A federal jury is deliberating whether an Albuquerque police officer used excessive force by ordering his police dog to catch a woman suspected of fleeing from a burglary.
Marlo Marquez, 22, wants the jury to award her $250,000 in compensatory damages for injuries she sustained when police dog Bart bit her after officer Andrew Lehocky set him loose.
Marquez's lawyer, Sam Bregman, also asked the jury for unspecified punitive damages Tuesday in his summation after the one day of testimony. The trial started Monday before Chief U.S. Magistrate William W. Deaton. Deliberations started about 11:10 a.m. Tuesday.
Luis Robles, the lawyer defending Lehocky and the city, said in his summation Tuesday that the officer's actions were reasonable given the limited information he had. Lehocky said he responded to a call about burglary suspects fleeing from other officers.
The incident with the dog occurred the night of Aug. 10, 1999, at the tail end of a police pursuit. The suspected car was spotted about a half hour after the burglary. The car traveled recklessly through some city streets and crashed into a wrought iron and stucco wall at Washington and Ridgecrest SE. Lehocky was the initial officer on the scene.
According to court documents, Lehocky said the driver and passenger got out of the car and tried to jump over the wall, so he warned them to stop or he would use his police dog.
Robles said they disobeyed Lehocky, so he let the dog go and it went after Marquez, the passenger. Robles said Lehocky ran after the driver.
But Bregman said Marquez did not participate in the burglary and did not try to run. He also said the excessive force was exacerbated when Lehocky ordered Marquez to "drag the dog back to him" as it continued to bite her.
Bregman accused Lehocky of lying.
He also said Marquez sustained serious injuries on her backside that would require several surgeries to correct.
"Every morning, when she puts on her clothes, she is reminded of what (Lehocky) did to her," Bregman said in his closing argument.
Robles, in his summation, built up his attack on Marquez's character. On the witness stand Monday, Marquez admitted using cocaine and marijuana and drinking alcohol since she was at least 15 and just before the 1999 incident.
"She may have testified about what she perceives to be the truth, but her perceptions are altered by lifelong use of all these substances," Robles told the jury.
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