An Albuquerque, New Mexico man sued the city police for not preventing him from driving drunk. The man, who was paralyzed in the accident, broke down in tears while on the witness stand as he described how the doctors broke the news to him that he would never walk again.

The former construction worker said that the police ordered him not to drive, but allowed him and a friend to walk away. By not preventing the man from driving away, the defendant insisted that the police deprived him of the rights guaranteed to him under a state law that allowed police to drive intoxicated people to their homes, a detox facility, or jail.

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