ϼ

NEWS

Longtime Albuquerque police attorney dies at 70

John D’Amato, a lawyer who spent more than 30 years defending Albuquerque officers and deputies, has died at 70 after a career devoted to law enforcement clients statewide

Published Modified

An attorney known for defending police officers and deputies from law enforcement agencies across New Mexico for over three decades died at his home in Bosque Farms recently at age 70.

D’Amato died on March 18 after he was diagnosed in October 2024 with late-stage bladder cancer, according to his wife Michelle D’Amato. He is survived by his wife and their four children. 

John D’Amato was born in New Jersey in 1955 before moving to California to pursue a law degree from California Western School of Law in 1986. After receiving his degree, D’Amato worked to earn his Juris Doctor, a three-year postgraduate doctorate that is required to practice law. 

He was a longtime attorney for the Albuquerque Police Officers Association (APOA).

“I will tell you that he did more for police officers than police officers do for each other,” said APOA President Shaun Willoughby on Monday. “He bent over backwards for everybody that he served.”

For over 30 years, D’Amato defended and advocated for law enforcement officers throughout the state, alongside law firm partner Fred Mowrer.

The two worked together to represent the Fraternal Order of Police before extending their services to all law enforcement agencies in New Mexico. At one point, the New Mexico Sheriffs’ Association honored D’Amato with a “Person of the Year” award for his work and commitment to law enforcement.

Primarily, D’Amato represented officers who were going through disciplinary issues, handling officer appeals, misconduct allegations, use of force investigations and any subsequent litigations.

Mowrer said that D’Amato was dedicated to his job and had a passion for law enforcement defense.

“We would go to the scene of the incident whenever it would be and we would be there with the officers and represent them, both criminally and civically," he said. “There’s a hole, to say the least, because it’s hard to find somebody that’s willing to do that and make sacrifices like that.”

Mowrer said D’Amato’s love for practicing law could be seen in everything he did, from leaving family dinners on holidays to arrive at crime scenes to offering pro bono work on multiple occasions to give back to the community.

Willoughby said that though it was hard to keep track, he believes D’Amato represented “literally thousands” of officers.

“We’re never going to be able to replace him,” Willoughby said. “There aren't many attorneys that specialize in representing police officers, but he was one of them so he was utilized in several agencies. They just don’t make attorneys like that.”

Of his hundreds of court trials, D’Amato recently served as the defense attorney in an April 2024 case against a former Albuquerque police officer who allegedly illegally arrested a mentally disabled man who was trying to buy a bicycle in 2022. Jurors failed to reach a verdict in the case twice. 

D’Amato worked until the very end, his wife said, even working up until two weeks before he died. 

“He was just an amazing, remarkable person and he loved what he did,” Michelle D’Amato said in an interview with the Journal. “He just loved the officers. He was so loyal to them and he had a passion for them and he thought very highly of law enforcement.” 

Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news. Reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3857.