Faced with the prospect of being questioned about alleged offensive and biased remarks he made to court employees and others over the past four years, District Judge Michael Murphy of Las Cruces has agreed to permanently resign.
The resignation approved by the state Supreme Court on Wednesday ended secret disciplinary proceedings launched by the state Judicial Standards Commission over the past year.
Murphy still faces a felony bribery charges, which were not part of the Judicial Standards agreement made public Wednesday. A trial in that case is on hold pending an appeal of the dismissal of a related misdemeanor charge.
His lawyer, Michael Stout, said the resignation was unrelated to those charges.
However, some of the remarks at the center of the Judicial Standards inquiry were caught on tape by fellow District Judge Lisa Schultz of Las Cruces, one of his main accusers in the bribery case.
One of the recordings made by Schultz that was transcribed for the criminal proceedings reveals Murphy making numerous off-color remarks.
Murphy was heard stating that he had already come under fire for making alleged anti-gay, anti-Semitic remarks. Schultz, who is Jewish, is also gay.
He added at one point, “You know, I may be rude, crude and socially unacceptable” but he denied being anti-gay or anti-Semitic.
Matthew Chandler, the Clovis district attorney who was appointed special prosecutor in the bribery case, said Murphy’s “resignation in light of the judicial standards investigation speaks for itself and the criminal case will move forward.”
Murphy, in a statement released by his attorney Wednesday, described his departure as a retirement and made no mention of any of the allegations raised in the previously pending disciplinary action.
“It is reasonable that I leave the bench at this time due to my age, my health and my current legal case so that the division I serve can be fully staffed for the benefit of the citizens of this district,” the statement said.
Murphy, 65, a domestic relations specialist, was appointed by Gov. Bill Richardson in 2006.
He agreed he will never again hold, become a candidate for, run for, or stand for election to any New Mexico judicial office in the future, according to a Supreme Court order.
After his indictment on bribery and other charges, Murphy was suspended without pay. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Records unsealed by the Supreme Court on Wednesday indicate that while Murphy was fighting the criminal charges, he also was facing four potential disciplinary cases. The basis for two of them was revealed in documents released by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
One disciplinary case centered on allegations in a grand jury indictment filed against Murphy in April. But that inquiry was postponed pending resolution of the criminal case.
In the criminal matter, Murphy is alleged to have told a potential judicial candidate in 2006 that she needed to make contributions to the local Democratic Party to better her chances for appointment to the bench and allegedly repeated the statement in a later conversation with Schultz.
Last December, however, a new disciplinary action arose based on alleged prejudicial comments made by Murphy.
The Judicial Standards Commission informed Murphy on Dec. 27 that it had instituted formal proceedings on allegations that during a conversation with Schultz on Dec. 10, 2010, during business hours, Murphy “made offensive and/or derogatory and/or inappropriate statements regarding a person or groups of persons. It is alleged that your conduct indicated bias and/or prejudice.”
Murphy was also asked to respond to another allegation that between Jan. 1, 2008, and Feb. 4, 2010, he “made offensive and/or derogatory and/or inappropriate statements regarding a person or groups of persons to Third Judicial Court staff members and others while in (his) capacity as a judge.”
Journal staff writers Rene Romo and Mike Gallagher contributed to this report.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal
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