SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - Court documents show the state paid the family of a New Mexico woman fatally shot by a state police officer $3 million to keep them from filing a civil lawsuit.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports (https://bit.ly/2pTHJdo ) the family had been paid nine months after a grand jury decided the 2013 shooting was justified.
The newspaper initially requested settlement records in 2015. Officials delayed the release, citing a statute allowing payouts to be kept private for a certain amount of time.
Open government advocates believe the state is misreading the law and should have released the information sooner.
Officer Oliver Wilson had been on the job a few weeks when he fired 16 bullets at Jeanette Anaya’s vehicle as she fled. Two bullets hit the 39-year-old - one in the head and one in the back.
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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, https://www.sfnewmexican.com
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