SANTA FE - Heavily redacted State Police reports on last month's of f icerinvolved shooting in Glorieta released Wednesday shed little new light on the events around the death of a 34-year-old man from police gunfire.
The family of the man killed Oct. 4, Samuel Pauly, has made an issue of whether members of the State Police properly identified themselves as officers when they approached the house where the late-night shooting took place.
The 17 pages of reports released Wednesday does nothing to resolve that issue. Officers have said in a previously filed court document that they did, in fact, announce their presence. The police opened fire after gunshots were heard from inside the house. Daniel Pauly, Samuel Pauly's brother, faces charges in the case.
The Pauly family attorney who has raised questions about how police conducted themselves, Dan Cron, said he was disappointed to see so much information blacked out from the reports made public.
"It's a concern because the redactions raise questions as to why pertinent information was kept out of the public domain," Cron said. He also said the State Police shouldn't be investigating a case involving its own officers.
Samples of the redactions include these in a report by officer Kathryn Yardman. She was called to the scene on Glorieta's Fire House Road after a report of shots fired:
"When I arrived there were (redaction of a few words) on Fire House Road that were already on scene."
"I made contact with Officers White, Marsical and Truesdale and they advised me that (redaction of about one and a half lines of type)."
"Dispatch was notified of the current situation and we were advised by dispatch per Lieutenant Hernandez to try and (redaction of about three lines of type)."
One new detail from the Wednesday reports is that after Daniel Pauly was taken into custody, an officer "noticed there was an odor of alcohol emanating from Daniel Pauly's person; his pupils were dilated ..." More than five lines in the same paragraph are redacted.
None of the reports released Wednesday in response to requests from news organizations for records on the case are by officers who were actually present when shots were fired.
The State Police are required to put in writing the justification for redactions from public records like the ones released Wednesday. There was no written explanation accompanying the redacted reports provided to the Journal Wednesday afternoon. When Journal personnel pointed that out, a brief letter signed by the Department of Public Safety records custodian was sent by email.
The letter says the redactions were made because the shooting remains an open and active investigation and says the redactions are legal under a New Mexico open records exemption for law enforcement records "that reveal confidential sources, methods, information or individuals accused but not charged with a crime."
That explanation may not be enough to conform with a 2007 lawsuit settlement agreement on open records that DPS entered into to end litigation filed by New Mexico newspapers and the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.
FOG executive director Sarah Welsh said Wednesday the settlement "requires them to go a lot further" than just citing the state law exemptions. Also, the settlement has specific definitions for confidential information that can be withheld.
Copyright 2011 Albuquerque Journal
