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Daniels ‘disappointed’ in Chandler, won’t stay off Murphy case
N.M. Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles W. Daniels
In denying prosecutor Matt Chandler’s request that he recuse himself from matters related to the bribery case against Judge Mike Murphy, Chief Justice Charles W. Daniels revealed allegations that Chandler has played politics in an attempt to gain an advantage in the case
The chief justice of the N.M. Supreme Court won’t recuse himself from maters related to the bribery case against District Judge Mike Murphy; he says the request that he do so contains “factual misrepresentations” and “unsupported attacks.”
And in Charles W. Daniels’ 40-page order and opinion rejecting prosecutor Matt Chandler’s request that he stay away from the Murphy case, Daniels revealed that Chandler faces allegations of playing politics in an attempt to gain an advantage in the case – allegations Chandler says are false.
Earlier this month Chandler filed the motion seeking Daniels’ recusal, arguing that the chief justice’s prior actions and statements, and a rumor that a campaign contribution from his wife may have bought his appointment to the high court, created a negative appearance.
Daniels has denied the rumor about his appointment in a previous interview with NMPolitics.net. He shot down that allegation again on Wednesday, along with the rest of Chandler’s motion. In his strongly worded and pointed order, Daniels admitted to being “disappointed and concerned” by and about Chandler’s conduct, “as any judge should be.” But he said he is “confident that I am not so personally embroiled that I will be biased against the State itself.”
Read the full order here.
Former employee accuses Chandler of ‘judge shopping’
In the order, Daniels includes an affidavit from a former prosecutor in Chandler’s office. That former employee, Kirk Chavez, alleges that Chandler sought to have an earlier judge who Daniels assigned to the case disqualified by releasing a public statement that would imply collusion between Daniels and Murphy’s attorney, Michael Stout.
The intent, Kirk Chavez wrote in the affidavit he sent Daniels last week, was to pressure Daniels into appointing “a more conservative, and hopefully Republican judge” to the case against Murphy, who is a Democrat.
Ninth Judicial District Attorney Matt Chandler
In March, Daniels appointed District Judge J.C. Robinson of Silver City, a Democrat, to oversee pre-grand jury matters in the case. Chandler, a Republican, says the appointment came a day after Stout suggested to him that a judge from Silver City should preside over such matters.
Chandler stated in his motion seeking the Democrat Daniels’ recusal that he was “quite concerned about the ‘coincidence’” and submitted a motion to Daniels to withdraw the appointment of Robinson, saying the situation “at least suggested the appearance of impropriety.” Daniels denied that motion.
Daniels stated in his order that he “did not collude with defense counsel Michael Stout or anyone else in my selection of Judge Robinson.” He said when he appointed Robinson he had never spoken with Stout and didn’t know whether Murphy had an attorney.
Chavez’s affidavit contains serious allegations against Chandler. You can read the affidavit on pages 42 and 43 of Daniels’ order. Here’s how Daniels summed it up:
“As Mr. Chavez states in his own words, the allegations by Mr. Chandler of impropriety on my part, or Judge Robinson’s part, or defense counsel’s part were neither factually based nor made in good faith. My Chandler’s former deputy prosecutor candidly admits that he and Mr. Chandler knew they ‘had no facts to support (their) conclusion that Judge Robinson’s political affiliation would dictate how he would rule in their case’ (Paragraph 12); that they were doing so as a ‘judge shopping’ tactic to pressure me into appointing ‘a more conservative, and hopefully Republican judge’ (Paragraphs 14 and 15); that they ‘had no facts whatsoever, or any evidence of any kind that Chief Justice Daniels had colluded with Mr. Stout in the appointment of Judge Robinson’ (Paragraph 19); that they ‘believed that the accusation of collusion alone would apply enough pressure on the Chief Justice to withdraw the appointment of Judge Robinson’ (Paragraph 20); that ‘Mr. Chandler and (Mr. Chavez) both agreed that at least the accusation, which (they) know was not supported by any facts or evidence, was in a document that would one day be made public’ (Paragraph 22); that their ‘actions were intended to curve the playing-field to have a judge that would be more favorable to the prosecution of Judge Mupr(h)y be appointed to the case’ (Paragraph 23); and that he and Mr. Chandler ‘were aware that (their) actions impugned the reputations and integrity of Chief Justice Daniels and Michael Stout; however (they) decided to utilize that strategy to hopefully gain an advantage in the case’ (Paragraph 24).”
