political shockwaves are being felt across the state tonight after a judge was charged with bribery. former governor bill minute thumbnail 06:00 pm richardson's name is being brought up ....even though he's not facing any charges. here's jeremy jojola with a break down of the case. judge michael murphy allegedly said he paid 4-thouand dollars to get appointed by then governor bill richardson.. a bribe or a campaign donation? that's a question a jury could review if the case goes to trial. las cruces judge mike murphy has been indicted over charges of bribery... court documents accuse murphy of telling an attorney she must pay money to get appointed to the bench. according to the documents, the woman told investigators murphy said quote.... "....she should write a check to the democratic party every week in whatever amount she could afford and deliver it to edgar lopez," who's a politcal player in las cruces. the judge is also accused in the court documents of saying " ...edgar lopez was close friends with the governor and would hand-deliver envelopes to him." a spokesperson for former governor bill richardson didn't respond to our request for comment. governor minute thumbnail 06:01 pm richardson is not facing charges. the court documents do not directly connect the governor to judge murphy. but as political watch-dogs observe... it's not good for the former governor's name. "it does again put bill richardsons legacy in the lime light and opens questions as to how much...shady activity, if any was going on during those years of his governorship. it casts, him fairly or not in a bad showdow." in las cruces the case is attracting attention to the judicial system. "there should beome seris examiniation of did murphy cross the line, did other judges cross the line? how prevalant was this in dona ana county or beyond?" we put a call into judge murphy..who so far hasn't resigned. the special prosecutor handling this case, matthew chandler, wouldn't go into detail about any more possible indictments. he did say law enforcement continue to investigate.
