Governor responds to judge indictment

May 17, 2011

the state supreme court today suspended a district court judge who was just indicted on bribery charges. in the indictment ---las cruces judge michael murphy said he paid 4-thousand dollars to get appointed by then governor bill richardson. we broke the story friday night at ten. and tonight our joe vigil looked into whether more judges will be investigated. joe we caught up with governor martinez late tonight in albuquerque ...and she hinted that other judges may be in trouble too. so how big could this case get? according to the governor's office the richardson administration appointed 69 district court judges over 8 years. tonight governor martinez said minute thumbnail 10:03 pm the special prosecutor will make the decisions on whether others could face charges. she also told us this. "it appears from statements made by this one judge that it may include others. or also the reaction of some of the judges not reporting it to the judicial standards as they are obligated to." the indictment is quite scathing. it details one alleged conversation where judge michael murphy didn't beat around the bush about asking a local attorney to kick in some cash to ensure a judge position. the indictment states murphy told attorney beverly singleman to "write a check to the democratic party every week." the indictment indicates another judge was present during that lunch meeting. the indictment also indicates murphy told another judge "that's how business is done now days." and that he gave "4000 dollars to governor richardson." but as word got out about alleged pay to play allegations the indictment states murphy said "i bet it was beverly singleman." and that he would "destroy her and her reputation." the judge minute thumbnail 10:04 pm later told investigators he didn't even remember meeting with singleman. the judge even offered to take a lie detector test--but then never responded to investigators about setting a date. the indictment also states that murphy said "if i go down for this, i'm not going down alone. i'm taking someone with me." "business is not going to be done the way it was under the previous adminstration." governor martinez was district attorney in dona ana county when this started to unfold in 2007. she appointed d-a matt chandler to investigate to avoid a conflict with the judge in her district. judge murphy is suspended without pay pending further court action. we made a number of attempts to contact bill richardson for comment but didn't hear back. we also didn't hear back from judge mphy. even though governor richardson isn't facing any charges .... political watchers say 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 minute thumbnail 10:05 pm governorship. it casts, him fairly or not in a bad showdow." and these aren't the first "pay-to-play" allegations against the richardson administration. just last week the state hired a law firm to collect money it believes was lost in another scheme. the state filed federal and state lawsuits against former state investment officer gary bland--- a financial advisory firm--- and dozens of others. the lawsuits claim they steered state investments to political supporters of former governor bill richardson