{"id":393,"date":"2006-07-21T12:09:00","date_gmt":"2006-07-21T18:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/07\/district-judge-asked-to-dismiss-las-cruces-municipal-judges-lawsuit-against-city\/"},"modified":"2006-07-21T12:09:00","modified_gmt":"2006-07-21T18:09:00","slug":"district-judge-asked-to-dismiss-las-cruces-municipal-judges-lawsuit-against-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/07\/district-judge-asked-to-dismiss-las-cruces-municipal-judges-lawsuit-against-city\/","title":{"rendered":"District judge asked to dismiss Las Cruces municipal judges’ lawsuit against city"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A district judge was asked Friday to dismiss a lawsuit against the City of Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> by the city\u2019s two municipal judges, who are seeking reimbursement for the cost of defending themselves against an ethical complaint filed in 2004 by the city attorney\u2019s office. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

District Judge Jerald A. Valentine gave both sides a week to provide him with documentation for their arguments before he decides whether to dismiss the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The lawsuit is part of an ongoing battle between the judges and the city attorney\u2019s office over problems at the court. Because of the lawsuit, city prosecutors have put on hold dozens of pending drunken driving and domestic violence cases.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The dispute began when the judges, Melissa Miller-Byrnes and James T. Locatelli, complained to city management about the handling of cases by prosecutors and police. When mediation failed, they wrote a letter to the Las Cruces Sun-News alleging incompetence by police and city prosecutors.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

After the letter was published, the city attorney\u2019s office filed a complaint with the Judicial Standards Commission, which asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to discipline the judges. The high court dismissed the complaint, saying their speech was protected by the First Amendment, but chastised Miller-Byrnes for calling one city prosecutor a \u201csmart ass.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The judges filed the lawsuit in May. They claim the city should have paid for their defense against the charges brought by the commission, as it has done for Miller-Byrnes and other judges in the past. They sought reimbursement of more than $100,000 in legal fees.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The claim brought by the judges\u2019 attorney, Melissa J. Reeves of Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, is that the separation of powers doctrine grants the judges the right to have their legal fees paid. Since the allegations involved official acts they took in their capacity as city officials, the city council has no right to deny payment, she says.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThis certainly raises some very interesting and difficult issues,\u201d Valentine said at Friday\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

At the hearing, Reeves alleged that City Manager Terrence Moore backed off on a prior pledge to pay the judges\u2019 legal fees.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThe city manager originally told the judges their defense would be paid \u2026 and then he reneged on that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Both Reeves\u2019 and the city\u2019s attorney, Matthew Holt of Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, were at times testy with each other during the hearing. This has been a nasty battle that has severely hampered the operations and public perception of the municipal court.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In a separate court action, the city has asked District Judge Robert E. Robles to force the two judges to recuse themselves from cases being prosecuted by the city attorney\u2019s office. At the time the judges filed their lawsuit, there were 27 pending drunken driving and domestic violence cases before them.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The city attorney\u2019s office asked the judges to recuse themselves and allow cases to be heard by alternate judges, but Miller-Byrnes and Locatelli refused. The city then dismissed the cases without prejudice, preserving the right to refile them, as it considers what to do next.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

If Robles doesn\u2019t order the judges off the cases, the city will ask District Attorney Susana Martinez to appoint them special prosecutors or take the cases herself so they can be handled in magistrate court.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

None of the options being considered is a long-term solution. Miller-Byrnes and Locatelli are the city\u2019s only permanent judges. Since the lawsuit was filed, additional drunken driving and domestic violence cases are being filed before the two judges until hearings are set, and then are being dismissed by the city attorney\u2019s office so they can be put on hold until this issue is resolved.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That leaves dozens of Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> residents in limbo as they await resolution of their court cases.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Robles has given the judges until Wednesday to respond to the city\u2019s request that he order them off the cases.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Miller-Byrnes, the court\u2019s presiding judge, is currently paid an annual salary of $78,206. Locatelli is currently paid an annual salary of $74,296. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A district judge was asked Friday to dismiss a lawsuit against the City of Las Cruces by the city\u2019s two municipal judges, who are seeking reimbursement for the cost of defending themselves against an ethical complaint filed in 2004 by the city attorney\u2019s office. District Judge Jerald A. Valentine gave both sides a week to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393","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=393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}