A Santa Fe woman arrested in April by a former New Mexico State Police Officer, who had been pictured having sex on the hood of a Honda while in uniform, told a jury Wednesday the cop flirted with her during a drunken-driving arrest.

State prosecutors were blindsided by the allegations when a public defender representing Elizabeth Enriquez, 31, disclosed the information only moments before the woman's DWI trial was set to begin Wednesday.

"This morning was the first time these allegations were ever brought to our attention," said First Judicial District Attorney Angela "Spence" Pacheco, although the case was tried by Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Pauly.

"If these allegations had surfaced prior to trial, we would have looked into them and if true, maybe we wouldn't have pursued the case, but [Wednesday] was absolutely the first time we ever heard anything like that."

Bert Lopez, who was fired last week by New Mexico State Police and has 30 days to appeal that decision, appeared in court as the arresting officer and testified about his DWI stop. He did not address the allegations made by Enriquez or talk to reporters.

Public defender Kitren Fischer did not explain why her client did not feel comfortable filing a citizen complaint or why the allegations only surfaced the day of trial.

Enriquez, meanwhile, was found not guilty of DWI, and a juror said it had nothing to do with the Lopez allegations.

"We had a video of the [DWI] arrest to review as evidence and there was nothing in that video that was proof beyond a reasonable doubt she was driving drunk," Brad Plowman said. "We knew [Lopez] had been fired, they said that, but we didn't know why and it really didn't come into play [in jury deliberations]."

Plowman said that he was not aware until reporters told him after the trial that Lopez was the officer seen in the sex photos that have now gone viral online and created a buzz around the country.

Enriquez, who is married, took the stand Wednesday and told jurors that Lopez told her after he cuffed her and placed her in the back of his squad car that she made his car smell good, claimed he was single and asked if she ever thought about having someone on the side to "play with."

Lopez was not asked on the stand about the allegations and did not talk to reporters outside the courtroom.

According to a probable-cause statement filed in Magistrate Court for Enriquez's arrest, the woman registered a 0.10 blood-alcohol content in a Breathalyzer test after her arrest April 3 near the intersection of Siringo and Miguel Chavez roads. The state's legal limit for a motorist is 0.08.

But the results of that blood alcohol test were not allowed into evidence because Magistrate Judge George Anaya Jr. ruled results had not been made available to defense attorneys within the required time frame.

Still, Pauly pursued prosecution because a specific blood alcohol content is not required for a DWI conviction, only proof the driver was "impaired to the slightest degree."

The woman admitted to drinking earlier in the night but said she was not drunk.

The video of her arrest shows her mostly acing field sobriety tests with the exception of one stumble and a miscount she corrected when counting to 10 at one point.

Lopez's only testimony in court Wednesday was about why he arrested the woman and why he pulled her over, which he said was because she was swerving. The jury also acquitted her of that charge.

Pacheco said Lopez has talked with prosecutors, and "he wants to follow through on his cases." The district attorney said she knows of no cases dismissed so far or ones that will be dismissed in which Lopez was the arresting officer, and said his termination from the department was a personnel matter that should not affect future prosecutions.

While employed state police officers get paid for their time in court as part of their job, since Lopez has been fired, he will only be reimbursed for mileage to and from his Rio Rancho home for any case he is subpoenaed to testify in as the arresting officer.

State police, meanwhile, said Wednesday was the first they heard of the allegations and are aware of no citizen complaints filed by Enriquez.

Sgt. Tim Johnson said citizen complaints can easily be filed online or at any New Mexico State Police office.

"The Department of Public Safety has a very thorough process of looking into citizen complaints, and filing them is very open and accessible," Johnson said.

He acknowledged that he has not reviewed all past citizen complaints filed against Lopez, but is confident he has not been made aware of any filed by Enriquez.

Lopez was named the 2009 District 1 Officer of the Year for state police and was awarded a "Challenge Coin" in July, an honor given to officers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.

Earlier this month, an employee with Santa Fe County came across surveillance photos taken from a motion-triggered security camera positioned at the front gate of the county-owned La Bajada Ranch south of Santa Fe. Two of those photos showing a uniformed officer having sex on the hood of a Honda were forwarded to Santa Fe Sheriff Robert Garcia, who identified the officer as being with New Mexico State Police. He forwarded the images to Robert Shilling, state police chief.

An internal affairs investigation was launched immediately, police have said, and Lopez was on paid leave for about three weeks. It is unclear when the photos were taken, but Garcia said he believed it was either late July or early August.

Contact Geoff Grammer at 986-3076 or ggrammer@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog at SantaFeCrime.com.