Suspended Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Carlos Garza is meeting with an attorney this afternoon as he prepares for a hearing next week before the state Supreme Court.
Garza would not name the attorney.
“I may not hire an attorney,” Garza said. “I may consult with one only.”
He said he has spent the last couple of weeks buried in paperwork as he prepares to argue against sanctions and that the Judicial Standards Commission has not been fair in its dealings with him. However, he said he will accept whatever decision the court makes.
“I’ll be very satisfied with whatever answer they come up with,” Garza said.
Garza’s public hearing is Wednesday at 9 a.m., and he said he will “absolutely, without a doubt” attend. He is currently serving a 90-day suspension with pay while the commission investigates serious allegations against him stemming from five separate inquiries. Most details aren’t known because the high court sealed the file.
In addition, the commission has asked the high court to suspend Garza without pay, force him to undergo urine and hair tests for illegal drugs, and explain why he should not be held in contempt for refusing the commission’s previous demand for the tests, which were sought because of allegations that Garza is using drugs.
Garza has blamed many of the allegations on former Magistrate Judge Caleb Chandler, who is appointed by the high court to oversee operations at the magistrate court in
“If they decide that Judge Chandler can do whatever he wants, then I’ll have to decide whether I want to continue working at the court,” Garza said. “But I don’t think they’ll decide that.”
Garza, who is running unopposed for re-election this year, is already on judicial probation after admitting in May to improperly involving himself in a drunken driving case against a woman with whom he had a personal relationship. Garza now claims he did nothing wrong in that case, and says he admitted to the allegations “out of financial need.”