to file final arguments before she makes a ruling.
