Former Española Municipal Judge Charles Maestas spent 2 1/2 years in prison for a conviction the state Supreme Court later overturned, saying the laws under which he was charged shouldn't have applied to a judge.

Maestas, who had been accused of trading lenient sentences for sex acts from female defendants, was tried again last July on five counts of rape and five bribery counts, according to The New Mexican in Santa Fe.

The jury acquitted him on nine of the counts and deadlocked 11-1 for acquittal on the 10th, and the state Attorney General's Office said it would not prosecute him again, the paper said.

In the meantime, Maestas has sued his original lawyers for malpractice (see this earlier Albuquerque Journal story), claiming they should have known about the exemption for judges before he went to trial, much less before he went to prison.

At a hearing in Santa Fe last week, the lawyers representing Maestas' original attorneys said the former judge shouldn't be allowed to collect any damages unless he can prove his innocence, The New Mexican reported.

Martha Brown, who represents Maestas' attorney at trial, Steven Aarons, and Al Green, who represents Maestas' attorney on appeal, David Henderson, said that only innocent defendants can sue their lawyers for malpractice, the paper said.

But former state Supreme Court Justice Tony Scarborough, who represents Maestas in the lawsuit, argued that to recover damages for legal malpractice it isn't necessary to be innocent, The New Mexican reported.

State District Judge Barbara Vigil said last week that before the malpractice case goes any further, Scarborough may ask the state Court of Appeals for a ruling on the "innocence rule," The New Mexican said.

Vigil last week also rejected Scarborough's motion for a partial summary judgment and put Brown's motion for summary judgment on behalf of Aarons on hold until court-ordered arbitration of Maestas' complaint against Aarons is complete, the paper said.

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