Las Cruces Municipal Judges James T. Locatelli found himself defending his lawsuit against the city Monday during his interview for the vacant district court judgeship.
Locatelli and the other municipal judge, Melissa Miller-Byrnes, are seeking a reimbursement of more than $100,000 they spent to defend themselves against ethical complaints filed by the city attorney’s office in 2004. They claim the city has reimbursed other judges for defense costs in the past, and the city’s failure to reimburse them is arbitrary and a violation of the separation of powers doctrine.
The dispute began in 2004, when the judges publicly blamed prosecutors for the dismissal of drunken driving and domestic violence cases and called prosecutors and police officers incompetent.
Locatelli, whose name was not recommended to Gov. Bill Richardson by Monday’s judicial nominating commission, was asked by District Judge Robert E. Robles why he did not disclose the lawsuit in the appropriate section on his application for the district judgeship.
“That’s strictly an oversight on my part,” Locatelli said.
When asked to elaborate on lawsuit, Locatelli said he and Miller-Byrnes “feel that the city does have an obligation to pay our legal fees in that matter.”
Deputy District Attorney Amy Orlando, another member of the commission, asked whether Locatelli saw a conflict in suing attorneys who appear before him in court. She said she believed there was a conflict because the attorneys are supposed to appear before Locatelli and because the city pays his salary.
Locatelli disagreed, saying the dispute has been ongoing for two years, and the city attorney’s office never asked for recusals until the judges filed the lawsuit.
“It’s not a conflict,” Locatelli said.
Locatelli defended the lawsuit and his criticism of the city attorney’s office as “proper” and “appropriate.”
“I did what I thought was right at the time,” he said. “I’ll continue to do what I think is right in the future.”