{"id":30286,"date":"2011-06-28T08:45:29","date_gmt":"2011-06-28T14:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=30286"},"modified":"2011-10-20T10:14:29","modified_gmt":"2011-10-20T16:14:29","slug":"judiciary-will-handle-murphy-case-responsibly-daniels-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/06\/judiciary-will-handle-murphy-case-responsibly-daniels-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Judiciary will handle Murphy case responsibly, Daniels says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

N.M. Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles W. Daniels<\/p><\/div>\n

While others \u2018pontificate and speculate and engage in innuendo,\u2019 Daniels tells fellow judges that the judiciary must \u2018make sure the processes of the law continue\u2019<\/h4>\n

The chief justice of the N.M. Supreme Court says that, at the conclusion of the bribery case involving District Judge Mike Murphy, the state\u2019s judges will be able to hold their heads high because the judiciary will have handled the case responsibly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think when this is all over with there won\u2019t be any comment about a dark cloud over the entire judiciary, because I think we will respond to this in a responsible way,\u201d Charles W. Daniels recently told state judges as a meeting in Albuquerque.<\/p>\n

Daniels was responding, during opening remarks at a judicial conclave, to an Albuquerque Journal editorial<\/a> that asked the question on the minds of many: \u201cDid the ugly pay-to-play tentacles of the Bill Richardson machine reach into the state\u2019s judicial appointment process?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unfortunate, but the indictment casts a cloud on the judiciary\u2026\u201d the editorial states. \u201cIt is now up to the justice system, the bench and the Judicial Standards Commission to dispel it with a good dose of sunshine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniels told judges that the judiciary\u2019s applying of the rule of law in the case will remove the dark cloud.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know that we will apply the rule of law at every level throughout our courts,\u201d he said. \u201cWe all know that the rule of law means that no person, no public official, no citizen, is above the requirement of obedience to the law, and that no person, no public official, no private citizen, is beneath the protections of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will stand by that and we will apply it, and we will come through this and I think we will be able to hold our heads high,\u201d Daniels said.<\/p>\n

You can watch Daniels\u2019 speech here, thanks to video sent to NMPolitics.net by the UNM Judicial Education Center<\/a>:<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

\u2018Widespread innuendo\u2019<\/h3>\n

Daniels also referred to an ethical requirement that prohibits judges from commenting on cases that are or might come before them. He said some have been discouraged by \u201cthe widespread innuendo far beyond the allegations in the particular case involving one defendant that\u2019s now pending in one of the districts in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

The special prosecutor has said his investigation has expanded beyond Murphy, but no one else has been charged with a crime or received notice that they may be indicted. There is certainly an implication in the case that could cast suspicion on any judge appointed by Richardson.<\/p>\n

Daniels, himself a Richardson appointee, is one of two judges besides Murphy who have faced the most scrutiny. A statement attributed to Murphy in a law enforcement report seems to imply that Daniels might have paid a bribe in exchange for his judgeship:<\/p>\n

\u201cJudge Murphy also stated that if he was guilty of buying a judgeship, then what does that make Chief Justice (Charlie) Daniels.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When asked by NMPolitics.net<\/a> about that statement in May, Daniels opted to confront it head-on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not buy this position,\u201d Daniels said at the time. \u201cNo one ever asked me to, and I never would have entertained the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Investigators have also made clear that they have their eyes on District Judge Jim T. Martin, who witnesses say attended some meetings with Murphy that are related to the charges against Murphy.<\/p>\n

Martin has retained a criminal defense attorney and is not hearing criminal cases<\/a> for the time being to avoid a conflict.<\/p>\n

Daniels said at the recent meeting in Albuquerque that, even though judges \u201chave to keep quiet while all the controversy swirls around us and other people pontificate and speculate and engage in innuendo,\u201d judges must \u201cmake sure the processes of the law continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The case against Murphy<\/h3>\n

Murphy is facing\u00a0felony bribery charges<\/a> and\u00a0a misdemeanor charge<\/a> of violating the state\u2019s Governmental Conduct Act.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors\u00a0allege that Murphy solicited a bribe<\/a> from potential judicial applicant Beverly Singleman, told District Judge Lisa Schultz to tell Singleman she needed to pay the bribe, and threatened to destroy Singleman\u2019s reputation for telling others that he solicited a bribe from her.<\/p>\n

Murphy has\u00a0pleaded not guilty<\/a>. His trial is scheduled for November<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A prior version of this article incorrectly stated that Murphy is charged with paying a bribe for his position.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The chief justice of the N.M. Supreme Court says that, at the conclusion of the bribery case involving District Judge Mike Murphy, the state\u2019s judges will be able to hold their heads high because the judiciary will have handled the case responsibly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[112,142,115,216,161,114,107],"class_list":["post-30286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-bill-richardson","tag-crime","tag-dona-ana-county","tag-judge-murphy","tag-judiciary","tag-public-corruption","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30286\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}