By Micheal Chukwuebuka, Reporting
THE New Mexico Justice Department has declined to file charges against police officers who went to the wrong address on a call last year and fatally shot the homeowner when he answered the door armed with a gun.
After a review, the Justice Department said there is no basis for pursuing a criminal prosecution against three Farmington police officers.
The fatal shooting of 52-year-old Robert Dotson on April 5, 2023, prompted an apology from Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe, who called it a tragedy.
Stonix News gathered that the officers were responding to a domestic violence-related call to a house around 11:30 that night, but they mistakenly went to a different house across the street.
A video, showing the officers discussing whether they were at the right address before the door opened and the shooting occurs, was released by the police department.
A professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, Seth W. Stoughton, who was hired by the state Justice Department, while reviewing the bodycam video, said the way officers approached the Dotson home was reasonable, even though they approached the incorrect dwelling.
“In this case, Mr. Dotson opened the front door and storm door, then partially exited the house while raising a firearm into a firing position, pointed in the direction of the officers,” part of Stoughton’s report says.
According to NBC News, the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court is New Mexico, alleges that the first officer who shot at Dotson opened fire instantly and that the two others then also fired.
“Mr Dotson opened his front door and was blinded by police flashlights.
“The police did not announce themselves, and Mr. Dotson had no idea who was in his yard shining bright lights at him,” the suit says.
It seeks damages under the Wrongful Death Act, as well as compensatory and punitive damages.
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