Though Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Carlos Garza says he does not use illegal drugs and the evidence does not prove it, the Judicial Standards Commission found otherwise.
The commission, according to the petition filed today with the New Mexico Supreme Court, found that Garza “willfully and knowingly” used cocaine. The commission’s filing states that, though Garza cut the hair on his head “to a very short length” before submitting to the drug test, the test found cocaine, and there was no medical explanation.
You can read the petition for Garza’s removal by clicking here. You can also read the supplementary findings of fact and conclusions of law, which contains more detail, by clicking here.
Garza told me there was cocaine in the hair taken from his head, but said the amount was so small that it could have been the result of “passive exposure to drugs,” such as shaking hands with someone who was using cocaine.
“I do not use illegal drugs, and if I did have contact with them, it’s in a bar, I touched it or something,” Garza said.
Garza claimed a second test, which the commission did not detail in its filing, found that there had been no drugs in his system for at least the past year. That test was taken from a long hair on Garza’s body, he said, and claimed that meant the second test was more reliable.
Garza changed the subject when I asked why he cut his hair.
Commission Director Jim Noel said Garza’s comments are “patently false.”
“The commission concluded as a matter of fact that he did use illegal drugs and that it was not a passive exposure, but it was active use,” Noel said.
The commission also found that Garza committed two acts of misconduct involving Lauren Spilsbury, a woman with whom he had a personal relationship. Garza was disciplined earlier this year for improperly involving himself in a drunken driving case against Spilsbury by asking two other judges to go easy on her.
The first of the two new incidents took place on Dec. 20, 2005. It involved the same DWI case, but took place several months after Garza recused himself because of the personal relationship.
Despite a clerk’s objection that the case was still pending, Garza ordered a court clerk to clear Spilbury’s license of suspensions, the commission found – and he did it in front of Spilsbury. Licenses should not be cleared of suspensions until the resolution of such cases.
The clerk complied, but noted in the file that she did so because of Garza’s order.
Garza is also accused of attempting to influence and intimidate a deputy with the Mesilla Marshal’s Office on Feb. 9 of this year during a traffic stop. The deputy had stopped Spilsbury for speeding and, according to the commission filing, also recognized the woman as having an outstanding arrest warrant.
According to the filing, Garza was in the car with Spilsbury and told her, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of the tickets,” and asked the deputy, “Do you know who I am?”
The February and December incidents took place while Garza and the commission were negotiating an agreement on Garza’s initial improper involvement in the Spilsbury case.
Garza said the witnesses who testified against him this week were biased. He said the deputy lied under oath, and said Spilsbury “was entitled to have that clearance. … There was an error within the court.”
Noel said that’s not the case.
“Even if she was entitled to have it cleared, which the commission found she wasn’t, he was recused from the case and it was wholly inappropriate form him to involve himself in the case again,” Noel said.
The commission made some strong statements about Garza.
“(Garza) is unable to understand and appreciate the gravity of his actions and how his conduct impacts those who are directly or indirectly subject to his authority,” the filing states. “(Garza is also) unable to self-monitor the use of his authority as a judge and is unable to recognize when his conduct violates the Code of Judicial Conduct.”
“Taking into account (Garza’s) demeanor, memory, manner while testifying, any interest, prejudice and bias he has, and the reasonableness of his testimony in the light of all the other evidence in the case, (Garza’s) testimony as to the material elements of the allegations against him is not credible,” the filing states. “(Garza’s) testimony that he has not used illegal drugs is specifically not found to be credible in light of all the evidence in this matter.”
Though the commission found that Garza was using illegal drugs, it did not find that there was clear and convincing evidence that Garza “was incapacitated by reasons of mental or physical disability brought on by the illegal use of drugs,” and dismissed that allegation against Garza.
In addition to his removal from the bench, the commission is asking the high court to order that Garza reimburse its costs, with a dollar amount to be determined at a later date.
Garza said he will continue fighting.
“I’m not done. I’ll tell you that,” he said. “It was all biased people, made up stories. This whole thing is a sham.”