$112,500 Paid to Former New Mexico Prisoner Denied Public Records of Excessive Force by Guards
by Chuck Sharman
A former New Mexico prisoner’s excessive force complaint against guards morphed into a public records suit over his stonewalled demand for documentation of the incident before the state agreed to a settlement on March 4, 2026. Under its terms, $112,500 was paid to the former prisoner, Paul A. Medina.
Medina was being released from Central New Mexico Correctional Facility on July 2, 2020, when he got into an argument with a guard, who grabbed Medina by his wrists and twisted his arms as he “placed his body forcefully into the holding cell,” according to the complaint Medina later filed. Almost at once, the prisoner said, he developed trouble breathing and alerted the guards that his ribs were broken. But he was ignored.
Several hours later, after his release, Medina went to a hospital, where it was found that he had three broken ribs. He filed a request under the state Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA), NMSA 1978, §§14-2-1 et seq., asking the state Corrections Department (NMCD) to provide any and all documents related to the incident, including reports, photos, video or audio recordings. But the NMCD denied the request, saying the records had been made part of a “serious incident report” which rendered them “confidential and exempt from disclosure.”
Medina’s attorney, Joseph P. Kennedy, asked the NMCD to cite the statutory authority for this denial. When he got no response, Kennedy filed a new request for all “serious incident reports” made between January 2 and October 28, 2020. The NMCD called that request “very burdensome” and said it would need 180 days—until May 2021—to comply. The NMCD later asked Kennedy if he were willing to pay for photocopies of the reports, and he offered to reimburse the cost of reproducing the first 100 pages. But again he got nothing.
Kennedy then filed suit on Medina’s behalf in September 2021, asking the state First Judicial District Court for the County of Santa Fe to find the NMCD in violation of the IPRA and enforce its compliance. In April 2022, he filed an amended complaint, adding allegations of battery and false imprisonment related to the initial incident. For nearly four years thereafter, the state continued to fight the case, spending nearly $38,000 in the process, General Services Department Risk Management Division spokesperson Joe Vigil told the Santa Fe New Mexican.
The case was set for trial in later in March 2026 when the parties reached their settlement agreement. Under its terms, the $112,500 payout resolved Medina’s claims arising from the July 2020 incident with guards and the NMCD’s response to his IPRA request. Costs and fees for his attorney were also included in that amount. See: Medina v. N.M. Corr. Dep’t, N.M. 1st Jud. Dist. (Cty. of Santa Fe), Case No. D-101-CV-202102055.
NMCD spokesperson Brittany Roembach told the Santa Fe New Mexican that the prison system is “committed to transparency” and “reviews all use-of-force incidents and responds to public records requests in accordance with state requirements.” However, it was unclear when or if the NMCD responded to Medina’s request.
Additional source: Santa Fe New Mexican
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Related legal case
Medina v. N.M. Corr. Dep’t, N.M. 1st Jud. Dist. (Cty. of Santa Fe)
| Year | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Cite | Case No. D-101-CV-202102055 |
| Level | District Court |