District Judge Mike Murphy
A grand jury is scheduled to meet today at 9 a.m. to consider indicting Third Judicial District Judge Mike Murphy on charges including bribery. I will be at the district courthouse in Las Cruces tweeting live updates.
You can follow me on Twitter @haussamen, or for those of you who aren’t familiar with Twitter, at twitter.com/haussamen.
Grand juries meet behind closed doors, and I won’t be allowed inside, but I will be trying to talk with witnesses before and after they testify and keeping an eye on what’s going on at the courthouse. And if the grand jury indicts Murphy, I’ll report it on Twitter first.
The grand jury is meeting to consider charging Murphy with bribery. The Democrat is alleged to have paid a bribe in exchange for then-Gov. Bill Richardson appointing him to the bench in 2006, and possibly also soliciting bribes for Richardson from applicants for other judgeships.
The bribe or bribes were allegedly paid as political contributions and went to an unnamed “local political figure.” No one besides Murphy, including Richardson, has received notification that they may be indicted.
Murphy’s attorney has said the judge ‘committed no crime.’ Richardson has not commented on the situation.
Check back here later today for complete coverage of the day’s events.