Under the terms, Vesco-Mock has been paid $90,000, according to county officials.
Vesco-Mock sued the sheriff's department in August 2015, alleging she'd experienced malicious abuse of process and defamation of character in connection to misdemeanor charges filed against her by former sheriff's department animal cruelty coordinator Curtis Childress in March of 2015.
Childress had accused Vesco-Mock of failing to immediately hand over microchip information from a dog that had been involved in a livestock attack. The case against Vesco-Mock was abruptly dismissed by a prosecutor during a July 2015 trial at county magistrate court in Las Cruces.
A settlement in Vesco-Mock's civil lawsuit against the county was reached in April, but the case was formally dismissed from 3rd Judicial District Court on May 4, according to court records.
Vesco-Mock said Thursday she's prevented from speaking about the settlement for a certain period of time according to its terms. She referred questions to her attorney, Margaret Strickland of Las Cruces. Strickland couldn't be reached for comment.
Childress had been named as a defendant in the original lawsuit, but was dismissed as a party in April, according to court records.
Though the lawsuit specifically named the sheriff's department as a defendant, such legal actions wind up being leveled against county government as a whole, said County Attorney Nelson Goodin.
With the recent settlement, the county will pay $25,000 directly, while its insurer, the New Mexico Association of Counties, will pay the remainder.
A term of the settlement is that neither party is admitting guilt, according to Nelson.
In her original civil complaint, Vesco-Mock sought damages for "emotional distress and fear during the course of her wrongful prosecution" and compensation for lost employment opportunities, defamation of character and "punitive damages for the intentional and/or reckless, or wanton actions of Defendant Childress."
The complaint alleged Childress had attempted to use the criminal charges against Vesco-Mock as a way to force policy changes at the Animal Service Center of the Mesilla Valley. The document stated Childress had "expressed willingness to settle the criminal charges" if Vesco-Mock changed certain policies at the animal shelter.
In addition, Vesco-Mock alleged she experienced defamation of character and slander because of a "baseless" prosecution and that the county sheriff's department had been negligent in the hiring, training and supervision of Childress.
Strickland, during last year's trial, maintained that Vesco-Mock never refused to provide the microchip information Childress had requested.
Childress has retired from the county, according to county spokesman Jess Williams.
The taxpayer-owned animal shelter is overseen by a board of county and city of Las Cruces elected officials.
(Las Cruces Sun - May 14, 2016)
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