District Judge Mike Murphy
Third Judicial District Judge Mike Murphy won’t hear any criminal cases until an investigation into bribery allegations is resolved, the court’s chief judge said today.
District Judge Douglas R. Driggers said Murphy will remain assigned to the court’s criminal division but that, as chief judge, he has “instructed that until the matter is cleared up, Judge Murphy will not be hearing criminal cases.”
That means Murphy will instead be hearing cases assigned to the civil, children’s or domestic relations divisions.
Driggers said he “cannot and will not” comment on the investigation of Murphy, which was first reported on Thursday by NMPolitics.net. Prosecutors have notified Murphy that a grand jury meeting next week may indict him on bribery charges.
Barring Murphy from hearing criminal cases is significant because the case against him is officially being handled by the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Las Cruces – the same office that has been appearing before Murphy to prosecute criminal cases.
However, because of that conflict, the DA’s office has appointed a special prosecutor to handle the case against Murphy – Ninth Judicial District Attorney Matthew Chandler from Clovis.
Both Chandler and Third Judicial District Attorney Amy Orlando have said they cannot comment on the case against Murphy.
The allegations, according to a source with knowledge of the case, are that Murphy paid a bribe in exchange for then-Gov. Bill Richardson appointing him to the bench in 2006, and that he may have solicited bribes for Richardson from applicants for other judgeships.
The bribe or bribes were allegedly paid as political contributions, the source said.
The grand jury is scheduled to meet Tuesday to consider indicting Murphy. No one else, including Richardson, has received notification that they may be indicted, the source said.
A grand jury indictment is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime, brought by prosecutors with permission of a grand jury. It is not a conviction or statement of guilt.
Murphy has refused to comment on the situation. A spokeswoman for Richardson has not gotten back to NMPolitics.net with comment.