ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) The Albuquerque-area District Attorney is defending her office's handling of police shooting cases despite a U.S. Justice Department report citing excessive force by the Albuquerque Police Department. Second Judicial District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said Thursday she has followed New Mexico law, even though her office hasn't prosecuted any officers involved in the 37 police shootings since 2010. Brandenburg says if state law is changed, officers won't be able to defend themselves.
Brandenburg has been criticized for her office's controversial, decades-old practice of using grand jury panels to affirm decisions that no probable cause existed to charge police officers in shootings.
Under a new system, New Mexico prosecutors decide if a crime was committed and then present the case to a grand jury to decide.
