Judge Is Re-Elected, Then Barred for Life
By Rene Romo
Journal Southern Bureau
LAS CRUCES- One day after voters re-elected Magistrate Judge Carlos Garza
to a second term on the bench, the state Supreme Court permanently barred
him from judicial office.
On Tuesday, the
43-year-old former Mesilla trustee and Doqa Ana County commissioner
received 23,532 votes as he ran unopposed for a second four-year term as
magistrate judge.
A day later, the Supreme Court
granted the Judicial Standards Commission's request to permanently remove
Garza from office for testing positive for cocaine, failing to comply with
a commission order and other judicial misconduct.
Garza said Thursday that he was relieved to have the whole affair behind
him but disgusted at what he said was unfair treatment in proceedings
before the Judicial Standards Commission and the Supreme
Court.
"I truly have never, ever seen anything like
this in my life," he said.
But Garza added: "I'm
excited about being involved in private enterprise. The pay is certainly
better than I made for them, and I can choose the people that I work with.
That makes me very happy."
According to the petition
from the Judicial Standards Commission, hair samples Garza provided to
labs on Sept. 20 and Sept. 22 tested positive for
cocaine.
Garza asserted the tests were not
conclusive and argued that positive results could have been caused by
passive exposure to cocaine residue.
The Judicial
Standards Commission staff, including general counsel James Noel and staff
attorney Elizabeth Garcia, harshly criticized Garza in documents filed
with the Supreme Court.
The commission's staff said
that Garza showed a "lack of accountability," a "lack of candor," had
engaged in "unceasing attempts to distance himself from his actions" and
was "fundamentally unsuited for judicial service."
Garza was suspended without pay from his post for 30 days on Sept. 20 for
failing to comply with an Aug. 17 order from the Judicial Standards
Commission to undergo a drug test. The commission also alleged that Garza
evaded a law enforcement officer who had tried to serve him with the order
to undergo testing.
Garza complained that "rumors"
formed the basis for the order requiring his drug
tests.
The commission also alleged that Garza
attempted to intimidate a Mesilla deputy while he was a passenger in a
vehicle driven by a woman stopped for speeding in February 2006. During
the traffic stop, Garza allegedly leaned toward the deputy and asked: "Do
you know who I am?"
Garza said he was embarrassed at the time of the episode and was
not trying to intimidate the officer.
