Suspended Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Carlos Garza will likely find out in less than two days whether he gets to keep his job.
His hearing before the New Mexico Supreme Court is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Wednesday. (I won’t be able to attend because I’ll be covering the election from
Following the hearing, justices will deliberate and will likely make a decision within an hour about whether to permanently remove Garza from the bench.
After not being allowed to speak at his last hearing before the high court, Garza has ditched his attorney and will represent himself this time, so he has a chance to plead his case.
“I will not make the mistake of having an attorney there that can keep me from saying what I think is important,” Garza said. “I am definitely prepared.”
Garza, who is facing accusations that he used cocaine and abused his position to benefit a woman with whom he had a personal relationship, is running unopposed for re-election on Tuesday.
The Judicial Standards Commission has found that Garza:
• used illegal drugs.
• failed to comply with a commission order that he submit to testing for illegal drugs.
• evaded service of the commission’s order.
• inappropriately used his judicial position in February 2006. Garza was in a car with Lauren Spillsbury when she was pulled over for speeding, and allegedly asked the police officer if he knew who Garza was and told Spillsbury he would “take care” of the citation.
• inappropriately ordered Spillsbury’s license cleared of any suspensions in the middle of a pending case.
Garza has vowed to continue fighting and says the commission’s evidence against him is weak. He denies using drugs and claims his due-process rights have been violated.
Garza acknowledged that he might be kicked off the bench, but said he thinks his case is strong, and his future will come down to whether justices listen to him.
“If they throw me out of office, you know what, they might be doing me the biggest favor of my life,” Garza said. “I don’t want to sit in a courtroom with a bunch of people who are unfair.”