Dennis W. Montoya
Appellate Judge Linda Vanzi is out today with a hard-hitting mailer highlighting the ethical scandal dogging her challenger in the Democratic primary, Dennis W. Montoya.
The mailer says Montoya has “a documented record of unethical behavior,” and an accompanying Web site contains the records to back up that claim.
The mailer focuses on a controversy that has led the New Mexico Supreme Court’s disciplinary board to accuse Montoya of misconduct including fraud, deceit, lying to the court, having a conflict of interest, failing to adequately represent a client and failing to adequately account for and distinguish client funds from his own.
The charges stem from a 2008 complaint Vanzi filed against Montoya when she was a district judge in Albuquerque and he was a lawyer working on a case before her. Vanzi accused Montoya of failing to adequately represent the son of an oil rig worker who died in an auto accident.
Linda Vanzi
Montoya settled claims in a wrongful-death lawsuit the family filed against a tire manufacturer without ensuring that money was set aside for the man’s son.
“Judge Linda Vanzi exposed Montoya’s misdeeds,” the mailer states, adding that, because of Montoya, “the boy did not receive hundreds of thousands of settlement dollars owed to him while Montoya got over $250,000 in fees for himself.”
“The case is clear: Dennis Montoya is the wrong choice for New Mexico,” the mailer states.
Taking Montoya seriously
Montoya has been plagued by controversy that has also included the canceling of a fundraiser after a TV report about the involvement of a man who had previously been convicted of bribing a public official. Montoya has also been in the news for fighting, unsuccessfully, the secretary of state’s denial of his application for public financing.
In spite of all of that, the hard-hitting mailer shows that Vanzi views Montoya as a serious threat to her re-election chances. Nothing in the mailer is false – the facts in the case against Montoya have been well-documented. But it is rare for elected judges to go negative against their challengers.
Vanzi is most likely worried about the Hispanic vote. Montoya’s surname gives him a boost in certain areas of New Mexico because the low-profile race is not on the minds of most voters.
Vanzi tried to bolster her support among Hispanics today with a news release announcing the endorsement of former Gov. Toney Anaya.
“As governor, I always sought to appoint honest and ethical Judges to serve our courts every time there was a vacancy for me to fill,” Anaya said in the release. “I still believe those should be the standards for judges: judges who are selected by merit and uphold the high standards imposed on us by the New Mexico State Bar; judges who have respect for the law, the clients they serve and the State of New Mexico; and judges who will work hard, be principled and stand with integrity. It is for these reasons I am proud to stand with Judge Linda Vanzi for the New Mexico Court of Appeals.”