Case 1:16-cv-01113-JB-JHR Document 67-1 Filed 10/16/17 Page 1 of 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO ARLENE HARJO, No. 1:16-cv-01113-JB-JHR Plaintiff, v. CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE, Defendant. DECLARATION OF ARLENE HARJO IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT I, ARLENE HARJO, declare under penalty of perjury that the following is true. 1. I am a resident of Albuquerque, where I work as a customer service representative for a major commercial airline. I have lived in New Mexico since I was two years old, and I have lived in Albuquerque since I was eight. 2. In March 2014, I purchased a brand new 2014 Nissan Versa from Melloy Nissan. To finance the purchase, I took out a loan of $14,080 from Kirtland Federal Credit Union. 3. I decided to buy a new car because I wanted a reliable form of transportation to get to and from work. My prior car had broken down on several occasions, and I did not want to miss work because of car troubles. 4. I was the only buyer of the car, and I was the only signer for the loan from Kirtland Federal Credit Union. My name is the only name on the title for the car. 5. After buying the car, I was the primary driver. I drove the car to and from work every day, and I also drove it for errands and other odd trips around town. {IJ091478.DOCX} 1 Case 1:16-cv-01113-JB-JHR Document 67-1 Filed 10/16/17 Page 2 of 6 6. A few times every week, my son Tino Harjo would ask to borrow the car for short trips. As I was the one with the keys, Tino had to ask my permission to use the car, and I would always ask him where he was going before agreeing to hand over the keys. Tino generally borrowed the car to go to the store, to the gym, or to pick up his son. 7. Over the course of several years, Tino borrowed my car well over one hundred times. I was never aware of any problem during that time. 8. I work from 3 o’clock to midnight at the call center, and I have my car with me during those times. I would let Tino borrow my car during the mornings or afternoons, when I was not using it, but never in the evenings. I also let Tino borrow my car on weekends, but again only during the mornings or afternoons. 9. On Saturday, April 23, 2016, around 2 o’clock in the afternoon, Tino asked to borrow my car to take a trip to the gym with a friend. I gave Tino permission to take the car, expecting that he would return within a few hours. 10. I know that Tino had issues with drunk driving in the past, but my understanding is that his most recent arrest occurred in 2009. My understanding is that Tino’s two other DWIs occurred even earlier, in 2001 and 1998. When I agreed to let Tino take my car, in April 2016, seven years had passed since his last DWI arrest. 11. When Tino was arrested for DWI in 2009, he was driving a 1998 Dodge Durango that he paid for with his own money. The Dodge Durango was titled in my name, as well as in Tino’s name, but Tino was the primary driver and did not need my permission to drive the car. 12. A lot changed in Tino’s life, since that last DWI arrest. In 2011, he had graduated from ITT Technical University with a degree in Electrical Engineering. In 2012, he purchased a {IJ091478.DOCX} 2 Case 1:16-cv-01113-JB-JHR Document 67-1 Filed 10/16/17 Page 3 of 6 home with a girlfriend. Then, in 2013, he became a father. While he and the mother separated not long after their son was conceived, he has remained committed to seeing his son. 13. Apart from the times that he was arrested, I had never known Tino to drink and drive. I knew that Tino sometimes went to a bar to go drinking, but that bar was just down the road from the house and Tino would go there and back on foot. On the other occasions that I was aware of Tino drinking, I saw him drinking at home. While I was aware that Tino had problems with substance abuse, I did not think he would drink and drive. I particularly did not think he would drink and drive during a Saturday afternoon trip to the gym. 14. Before letting Tino have the keys to my car, I spoke with him several times about the importance of not drinking and driving. Each time, Tino assured me he would not drink and drive. He told me that driving drunk was “not an option” because he understood that he could face severe legal consequence given his past arrest and convictions. Based on these conversations, I believed that Tino would not drink and drive. 15. While Tino told me he was driving to the gym, I later learned that he had lied. I became concerned when Tino did not return as expected, and I went to visit the friend who was supposed to be going with him to the gym. The friend told me Tino had not gone to the gym at all, and had instead taken the car to Clovis, NM, to visit with a girlfriend who had moved away from Albuquerque. I was up late worrying about Tino, and the next morning I got a call from Tino saying he had been arrested for drunk driving and had spent the night in jail. I was shocked and upset. {IJ091478.DOCX} 3 Case 1:16-cv-01113-JB-JHR Document 67-1 Filed 10/16/17 Page 4 of 6 16. When I called the City to ask about my car, they told me that they were going to seek to forfeit the vehicle and that I would have to pay $50 to request an administrative hearing to challenge the forfeiture. I paid the $50. 17. When I showed up for my hearing, I was put in touch with a city attorney named Kyle Hibner. Kyle offered to return the car if I agreed to pay $4,000 and boot the car for 18 months. I could not afford $4,000, and I could not afford to go without the car for that long, so I refused the offer. 18. I then had a hearing before a hearing officer named Stanley Harada, who found that my car was subject to forfeiture. I represented myself pro se at the hearing, and I felt that I did not convey my points as effectively as I would have if I had a lawyer. I did not know what I could say to prove that I did nothing wrong, and I felt like I was being unfairly punished for something I did not do. 19. Because the hearing officer ruled for the City, the City filed a case in state court to forfeit my car. I still had no attorney, as I could not afford to pay one. I went to the courthouse to ask how to respond, and a court employee gave me paperwork that I could fill out as an answer. I filled out that paperwork, and I went in person to serve it on the city attorney. 20. After I filed my answer, the City sent me a thick packet of discovery requests seeking information that did not seem at all relevant to the case. For instance, the City asked for my annual salary, the name and telephone number of my employer, and the name and address of my landlord. Along with these discovery requests, the City sent a cover letter inviting me to sign a disclaimer giving up any interest in my car rather than provide the requested information, as well as a copy of a disclaimer that I could sign. {IJ091478.DOCX} 4 Case 1:16-cv-01113-JB-JHR Document 67-1 Filed 10/16/17 Page 5 of 6 21. Around this time, the Institute for Justice agreed to represent me pro bono in my forfeiture case. In addition to contesting the forfeiture, I understand the Institute for Justice also challenged the legality of the City’s entire forfeiture program. The Institute for Justice filed a motion to end the state forfeiture case on December 12, 2016. 22. On December 16, 2016, the City notified my attorneys at the Institute for Justice that the City had suddenly determined that my car was outside city limits at the time that it was seized and therefore was not subject to civil forfeiture. 23. On December 19, 2016, the City agreed to release my car without waiting for a court to formally dismiss the forfeiture complaint. However, I could not pick up the car that day, as I had to make an advance appointment with the impound lot. 24. On December 22, 2016, I recovered my car from the City’s impound lot. I then took my car straight from the impound lot to a mechanic, where I had it assessed for damage from sitting unused. I was advised that the battery on the car was dead and had to be replaced, and I paid $144.86 for that repair. 25. My car sat in the City’s impound lot from April 23, 2016, to December 22, 2016, and I was unable to drive my car that whole eight month period.