8 judges file recusals in Griego case
Ex-state senator facing 22 new charges, including perjury and embezzlement
Without giving any particular reason, eight judges have recused themselves from presiding over the latest criminal case against Phil Griego, a former state senator indicted on suspicion of stealing campaign funds.
The number of judges withdrawing from Griego’s case has become a curious sideshow to the ongoing legal troubles of a legislator who was a powerhouse in New Mexico politics, especially in matters involving businesses.
Griego, 68, a Democrat from San Jose, already was facing corruption charges for his role in the sale of a state-owned building near the Capitol when a Santa Fe County grand jury indicted him June 16 on 22 new counts, including perjury and embezzlement.
The latest case stems from Griego’s use of his campaign funds. Prosecutors say he continued spending money from his re-election account after resigning from the Senate in March 2015. But some of the campaign expenses at issue in the indictment date to 2012.
The state District Court in Santa Fe initially assigned the new case against Griego to Judge T. Glenn Ellington, but he recused himself June 20.
In the following days, the case passed between seven other judges before landing on the desk of Judge Francis
Mathew. If Mathew recuses himself, Griego’s case will have to go to a judge from another district.
All the judges filed a standard form with the court clerk that lists various reasons for passing on a case, such as having personal knowledge of the facts or having a family connection to one of the parties involved. None selected any of those options. Instead, they checked a box next to a general category: “Other good cause.”
The rules outlining when judges must recuse themselves are open-ended, stating only that “no district judge shall sit in any action in which the judge’s impartiality may reasonably be questioned” under the state constitution or the rules of judicial conduct.
But judges usually do not step aside merely because a case involves a politician.
Ellington, for example, handled the criminal case against former Secretary of State Dianna Duran from start to finish when investigators accused her of embezzling campaign funds to finance a gambling addiction. Duran pleaded guilty to six charges, including two felonies.
Lawyers excused one judge when former Public Regulation Commissioner Jerome Block Jr. faced charges for violating the state’s election code. But another judge took up the case, and Block pleaded guilty to felony charges.
Municipal Judge Virginia Vigil recused herself when Santa Fe police cited former Gov. Bill Richardson following a hit-andrun traffic accident. Vigil cited her work lobbying Richardson for construction money when she served as a Santa Fe County commissioner. A retired District Court judge handled the case in her stead. Richardson pleaded no contest to failing to give immediate notice of an accident, a traffic violation.
Former state Supreme Court Justice Patricio Serna said one factor in the decision by so many Santa Fe judges to recuse themselves from Griego’s case might have been their role lobbying legislators for court funding.
Serna said he did not withdraw from cases merely because of a defendant’s fame or intense media scrutiny.
“If I had questions about my neutrality or my fairness, I would recuse. But only then. Not if it’s a high-profile case. You try every case the same way,” Serna said.
The first round of charges against Griego led to a similar number of recusals. Eight of the Santa Fe-area District Court’s judges recused themselves, all without explanation. Lawyers representing Griego dismissed a ninth judge. Then state Supreme Court Justice Charles Daniels stepped in and appointed a judge from Albuquerque, Brett Loveless.
The latest charges are likely to end up in front of Loveless, too.
The state Attorney General’s Office is asking Loveless to join the two cases. A spokesman said Thursday that prosecutors are awaiting a hearing on their request.
Griego served in the Senate for 19 years. He chaired the Corporations and Transportation Committee, and he was a key lawmaker in pushing through corporate tax cuts that Republican Gov. Susana Martinez supported in 2013.