Controversial Santa Fe County sheriff's deputy faces misconduct complaint

Aug. 19—First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies confirmed Friday her office has filed a police misconduct complaint with the state Law Enforcement Academy Board against sometimes-controversial Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office Detective Patrick Ficke.

"The First Judicial District Attorney's Office will no longer rely upon Detective Patrick Ficke as a witness in any criminal case in the First Judicial District," Carmack-Altwies said in an email sent by spokeswoman Franchesca Perdue.

The District Attorney said in the email she notified the sheriff's office of her concerns about Ficke on July 27.

Carmack-Altweis did not respond to follow up questions about the nature of the complaint.

In an email Friday, Sheriff Adan Mendoza wrote he learned of the issue for the first time when he met with Carmack-Altwies on Aug. 3. He added Ficke was "immediately placed on restrictive duty" and is not making arrests or investigating cases while an investigation is pending.

Mendoza wrote the District Attorney's Office cited "a concerning pattern of conduct" on specific cases involving Ficke, including "facts in cases that were contradicted or not supported by Body Worn Camera evidence, possible violations of the 4th Amendment, including pre-textual stops and unreasonable searches.

"They didn't mention anything criminal he had done," Mendoza said in a phone interview. "It wasn't use of force ... it was more like the way he was dealing with the public, search and seizure, just the way he handled the cases."

Mendoza said Ficke has a right to due process in the matter, "but I will say this: If the DA won't accept testimony from Ficke — and this goes for all our deputies — then they can't work in the sheriff's office. It's pretty simple."

Ficke's history includes instances were he has been lauded as a hero for saving the life of a choking baby and rescuing a woman who suffered a fall from her horse while riding in the mountains. He has also been accused of domestic violence and is currently being sued by the family of a man he fatally shot in the line of duty last summer.

Ficke did not respond to a message seeking comment Friday. An Albuquerque lawyer who has represented him in the past also didn't return a phone call.

The deputy's career has been marked by controversy since at least 2013, when he resigned from the Albuquerque Police Department following allegations he struck his wife in front of their young son and tried to prevent her from leaving their home.

He was charged with child abuse, false imprisonment and battery of a household member in the case. The charges were dismissed in 2016 because prosecutors failed to bring the case to trial in a timely manner, according to court records, which show a district judge also issued a restraining order against Ficke in another case that year, checking a box on a form that indicated domestic violence was part of the basis for the order.

In July 2021, Ficke fatally shot Edward Daniel Santana, 45, outside a home in Tesuque following what authorities said was Santana's horrific attack on his mother. He had stabbed her multiple times, and she later died, according to police reports.

According to reports and video, Santana, with self-inflicted cuts on his neck and wrist, resisted arrest, even after he was struck with a stun gun. State police officers and deputies at the scene were prepared to strike him again with an electronic weapon, but Ficke fired shots as Santana, wielding a fence post, lunged at an officer.

In another case, Ficke was identified as being one of several officers from three different agencies who fired on a fleeing vehicle from which a passenger reportedly had been shooting at the pursuing officers during a high-speed pursuit near Clines Corners.

Ficke fired nearly 50 rounds with his department-issued AR-15 through the windshield of his own patrol car wire pursuing two suspects at high speeds near Eldorado, according to previous reports.

The vehicle crashed and the passenger was pronounced dead on the scene, according to reports. State police could not confirm at the time whether she died from gunshot wounds or injuries suffered the crash.

Retired prosecutor Andrea Reeb recently cleared Ficke of wrongdoing in the case involving Santana. The other case was still under review as of June.

Santana's family members recently filed a wrongful death claim against Ficke, claiming the deputy "acted as judge, jury, and executioner ... when he used excessive and unnecessary deadly force on [Santana]."

Several cases involving Ficke were dismissed on "Giglio violations" recently after the Public Defender's Office argued state prosecutors had violated requirements which require them to disclose information that could call an officer's credibility into question.

In February, a drug trafficking case was dismissed after lab testing revealed the seized substances were "not the charged substances nor any identifiable narcotic or scheduled substance."

The New Mexican submitted a request for the district attorney's complaint against Ficke to the Department of Public Safety on Thursday. The document was not produced Friday.