{"id":525,"date":"2006-08-30T15:58:00","date_gmt":"2006-08-30T21:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/08\/magistrate-garza-apparently-planned-to-resign-until-allegations-of-drug-use-became-public\/"},"modified":"2006-08-30T15:58:00","modified_gmt":"2006-08-30T21:58:00","slug":"magistrate-garza-apparently-planned-to-resign-until-allegations-of-drug-use-became-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/08\/magistrate-garza-apparently-planned-to-resign-until-allegations-of-drug-use-became-public\/","title":{"rendered":"Magistrate Garza apparently planned to resign until allegations of drug use became public"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Embattled Do\u00f1a Ana County Magistrate Judge Carlos Garza was apparently prepared to resign until the Judicial Standards Commission made public last week allegations that he may be using drugs. <\/p>\n

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

The commission filed a week ago a petition asking the New Mexico Supreme Court to immediately suspend Garza without pay, force him to undergo urine and hair tests for illegal drugs, and explain why he should not be held in contempt for refusing the commission\u2019s previous demand for the tests, which were sought because of allegations that Garza is using drugs. The court has not yet responded.<\/p>\n

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

Garza had already been placed on suspension with pay until Nov. 3 while the commission conducts five separate investigations into other serious allegations. In addition, he was placed on judicial probation after admitting earlier this year that he improperly involved himself in a drunken driving case against a woman with whom he had a personal relationship, though Garza claims his probation has been put on hold while he\u2019s on suspension.<\/p>\n

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

Records released by the commission, statements made by Garza and a response he filed today with the court (which you can read by clicking here<\/a>), reveal that Garza was prepared to end the trouble in which he found himself by calling it quits.<\/p>\n

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

Garza\u2019s troubles first became public in May, when he admitted to the allegation involving the woman\u2019s drunken driving case. In June, he said that admission was based on \u201ceconomic reasons\u201d and added that he did not believe he had done anything wrong. He later skipped the deadline to pay a $600 fine in that case, then paid the fine a week later after the commission filed a motion with the high court asking him to explain why he should not be held in contempt.<\/p>\n

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

Matters got worse for Garza last month, when the commission sought his immediate suspension with pay based on allegations that resulted in five separate investigations by the commission. The high court sealed that file, so most details aren\u2019t known publicly, but some can be inferred from a later court filing. (You can read about that by clicking here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

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

The court placed Garza on suspension through Nov. 3 with pay while the commission investigated.<\/p>\n

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

But the commission was also conducting a sixth, separate investigation into allegations that Garza was using drugs. On Aug. 17, the commission issued an order requiring him to undergo drug testing within 24 hours. That didn\u2019t happen, and the commission accuses Garza of willfully evading service of the order and violating the order. Garza, in today\u2019s filing, blamed his failure to comply on a series of mishaps and other circumstances.<\/p>\n

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

With problems beginning to stack up against him, Garza began discussing a stipulated agreement with Noel that would result in his resignation. Garza has said publicly that Noel asked him to resign.<\/p>\n

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

And, according to today\u2019s filing, Garza agreed last week to \u201cgo to Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> in good faith and possibly resolve all matters in which Noel agreed to recommend (Garza) would be paid through suspension period until Nov. 3rd<\/sup>, 2006.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Garza went to Albuquerque<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> on Thursday to meet with Noel. Multiple sources have told me Garza told them he was going to sign an agreement that he would resign upon the completion of his suspension.<\/p>\n

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

Noel filed the commission\u2019s request asking the high court to order the drug testing and suspend Garza without pay just before 5 p.m. the day before Garza traveled to Albuquerque<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>. Garza told me he learned of the filing when I called him Thursday morning to ask about it.<\/p>\n

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

At that point, Garza would have been on his way to Noel\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

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

At the meeting, Garza claims, Noel asked him to sign a statement that he had conferred with an attorney before signing the agreement, which Garza says he had not done. He claims he asked to take a copy of the agreement to share with an attorney, and Noel told him, \u201cYou sign it now or forget it. \u2026 He said if I wasn\u2019t there to sign it, we had nothing else to talk about.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

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

Garza apparently refused to sign. He later told me he is \u201cvery upset\u201d and going to fight.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

In today\u2019s filing, Garza reiterates allegations he made in an interview with me this weekend that Noel and Caleb Chandler, the former magistrate judge currently assigned to help the court in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>, have engaged in improper conduct.<\/p>\n

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

He accuses Chandler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> of \u201corchestration\u201d of the allegations which led the commission to order Garza to undergo drug testing, and says Noel has \u201callegedly violated multiple rules.\u201d (You can read Garza\u2019s prior comments to me by clicking here<\/a>. Because they\u2019re similar to the statements Garza makes in today\u2019s filing, I\u2019m not going to rehash most of the details.)<\/p>\n

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

Noel can\u2019t talk about negotiations the state constitution dictates are secret, but had this reply to the response Garza filed today.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI think Judge Garza\u2019s response speaks for itself, and it wouldn\u2019t be appropriate for me to discuss it further here since it is part of an open matter before the Supreme Court. Obviously we disagree with many of the characterizations Judge Garza made, but we respect his right to respond to the Supreme Court in the manner he believes is appropriate and that best represents his position. All of our interactions with Judge Garza are well-documented, and we will be fully prepared to address any issues the Supreme Court wants to have addressed,\u201d Noel said. \u201cI will reiterate that this office has treated Judge Garza with the utmost respect, and will continue to do so. That does not mean, however, that this commission or its staff will abandon their constitutional duties to the citizens of New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Garza is running unopposed for re-election this year. The last day for a candidate to withdraw from the race is Sept. 5, and the last day for political parties to place candidates on the ballot following withdrawals is Sept. 12. Hoyt Clifton from the Secretary of State\u2019s office tells me it\u2019s not unheard of for the high court to make exceptions to those deadlines in extreme circumstances.<\/p>\n

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

There are several scenarios that could play out here, depending on if and when Garza resigns. There could be an election or there could instead be an appointment by the governor to fill the position.<\/p>\n

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

Stay tuned. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Embattled Do\u00f1a Ana County Magistrate Judge Carlos Garza was apparently prepared to resign until the Judicial Standards Commission made public last week allegations that he may be using drugs. The commission filed a week ago a petition asking the New Mexico Supreme Court to immediately suspend Garza without pay, force him to undergo urine and […]<\/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-525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525","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=525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}