The New Mexico State Police (NMSP) paid has paid a settlement to a man who was incarcerated for almost year for a 2012 murder in which he had no involvement.
The $200,000 settlement is in response to a 2018 lawsuit filed against the department by Joseph Vigil on claims that he was falsely accused and imprisoned, as initially reported in Santa Fe New Mexican. The NMSP agreed to pay the settlement in June 2019 in order to drop the lawsuit.
In August 2012, Vigil, alongside Joe Martinez, was accused of murdering 23-year-old Juanito Martinez (unrelated) close to the driveway of his ex-girlfriend’s residence. A witness to the murder informed police that he watched the two men attack Martinez at a party before stuffing him in a truck and driving off. He later recanted his story in 2015.
The department is currently requesting a District Court judge to dismiss Joe Martinez’s similar case, although court records show that Martinez had not been involved in his own civil case against the police.
The true perpetrator of the crime has yet to be identified and the case remains open.
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