Judge: Legislators must testify in Griego case
But no ruling on whether questions will be limited due to immunity provision
SANTA FE — New Mexico lawmakers and legislative staffers will have to testify in the opening stanza of the criminal case against former state Sen. Phil Griego, though the type of questions they’re required to answer could be limited, a judge ruled Monday.
Specifically, District Judge Brett Loveless of Albuquerque denied a motion to reject subpoenas issued to legislators and staffers but decided not to issue a ruling on whether certain questions, if asked of them, could violate an immunity provision in the state Constitution.
“It’s just something we’re going to have to deal with during the preliminary hearing,” Loveless said, referring to a four-day hearing set to begin next week.
Griego, who resigned from the Senate in March 2015, is facing fraud, bribery and other criminal charges for allegedly using his role as a legislator to profit from the sale of a historic state-owned building near downtown Santa Fe.
If convicted of all counts, Griego, who has pleaded not guilty, could face up to 28 years in prison and more than $40,000 in fines.
Attorney General Hector Balderas’ office has indicated it plans to call nine lawmakers — including Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, and Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle,
R-Portales — and at least four legislative staffers to testify
Although several lawmakers have said they have no problem with doing so, attorneys for the Legislative Council Service asked the judge in a motion filed earlier this month to nullify the subpoenas or, at the least, to limit their scope.
During Monday’s hearing on the motion, Thomas Hnasko, a Santa Fe attorney representing the Legislative Council Service, asserted the request did not seek “blanket immunity” for lawmakers and staffers from having to testify. Instead, he said, its aim was to protect the legislative branch and allow individual legislators to decide whether to waive immunity arguments.
That appeared to be in response to Balderas’ previous claim that the Legislative Council Service’s legal stance “sacrifices justice on an altar of secrecy.”
In an unusual twist, Hnasko himself has been listed by the AG’s Office as a possible witness in the case, because he also did legal work for an internal Senate ethics investigation into Griego’s conduct.
Judge Loveless did not issue an immediate ruling Monday on whether Hnasko would in fact be required to testify during next week’s preliminary hearing, which will be split between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
However, the judge already has ruled that most of the Senate ethics investigation’s records must be turned over to prosecutors.
The court sparring between the Attorney General’s Office and the Legislative Council Service has become a key plot line in the case against Griego, a San Miguel Democrat.
Clara Moran, director of special prosecutions for the AG’s Office, claimed during Monday’s hearing the council service, which provides bill-drafting and legal services to legislators, has not identified specifically which legislators it is representing during the Griego case.
She also said lawmakers called as witnesses should have to raise their own objections to questions asked during the preliminary hearing, saying, “We’re asking the court not to limit the questioning.”
Also still unresolved is whether freelance journalist Peter St. Cyr, who wrote the first stories on Griego’s real estate deal, should have to testify.
The AG’s Office has listed St. Cyr as a witness and indicated it wants to ask him about his interviews with Griego, but an attorney representing St. Cyr has argued a state Supreme Court rule protects journalists from having to divulge much of their work.
“This is actually trying to compel testimony about the newsgathering process,” Albuquerque attorney Colin Hunter said Monday.
The judge is expected to rule on whether St. Cyr should have to testify — and if so, on what issues — by the week’s end.