ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – After a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputy was pulled over for DWI, her case was dropped by the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office. And her attorney says it was the right move.
The attorney for Adrienne Seay says he is happy the DA’s office has dropped the case. He maintains his client is still a good cop and the arrest was not warranted. “In this case that occurred, but I think there was just some unique circumstances that occurred in this particular case, which warranted us filing this dismissal,” said Josh Boone, chief deputy district attorney.
The DA’s office says the New Mexico State Police officer’s claims that Seay’s speech was slurred and her eyes bloodshot, were not backed up by the lapel video, and her field sobriety tests were inconclusive, leaving them without enough evidence to prosecute. “Our job is to look at what the evidence presents itself. Whether that’s good for prosecution or bad, we are still obligated to do the right thing no matter what,” said Boone.
The DA’s office insisted this doesn’t mean there’s a problem with procedures at DWI checkpoints. “So I don’t think anything about this case in particular really changes the nature of how officers are going to investigate DWIs or how we as an office would look at DWIs,” said Boone
But Seay’s case raised questions from the start. In a March hearing over whether to give her driver’s license back, a hearing officer ruled in her favor, determining the evidence and testimony from Officer Roybal did not align with the official report. The hearing officer ruled the arrest was quote “unreasonable.”
Seay’s attorney agrees. “I’ve been doing DWI for 34 and a half years. And state police is usually great. They usually have very reliable officers that show up to court and show up to license hearings and show up to interviews if necessary and do their job. In this case, this particular officer didn’t do that,” said Ousama M. Rasheed, Seay’s attorney.
Seay’s attorney says the officer’s testimony embellished what actually happened. “So there are lots of things that if any reasonable person views the video, they will not believe that the government could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she was impaired by alcohol,” said Rasheed.
Seay resigned from BCSO after her arrest. When asked if she would consider joining law enforcement again, her attorney said he hoped so.
KRQE News 13 reached out to New Mexico State Police to ask if Officer Roybal will be disciplined or if they stand by the arrest. They have repeatedly ignored requests for comment since Friday.
