Loya v. Gutierrez

OPINION

VANZI, Judge.

{1} In this case, the issue before us is whether the County of Santa Fe (the County) has a duty to defend or indemnify a tribal police officer who, while exercising his authority as a commissioned County sheriffs deputy, unlawfully arrested a non-Indian person within the exterior boundaries of the Pueblo of Pojoaque (the Pueblo). The district court concluded that the County did not have a duty to defend and/or indemnify Officer Glen Gutierrez because he was not a “public employee” or “law enforcement officer” of a “governmental entity” as those terms are defined by the New…