NM judge booked, fingerprinted in political bribery scandal tied to Democrats, Richardson

Star Tribune ^ | 5/20/11

[Libloather]

NM judge booked, fingerprinted in political bribery scandal tied to Democrats, Richardson
Article by: Associated Press
Updated: May 20, 2011 - 3:35 PM

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - A New Mexico judge charged with bribery in a scandal tied to former Gov. Bill Richardson pleaded not guilty Friday, then was booked, fingerprinted and ordered to hand over his passport.

State District Judge Michael Murphy is accused of telling a potential judicial candidate that if she wanted a seat on the bench she needed to donate to the Democratic Party through a political activist linked to Richardson.

Allegations in a special prosecutor's report imply the practice was common in the district during Richardson's time in office and that Edgar Lopez of Las Cruces delivered the payments to the former governor. Special prosecutor Matt Chandler has said the investigation is ongoing.

Richardson called the accusations "outrageous and defamatory" and said the 113 judges selected while he was governor were chosen solely on merit. For his part, Murphy, who was not jailed, declined comment after the hearing, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News. Lopez has not returned calls from The Associated Press seeking comment. The judicial candidate Beverly Singleman also has not responded to calls from the AP.

Murphy on Friday was read his rights, booked, fingerprinted and ordered to post a $10,000 bail during his arraignment on felony bribery and intimidation charges. But retired federal Magistrate Leslie Smith denied the prosecution's request that Murphy sign a warrant and be arrested.

[kcvl]

Hey, dumb*ss Democrats, ever hear of Ronnie Earl of Texas?

[TiaS]

Corruption under Bill Richardson is institutional and a way of life. He was also a Congressman for the third congressional district before he was named our ambassador to the United Nations, then followed by DOE Secretary. New Mexico’s biggest employer is the federal government.

[TiaS]

Originally, Richardson was chosen to be Obama's Secretary of Commerce. At that time, it was discovered he was under some kind of investigation by the FBI and his name was dropped.

To truly understand the culture of crime in Northern New Mexico, read (on line) the Rio Grande Sun, a newspaper (family owned for many years) with the courage to print the news of what is happening in Richardson's old congressional district. The paper is located in Espanola, New Mexico, and is a bedroom community to Los Alamos and Santa Fe. Some time ago, the police attempted to silence the paper on its crime reporting -- not certain how that was resoved, maybe a change of format, but the crime stories are still there.

[kcvl]

Thank you!

[TiaS]

Follow up on recent entry. This morning I was listening to a Senator speaking on C-SPAN, he was criticizing a foreign country for human rights abuses and mentioned their obligations to their people under the Helsinki Commission on Human Rights, to which they are signatory. The senator emphasized the importance of the rule of law. Governor Bill Richardson, at one time, was our representative to that organization.