Published Oct 16, 2008
Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s deputy Billy Merrifield has been denied admission to the Law Enforcement Academy, according to the Academy Board.
Merrifield, 34, was hired April 11 as an uncertified deputy. Within the first year of employment, uncertified deputies must obtain Academy certification. Between February and April of this year, the Department terminated three deputies who failed to meet their certification requirements in the first year.
Academy Board Director Arthur Ortiz confirmed last week that Merrifield was denied admission to the Academy, referring all other questions to Department of Public Safety spokesman Peter Olson. Olson said Merrifield did not meet all the requirements for admission, and said he did not know whether Merrifield appealed the decision.
Sheriff Joe Mascarenas said Merrifield appealed the decision, and declined to comment on the “bunch of reasons” he said the Academy gave Merrifield for rejecting him.
Merrifield was put on administrative leave from the Department from Sept. 5 to Sept. 27, Madrid said. Mascareñas said it was a “personnel matter,” and he declined to comment further on the matter.
Merrifield referred all questions to his lawyer, Michael Schwartz, who did not return calls for comment.
Merrifield is a former Santa Fe County corrections officer with a lengthy juvenile record, and no adult criminal convictions. According to a 1988 State Police report, he was charged with gang-raping an Española woman when he was 14 years old. The outcome of the case is not a public record, as Merrifield was a juvenile at the time.
Child Protective Services substantiated physical abuse allegations Merrifield’s 7-year-old daughter made against him in 2002, required him to undergo anger management classes and ordered supervised visitation only, court documents state.
The Academy Board requires agencies to report an officer’s conviction or guilty plea to any violation “involving moral turpitude” or which “indicate(s) a lack of good moral character.”