City of Las Cruces paying $6.5M to settle chokehold death lawsuit involving former police officer

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — The City of Las Cruces has agreed to pay $6.5 million to the family of man choked to death by a now-former police officer who is facing a murder charge, according to a copy of the wrongful death lawsuit settlement agreement obtained Wednesday by ABC-7.

“We are confident that we have made it cost-prohibitive for the Las Cruces Police Department to continue (to) wrongfully killing its citizens,” Sam Bregman, the attorney for the family of Antonio Valenzuela, had said earlier this month in first announcing that settlement.

At the time, Bregman had declined to disclose the amount of the confidential settlement.

Valenzuela, 40, had a warrant out for his arrest because of a parole violation and fought with officers who tried to detain him after he fled from a traffic stop in February.

After a chase, then-Las Cruces Officer Christopher Smelser applied a chokehold. Smelser can be heard on police video saying, “I’m going to (expletive) choke you out, bro.”

Valenzuela died at the scene. The state medical investigator determined he died from asphyxial injuries and that he had methamphetamine in his system which contributed to his death. It was ruled a homicide.

Smelser was later fired and faces a second-degree murder charge. He has not yet entered a plea but his lawyer has maintained his innocence.

In addition to the cash payout, other parts of the lawsuit settlement previously reported include the city adopting racial bias training for police and requiring officers to intervene in possible excessive force episodes.

Also under the agreement, Las Cruces police agreed to ban all chokeholds and fire any officer who violates the new policy — something city officials say the city already does. Police also must adopt a warning system involving officers who use excessive force and forge a policy so officers can undergo yearly mental health exams.

The deal must still be approved by Las Cruces City Council.

Adrian Guzman, a spokesman for the city, has previously said some of the proposed policies are already in place. The vascular neck restraint used by Smelser, for example, was prohibited by a policy put forth by the former police chief, Guzman said.

The Washington Post has reported that between 2015 and last April, Las Cruces recorded the highest per capita rate of police killings in the nation.

You can read the entire settlement agreement document obtained by ABC-7 below. (The Associated Press contributed background to this report.)