May 15--REPORTING FROM PHOENIX -- New Mexico's attorney general has declined to file charges against a district attorney whom police accused of helping cover up allegations against her son, a case that carries political implications for most of Albuquerque's leadership.
New Mexico Atty. Gen. Hector Balderas said in a letter to Albuquerque Police Chief Gordon Eden on Thursday that he could not find cause to charge Second Judicial Dist. Atty. Kari Brandenburg with bribery.
Balderas had harsh words for the Albuquerque Police Department, which he said completed collecting evidence in July 2013, but waited until January of this year to refer the case to the attorney general, "based solely on a political motivation."
Police had investigated whether Brandenburg tried to buy the silence of families whose homes police say were burglarized by her 26-year-old son, Justin Koch, who has been charged in a series of larcenies and burglaries.
Brandenburg is pursuing murder charges against two Albuquerque police officers involved in the March 2014 fatal shooting of a homeless man, James Boyd, on the outskirts of town.
It is the first time Brandenburg has pursued murder charges against police officers involved in a fatal shooting, and there were immediate reactions from the police department and the city.
A city attorney refused to let Brandenburg's deputies examine a crime scene, which was standard procedure, and argued that Brandenburg's decision to file charges created a conflict of interest in assessing whether other officers' actions were justified.
A judge agreed, and demanded that Brandenburg appoint a special prosecutor in all cases of fatal police shootings.
Balderas said the police department's motivations were clear. The agency brought the case to the attorney general only after Brandenburg informed the officers' attorneys that she would be filing charges against them.
"The timing of the APD's decision ... raises questions about APD's motivations," Balderas wrote, "not only when deciding when to refer the matter to the [attorney general], but also when deciding to pursue an investigation against Brandenburg in the first place."
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