Chandler says allegations are ‘not true’
Last week’s affidavit isn’t the first time Chandler has faced allegations from Chavez, who appeared on behalf of the state at one early hearing in the case. At a later, closed-door hearing before Murphy was indicted in May, NMPolitics.net saw Chavez standing outside with a private attorney.
NMPolitics.net witnessed Lawrence Pickett, a Las Cruces attorney who said he was part of Murphy’s defense team, approach Chavez outside the hearing. Pickett thanked Chavez for his courage and honesty, but didn’t elaborate.
Soon thereafter, Robinson called Chavez into the hearing to testify. Afterward, Chavez refused to comment on the situation. Chandler confirmed later that day that Chavez no longer worked for his office, but he would not comment further.
On Wednesday, Chandler told NMPolitics.net that the allegations contained in the affidavit Chavez provided Daniels are “not true.” He also confirmed that Chavez has leveled accusations at him before.
“Justice Daniels is relying on unsubstantiated information provided by a former employee, who is the same former employee with information that Judge Robinson and Judge Smith have already declared on the record to be unsubstantiated, unreliable and irrelevant,” Chandler said.
Judge Leslie Smith has been assigned to the case since a grand jury indicted Murphy in May.
It’s clear now that allegations from Chavez have been an issue in the Murphy case, but consideration of those allegations has taken place largely in secret. Chandler said he couldn’t comment on whether the accusations Smith and Robinson considered were similar to those contained in the affidavit Chavez sent Daniels. Chandler said the order Robinson issued related to Chavez is sealed.
Daniels disputes Chandler’s version of chance encounter
As to Daniels’ rejection of his request for recusal, Chandler said he stands by his motion, which he said was “based upon a reasonable perception that there may be a conflict of interest.” But he said he accepts the chief justice’s decision.
“It puts this issue to rest, and it’s time to focus on the facts and take this case to trial,” Chandler said.
Daniels went into a great deal of detail in his order and opinion in an attempt to put the issue to rest. He stated that such explanation is necessary “when the motion is based on widely publicized misstatements about the true facts or misrepresentations of the applicable legal principles.”
One of the incidents Chandler cited as grounds for Daniels’ recusal was a chance encounter between the two in June. The day Murphy was arrested on a new charge relating to his solicitation of District Judge Lisa Schultz’s vote to make Douglas R. Driggers the chief judge in Las Cruces, Chandler says he spotted Daniels talking on his cell phone at a coffee shop inside the Buffalo Thunder resort outside Santa Fe. Statements he overheard led Chandler to believe Daniels was talking about Murphy’s arrest – before information about the arrest had been released to the public.
Among the statements Chandler says he overheard was, “what’s next, I mean, are they going to go after us for putting on the left shoe before putting on the right one?” Chandler wrote in his motion that he was “shocked to walk by and hear the chief justice giving his opinion of the case already” – especially in a public setting where his conversation might be overheard.
Daniels disputes Chandler’s account of the situation, saying he was speaking on his phone in an “unoccupied area” down a hallway from the coffee shop. In his order, he characterized Chandler’s overhearing of his conversation as “eavesdropping,” and said when confronted by Chandler following his phone conversation he passed a protruding column “that had concealed Mr. Chandler’s presence from me.”
“I never did set foot in the coffee shop off to one side of the hallway, and I am quite certain nobody in that coffee shop, or anyone else but Mr. Chandler, overheard any of my phone call,” Daniels wrote.
