Former APD officer convicted in Bernalillo County domestic violence case
Former APD officer James Eichel was convicted after prosecutors said he battered his wife in southeast Albuquerque, renewing scrutiny of how the department handled his case.
A Bernalillo County jury’s conviction of former Albuquerque police officer James Eichel puts a public-trust question squarely in front of APD: how did a domestic violence case involving one of its own end with a criminal conviction after he had already left the force?
Jurors found Eichel, 36, guilty June 5 of one count of aggravated battery against a household member after a two-day trial in 2nd Judicial District Court before Judge Jennifer Wernersbach. Sentencing is set for June 12.
Prosecutors said the assault happened during an argument in January 2025. The complaint says the incident took place Jan. 13, 2025, at a home in the 1500 block of Barbaro SE in southeast Albuquerque, where officers were dispatched after a domestic dispute. According to the complaint, Eichel had been drinking before the argument. His wife told police he blocked the bathroom door as she tried to leave, then she ran to a neighbor’s house.
The injuries described in local reporting were serious. Prosecutors said Eichel punched the victim several times, leaving her face swollen and bruised. The Albuquerque Journal reported that she had a swollen eye and significant bruising to her face. The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office said the jury found Eichel guilty of battering his wife.
APD spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said Eichel resigned from the department after the domestic violence charges were filed. That timeline will likely keep attention on what APD knew, when it knew it, and how it monitors officers accused of violence at home, especially in a city where public confidence in law enforcement depends on scrutiny as much as discipline.
The case also lands in a county where domestic violence prosecutions are a daily reality for the courts and the district attorney’s office. Here, the defendant was not a stranger to the system but a former officer sworn to enforce the law. The verdict now turns the focus from the patrol car to the institution itself, and whether APD’s safeguards were enough to prevent an officer accused of violence from staying in its ranks any longer than he did.
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