{"id":522,"date":"2006-08-30T07:21:00","date_gmt":"2006-08-30T13:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/08\/former-magistrate-galvan-sued-over-rape-allegation\/"},"modified":"2006-08-30T07:21:00","modified_gmt":"2006-08-30T13:21:00","slug":"former-magistrate-galvan-sued-over-rape-allegation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/08\/former-magistrate-galvan-sued-over-rape-allegation\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Magistrate Galvan sued over rape allegation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Former<\/st1:placename> Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place> Magistrate Judge Reuben Galvan is being sued by the woman whose accusations of rape and bribery ended his career. <\/p>\n

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

The woman filed a federal lawsuit on Aug. 16 alleging civil rights violations based on claims of battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She\u2019s seeking compensatory and punitive damages, attorneys\u2019 fees and whatever other relief the court deems \u201cjust and proper,\u201d according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

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

\n

Galvan has not yet responded. He may be defended by the State of New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:State>, since he was a judge at the time of the incident in question and the allegations involve, to some degree, his position as a judge.<\/p>\n

\n

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

Galvan resigned in May 2005 amid allegations that he raped and solicited a bribe from the woman in August 2004. After two hung juries, prosecutors dropped the criminal charges.<\/p>\n

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

Galvan admitted in a statement to police to actions that may violate the judicial code of conduct. While drinking and flirting in a bar, he discussed with the woman a pending battery case against her husband, though she was the alleged victim in that case. He had sex with the woman, though she and her husband had been married two months earlier by Galvan. He also took the woman for a ride in his Porsche, though he told police he had too much to drink before driving.<\/p>\n

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

The New Mexico Supreme Court barred Galvan last month from ever again holding judicial office in New Mexico, but the court\u2019s justices made clear they were not finding Galvan guilty of the judicial misconduct of which he was accused. The justices barred Galvan, a court spokeswoman said, because he didn\u2019t bother to answer the Judicial Standards Commission\u2019s request that he be permanently barred from holding a judicial office.<\/p>\n

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

The court\u2019s order states that the commission \u201cfailed to prove its case (against Galvan) by clear and convincing evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

That doesn\u2019t mean Galvan\u2019s accuser doesn\u2019t have a chance of winning a civil suit. Civil cases have the lowest standard for burden of proof \u2013 \u201cpreponderance of evidence\u201d \u2013 which essentially means it\u2019s more likely than not that the allegations are true.<\/p>\n

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

There is a higher burden of proof with \u201cclear and convincing evidence,\u201d which is the standard used in situations that include child custody cases involving abuse allegations. The highest standard, used in criminal cases, is \u201cbeyond a reasonable doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

In the civil suit, Galvan\u2019s accuser is represented by Las Cruces<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> attorney Blaine Mynatt, who claims Galvan violated the woman\u2019s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment right \u201cto be secure in her person against unreasonable seizures,\u201d and her Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment right \u201cnot to be deprived of her liberty without due process of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Though the word \u201crape\u201d isn\u2019t used in the complaint, Galvan, according to the complaint, \u201cusing force and coercion, falsely imprisoned and sexually battered\u201d the woman. That, the complaint states, caused \u201csevere emotional distress, psychological and physical trauma, humiliation and ridicule.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

As a result, the complaint states, the woman \u201csuffered and continues to suffer emotional distress, including but not limited to depression, insomnia, guilt feelings, anxiety, tension and nightmares.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Do\u00f1a Ana County Magistrate Judge Reuben Galvan is being sued by the woman whose accusations of rape and bribery ended his career. The woman filed a federal lawsuit on Aug. 16 alleging civil rights violations based on claims of battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She\u2019s seeking compensatory and punitive damages, […]<\/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-522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522","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=522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}