Daniels stated that Driggers called to notify him about Murphy’s arrest as he was walking into Buffalo Thunder. Daniels then called a staffer in his own office about the situation. In response to the staffer asking whether the situation led to him having second thoughts about wanting to be a judge, Daniels stated that he “laughed and replied that sometimes I wonder whether I might be accused of wrongdoing if I put my left shoe on first instead of my right when I get dressed in the morning.”
“If Mr. Chandler perceived that I had questions about the viability of the legal theories implicit in the partial report I had received about Judge Murphy’s June 28 arrest, he certainly is entitled to that perception,” Daniels wrote. “I had never heard of such a legal theory in a bribery case.”
But a judge’s views on legal issues don’t serve as basis to disqualify him, Daniels wrote. Judges should keep an open mind, but not an empty one.
Daniels says rumor about his appointment is ‘patently false’
As to the rumor that Daniels’ wife bought his appointment to the Supreme Court with a $1 million contribution to then-Gov. Bill Richardson – a rumor Murphy is quoted in court documents as spreading – Daniels wrote, “the suggestion is patently false, and there is no evidence to support it, as could have been confirmed through the most minimal investigation.”
He said he and his wife were aware of but have “shrugged off those rumors, realizing that there is no way to keep people from that kind of groundless gossip.”
NMPolitics.net has searched for and found no evidence of a $1 million contribution. According to FollowTheMoney.org, Daniels gave $200 to Richardson’s gubernatorial re-election campaign in 2006. His wife gave $3,000 to Richardson in 2002 and $5,000 to Richardson in 2006. She also gave $2,300 to Richardson’s presidential campaign in February 2007, according to OpenSecrets.org.
No one has publicly accused Daniels or his wife of paying for Daniels’ appointment or claimed to have evidence that it happened.
The case against Murphy
In addition to the felony charge that led to his June arrest, Murphy also faces four felony counts stemming from his May indictment on charges of bribery, intimidation or retaliation against a witness and criminal solicitation. Those charges are based on allegations that Murphy solicited a bribe from potential judicial applicant Beverly Singleman, told Schultz to tell Singleman she needed to pay the bribe, and threatened to destroy Singleman’s reputation for telling others that he solicited a bribe from her.
Murphy has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His trial is set for February.
Stout had no comment on Daniels’ order.
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oag states that “[Daniels] is one of the smartest individuals I have ever met.”
Well, maybe he, with his brains and extensive legal experience, sees more legal implications to Chandler’s actions than you are able to.
“I am surprised Judge Daniels made the decision to stay on the case. What is his motive?”
-Perhaps it’s his constitutional mandate to preside over any investigation into the judiciary. That’s what an ‘independent judiciary’ means, folks. Unfortunately there is a small but loud (republican) minority that screams ‘corruption’ as soon as anyone stands up to their efforts to do away with Judges they perceive as unfriendly towards their efforts to disenfranchise minority voters and further the interests of oil and gas.
L’occasion fait le larron. If New Mexicans are actually duped by these cooked up charges of corruption and facile interpretations of what a supreme court justice should or should not do (guess what: if you really want to know, read the New Mexico Constitution, not the Albuquerque Journal), they will only have themselves to blame for the corruption that will inevitably follow from a Martinez administration uninhibited by an independent judiciary.
Why did Chief Justice Daniels have this order posted on nmcourts? I have visited this site almost daily at work over the past four or five years, and I have never seen an order like this posted on nmcourts. Why not post this order with all the other orders from the Court on the Supreme Court’s website? Also, why did Chief Justice Daniels need 30 pages (with 70 pages of exhibits) to justify his decision not to recuse himself? Also, was it necessary for his clerks to spend hours researching and writing this order (at the taxpayer’s expense) when a one-page order would have had the same result? It appears that Chief Justice Daniels took Mr. Chandler’s request that he recuse himself from this case too personally and felt the need to hit back.
