Jury fails to reach verdict in whistleblower suit against city

May 24—Jurors failed to reach a verdict this week in a civil lawsuit filed by a former Albuquerque Police Department employee who alleges she was forced out of her job for reporting misconduct by a top official in the department.

Judge Lisa Ortega declared a mistrial Thursday after jurors deadlocked in their second day of deliberations. The mistrial came after five days of testimony in the 2nd Judicial District Court trial.

Paulette Diaz, a former APD administrative assistant, alleged in a lawsuit that she was illegally transferred from APD in 2020 and later fired by the city.

Attorneys for both Diaz and the city did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.

The trial is the latest in a string of legal actions dating back to the tenure of former APD Chief Michael Geier from 2017 to 2020.

Diaz's attorney, Thomas Grover, told jurors this week that city officials violated the state's Whistleblower Protection Act by firing Diaz.

Diaz was transferred to another department and later fired by the city after she sent a memo to Geier reporting what she described as improper and potentially illegal behavior by a top APD official, Diaz's attorney, Thomas Grover, said Wednesday in closing arguments.

In a July 2020 letter to Geier, Diaz alleged that Geier's then-chief of staff, John Ross, had received a raise and made various purchases, including a laptop computer, without the proper approvals, the suit alleges.

Geier ordered an Internal Affairs investigation into Ross that found no major infractions, an APD spokesman said in 2020.

Ross told jurors in testimony this week that Diaz had falsely accused him of wrongdoing and had attempted to damage his career. In November 2022, the city agreed to pay $400,000 to Ross to settle claims he made against the city.

Andrea Robeda, an attorney for the city, responded that Diaz had been hired by Geier and was removed properly when Chief Harold Medina was appointed to the top APD post.

Geier was appointed by Mayor Tim Keller, serving as police chief from 2017 until Keller forced him to resign in September 2020.

As the incoming executive, Medina had the right to select his own executive team, Robeda told jurors.

Geier also has a whistleblower lawsuit pending against the city. Grover, who also represents Geier, said that lawsuit is likely to come to trial next year.