Galvan says he doesn’t live with Garza, also responds to lawsuit filed by accuser in rape case

I ran into former Magistrate Judge Reuben Galvan last night at the Democratic Party’s meeting. He wanted to address a couple of recent issues.

First, Galvan said he wanted to make clear that he does not live with suspended Magistrate Judge Carlos Garza. New Mexico State Police Capt. Richard Williams wrote in a police report that, when he attempted to deliver an order last month that Garza submit to a drug test, the door to Garza’s home was answered by Galvan, who said “that Judge Garza does live at that residence with him.”

“I do not live there,” Galvan told me. “I was just there to feed his dog because he was going out of town.”

In addition, a woman who accused Galvan of rape and bribery in 2004 filed a lawsuit against him last month. The allegations ended Galvan’s judicial career but, after two criminal trials ended with hung juries, prosecutors dropped the charges.

Galvan’s attorney claimed during both trials that his accuser would later sue.

“It’s all about the money,” Galvan told me. “It’s always been about the money.”

In court, Galvan has officially denied the allegations contained in the lawsuit and claims, as he did in the criminal proceedings, that the sex with his accuser was consensual.