The purpose of this order appears to be more about protecting Chief Justice Daniels’ ego than reaching the correct legal decision. Chief Justice Daniels does not dispute that he was discussing the Murphy case on his cell phone and criticizing the legal theory of the prosecution. Instead of acknowledging and addressing what appears to be a valid concern that he may have pre-judged the case, he ignores the inappropriate nature of his conversation and lashes out at Chandler for “eavesdropping.” Then he attacks Mr. Chandler personally only adding to the case that he should recuse himself. This order reads more like a response from Mr. Stout than an order from a disinterested judge.
I was a student of Chief Justice Daniels’ in law school. He was a great professor and I learned more about being a lawyer in his class than all of my other classes combined. He is one of the smartest individuals I have ever met. If anybody thinks that Chief Justice Daniels needed to buy his seat on the Supreme Court (where he took a significant pay cut) than they know nothing about the man. I admire him deeply, but his actions in this case have been inappropriate and he should have recused himself. If Mr. Chandler did not have sufficient grounds to seek Chief Justice Daniels’ recusal in this case when he initially filed his motion, he certainly does now.
Chief Justice Daniels, if you are reading this blog, please step down from this case to avoid the appearance of impropriety. If you feel the allegations contained in Mr. Chavez’ affidavit are true, file a complaint with the disciplinary board and let them investigate/prosecute it. Any action you take in this case will be tainted by this order. If you truly want the dark cloud that is currently hovering over the judiciary to go away, take the first step by recusing yourself so the people of New Mexico have no reason to the question any future decision by the Supreme Court in this case.
Thank you Matt Chandler for bringing to light the problems with the NM Judicial System. Chief Justice Daniels is clearly violating their own rules and possibly the law. Let’s look at what we know and why Justice Daniels should recuse himself:
1. There has been and still is the question of did his wife represent Gov. Richardson as his attorney in multiple cases including the indictments that are on going?
2. We know for a fact Justice Daniels has been mentioned multiple times in this investigation by multiple people as being part of this issue and involved in many of the issues at hand. This said, he is not guilty of anything yet and to my knowledge is not even under investigation but the fact that there is a perception he is somehow involved is reason enough to recuse himself.
3. Finally the fact that he had any type of discusion with anyone concerning this case and has an opinion prior to reading the facts show he is biased and shold also recuse himself.
Any one of the 3 reasons above is why he should recuse himself but combined there is no doubt. On the other hand Justice Petra Maes is mentioned one time by a person involved in the case and she ahs recused herself.
I beleive the individual named Chavez who is now offering Justice Daniels cover is going to be exposed sooner or later. You have to question Justice Daniels competence when he is hooking his attack on Matt Chandler to this disgruntled former employee. But then again he continues to hang in there and fight for his buddy Judge Murphy?
This is a huge embarrassment for NM and the fact that Justice Daniels beleives he is above the rules and common sense is only trumped by his ego which has allowed him to attack DA Chandler for doing the very job he was elected to do. Maybe Chief Justice Daniels should redirect his anger from a young man who is doing his job to the Judge that is clearly destroying his job! In the end the magnitude of ego Justice Daniels is showing by sticking around and attacking Matt Chandler only serves to add more insult to an already insulting judiciary.
Good work Matt Chandler, hang in there and continue to do the very job you agreed to do once you were elected. Maybe Justice Daniels should think about why he took his job!!!!!!!!!!!
Daniels “Disappointed” In Chandler. After watching KOB last night, I am disappointed, no, I am sickened by Daniels and anyone else that is turning a blind eye to Michael Murphy.
Why Daniels and the other members of the Supreme Court have not removed this man is beyond me! I am convinced now that this case isn’t about politics, it isn’t about Chandler as some one to make it out to be, it isn’t about a political party. It is about a CORRUPT man named Michael Murphy that happens to be a power hungry judge.
Remove him, convict him, send him to prison. If you did not see this news clip, click on this link and watch it NOW. Guilty, case closed.
And, to Judge Schultz and DA Chandler, thank you for having the strength and courage to fight this fight. Las Cruces and New Mexico will be better for it when it’s said and done.
