AI Generated Opinion Summaries

This summary was computer-generated without any editorial revision. It is not official, has not been checked for accuracy, and is NOT citable.

Facts

• The case involves Officer Glen Gutierrez, a tribal police officer and commissioned County sheriff’s deputy, who unlawfully arrested Jose Luis Loya, a non-Indian person, within the Pueblo of Pojoaque. Officer Gutierrez, while on duty for the Pueblo police and also acting as a Santa Fe County Deputy Sheriff, stopped Loya’s vehicle on a state-maintained road within the Pueblo boundaries. Subsequently, Loya was arrested for reckless driving and prosecuted in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court. Loya filed a complaint against Officer Gutierrez for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and use of excessive force under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (paras 2-4).

Procedural History

• [Not applicable or not found]

Parties' Submissions

• Appellant (Officer Glen Gutierrez): Argued that the County of Santa Fe was required to defend and indemnify him in the lawsuit filed by Loya, as he was acting within the scope of his duty as a commissioned County sheriff’s deputy at the time of the incident (para 4).
• Appellee (County of Santa Fe): Contended that they had no duty to defend or indemnify Officer Gutierrez because he was not a “public employee” or “law enforcement officer” of a “governmental entity” under the New Mexico Tort Claims Act (TCA), as he was employed by the Pueblo, a sovereign Indian tribe not defined as a “governmental entity” by the TCA (paras 4, 7).

Legal Issues

• Whether the County of Santa Fe has a duty to defend or indemnify Officer Glen Gutierrez for actions taken while he was acting as a commissioned County sheriff’s deputy within the exterior boundaries of the Pueblo of Pojoaque (para 1).

Disposition

• The district court’s decision that the County of Santa Fe did not have a duty to defend and/or indemnify Officer Glen Gutierrez was affirmed (para 1).

Reasons

• Per LINDA M. VANZI, Judge (RODERICK T. KENNEDY, Chief Judge, CYNTHIA A. FRY, Judge concurring): The court held that Officer Gutierrez was not a “public employee” or “law enforcement officer” of a “governmental entity” as defined by the TCA because he was employed by the Pueblo, a sovereign Indian tribe not included in the TCA’s definition of a “governmental entity.” The court also rejected Officer Gutierrez’s argument that he fits within another definition of a “public employee” under the TCA, stating that such an interpretation would require expanding the definition beyond the statute's plain language. The court concluded that Officer Gutierrez’s commission as a sheriff’s deputy did not make him a “public employee” of the County but merely conferred upon him jurisdiction to act lawfully when enforcing state and local laws. Therefore, the County had no duty to defend or indemnify Officer Gutierrez for tortious acts committed under color of his commission (paras 5-22).