An SUV driver from Arizona, initially charged with homicide after hitting a police officer who unexpectedly ran into the street, is alleging that the police concealed crucial evidence that would have cleared her name.
After enduring a three-year ordeal, Nubia Rodriguez was eventually exonerated in the death of Officer Paul Rutherford. A judge found that Phoenix police had intentionally withheld essential surveillance video pertaining to the incident.
Following a breakdown in settlement negotiations at the last moment, Rodriguez has filed a lawsuit against city officials for alleged malicious prosecution.
The tragic event occurred on March 21, 2019, while Rutherford was examining a separate accident in the area, which led to police charging Rodriguez with negligent homicide—a charge she refuted.
Surveillance footage later obtained by ABC 15 showed Rutherford suddenly dashing out into oncoming traffic before he was hit.
In 2022, Maricopa County Superior Court judge Joseph Kreamer concluded this video was improperly withheld from the grand jury which indicted her.
The judge also criticized Detective Michael Davidson for not disclosing in court that Rutherford failed to check both directions before crossing the street.
Rodriguez’s lawsuit claims that Detective Davidson ‘knowingly and intentionally’ made her a ‘scapegoat’, resulting in her losing her job and car.
Nubia Rodriguez accidentally hit and killed a Phoenix police officer with her car in March 2019, a finding that two judges agreed upon when prosecutors tried to charge her with negligent homicide
The officer, Paul Rutherford, had been investigating a crash moments before he was hit by Rodriguez after failing to look before crossing the road
The complaint against the city of Phoenix, former Chief of Police Michael Sullivan, Detective Davidson and several other officials who were involved in the case against her was first filed in 2023.
Sullivan is no longer with the Phoenix Police Department after becoming the Capitol Police Chief in June 2025.
Rodriguez’s complaint details all the ways her life was allegedly harmed by the state’s wrongful prosecution of her.
‘Nubia was fired from her job, lost her vehicle (which was impounded by the State), was forced to file for bankruptcy, and had her foster parent qualifications revoked by the State (which prevented her from adopting her foster child as planned),’ according to the suit.
Her mental health also worsened during this time, her lawyers said, with her experiencing symptoms such as anxiety, depression, stomach pains, headaches and insomnia.
‘For nearly two years, Nubia spent every day wondering whether she would spend the rest of her life in prison for a crime she did not commit,’ the suit said.
The complaint reiterated that on the day of the crash, Rodriguez wasn’t intoxicated, wasn’t distracted and was ‘driving lawfully…at a reasonable and prudent speed’.
Police body camera video shortly after showed the distraught driver tearfully explaining how Rutherford ‘jumped’ out in front of her.
The lawsuit also cited quotes from the judges presiding over her criminal case to further bolster her claims.
Pictured: The moment before Rutherford was hit by Rodriguez’s white SUV. This surveillance video was withheld from grand jurors and was a big factor in why the charges against Rodriguez were dropped
Rodriguez cries in court after the charges against her were dropped in September 2022
‘What matters is [Rutherford] appeared from a place he shouldn’t have been to a regular driver. Whether he was an officer or not, he ran out in front of [Rodriguez],’ the lawsuit said, quoting Judge Kreamer during the hearing when the charges were dropped.
After years of dueling legal filings, the city told the court in April 2025 that it was nearing a settlement with Rodriguez.
Whatever agreement existed then has since fallen apart, as court records show that the city replaced its outside counsel and restarted the discovery process.
Rodriguez’s attorney, Larry Wulkan, has not commented on the failed settlement but tore into the city for continuing the case.
‘The City of Phoenix’s treatment of Nubia Rodriguez remains, in a word, abhorrent. The City falsely accused Nubia of the homicide of a police officer who, by all accounts, was a good man who made a tragic mistake by running into traffic,’ Wulkan said in a statement.
‘The city refuses to take accountability for its officers’ actions and the absolute destruction of an innocent woman’s life,’ he added.
The defendants’ decision to fight the case means it is due to proceed to a trial.
