APD actions in woman's suicide at issue in trial

Jurors heard opening statements Monday in a civil trial that tests what actions police can take under New Mexico law to prevent a potential suicide in a person's own home.

The case involves the 2021 death of 29-year-old Tania Ortiz-Mejia, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound sometime after she interacted with Albuquerque Police Department officers at her Southeast Albuquerque apartment complex.

The lawsuit, filed by the woman’s family, alleges that Albuquerque officials could have prevented Ortiz-Mejia's death if they had intervened more forcefully after relatives reported seeing her in her apartment with a gun pointed at her head.

Elise Funke, an attorney for Ortiz-Mejia's family, told jurors Monday that APD officers broke off contact with the woman after speaking with her twice by phone.

"That night, they left Tania alone with a gun in a suicidal state," Funke said in opening statements."

Ortiz-Mejia, the mother of a then 4-year-old girl, was found dead in her apartment on Nov. 16, 2021, two days after her interaction with police. Attorneys did not say when she died of the self-inflicted gunshot.

According to the suit, Ortiz-Mejia had a history of mental health struggles, including prior acts of self-harm, illegal drug use and diagnoses for schizophrenia, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. The suit was filed in 2023 by members of Ortiz-Mejia's family and against the city of Albuquerque seeking unspecified damages.

The trial is scheduled through Friday in 2nd Judicial District Court in Albuquerque before Judge Lisa Chavez Ortega.

"Officers never once asked to come inside her apartment to talk with her," Funke told jurors. "None of these APD officers ever called Tania back a few hours later like they told her they would."

Funke also told jurors that John Dodd, a member of APD’s Mobile Crisis Team and a licensed clinical counselor on scene that evening, will testify that he issued a "certificate for evaluation" that authorized police to take Ortiz-Mejia into custody for a psychological evaluation.

"Despite John Dodd's clinical finding that she was likely a risk of serious harm to herself or others that night, that APD officers still chose to leave Tania alone with a gun in her apartment," Funke said.

Joseph Holvey, an attorney for the city, said police engaged with Ortiz-Mejia for more than two hours and spoke on the phone with her for more than 40 minutes, during which the woman asked officers 44 times to leave her alone.

"This case stems from a disagreement about when government action becomes government overreach," Holvey told jurors. "It's about a person's right to be free from unwanted intrusions into his or her home."

Officers were dispatched to Ortiz-Mejia's home in response to a mental-health crisis, not to investigate a crime, he said.

"Experiencing a mental health crisis is not a crime," he said. "Nor is it a crime under New Mexico law to die by suicide."

Holvey also said that the certificate of examination issued by the counselor allows officers to take custody of a person for psychological examination but doesn't authorize police to forcefully enter a person's home.

The job of the jury, he said, is "determining is whether the city and its officers are required to forcefully take into custody any and all individuals who police deem to be experiencing some sort of mental health crisis."

Olivier Uyttebrouck covers the court system. You can reach him at olivier@abqjournal.com.