You have to wonder why a previously-faithful employee of Chandler would have such a change of heart. Maybe he remembered the ethics class he took in his first year of law school? Anyway, according to his version of events:
-Chandler recorded a telephone conversation with Daniels without his permission;
-Chandler knew accusing Daniels of collusion with Murphy would be made public, and despite being grounded on no evidence, proceeded anyway;
-Chandler’s only justification for the motion was a suspicion that a Democratic judge would look unfavorably on their case;
-Chandler crafted the motion to suggest that the reason behind the need for a different judge was that silver city was ‘geographically aligned’ with Las Cruces, but really they just wanted a republican judge.
And so much more. Read it here: http://www.nmcourts.gov
I’m surprised that Chandler has not already self-reported to the State Bar for disciplinary action.
You took the words right out of my mouth Justin. Chief Justice Daniels is WAY to involved in this case to not recuse himself. There is no way this will be a fair trial if he is involved. I wonder who Chief Justice Daniels is trying to protect??
Great work DA Chandler. We support you in your fight against corruption!
As I read it, former Judge Schultz stated that former Judge Robles suggested that Chief Justice Daniels obtained his position by donating a substantial amount of money to Governor Bill Richardson’s pac. Perhaps up to a million dollars.
Norman Osburn, a lawyer that works at the courthouse in Las Cruces, told law enforcement officers that Judge Michael Murphy (the accused) was heard saying if he was guilty of buying his position, what does that make Chief Justice Daniels.
Laura Garcia is recording saying that Governor BIll Richardson was going to talk to Chief Justice Daniels about a judicial standards investigation of a judge in Las Cruces.
Now Chief Justice Daniels is slamming all of the people that brought up his name (except Judge Murphy) but in the same breath claiming he isn’t commenting on the case?
Chief Justice Daniels missed the ball on this one. He spent 101 pages defending himself. I don’t think the prosector was accusing Chief Justice Daniels of anything, he was saying based upon the witnesses statements in the case there is a reasonable perception that Chief Justice Daniels has an interest in this case.
What I don’t understand is why Chief Justice Daniels would even want to stay on this case after so many witnesses keep bringing up his name? Also, if this information comes up in court, would Chief Justice Daniels not be called as a witness too?
I am perplexed because as a citizen that wants this case to judged fairly, I don’t think Chief Justice Daniels should be anywhere near this case. I do not think the State (or the community in Las Cruces) have, are, or will get any fair rulings from Justice Daniels. He is too involved.
I am surprised Judge Daniels made the decision to stay on the case. What is his motive? If so many witnesses in the investigation keep bringing up Charlie Daniels or “Chuck”, why can’t he just step back and let the other judges on the Supreme Court take care of this one case? Perception is reality and my perception is Judge Daniels is way to involved, way to defensive, and way to interested in the outcome of this case.
I am also shocked that Judge Daniels would rely on anything from Kirk Chavez. Judge Daniels should do his homework on Kirk Chavez before using his statement as gospel. Judge Daniels should call the judges in Silver City, Tucumcari, Clovis or Portales and ask about Kirk Chavez. I am not going to give my opinion of attorney Kirk Chavez, but if anyone wants to put any stock in his letter, they should learn more about him first.
So, saying that, let me be the first one to thank the prosecutor on this job. It appears that the undercurrent is strong and the obstacles are present, but I appreciate what you are doing. It is a nobel cause.
This is politics on the part of Chandler and the governor, pure and simple. But that is the way Republicans play, expecting everyone to roll over when they start throwing mud. I appluad Justice Daniels fighting back. Chandler needs to keep his name in the headlines and he found a way.
I am confused as to why the Chief Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court would infer that District Attorney Chandler uses the law to manifest political persuasion.
If Justice Daniels can back it up, Chandler will be barred from the court. Otherwise, it is no less than attempts at persuasion .
I am sure this is Mr. Chandler’s favorite song – Witch hunt by Rush
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MWzDKE4zbY
“Quick to judge
Quick to anger
Slow to understand
Ignorance and prejudice
And fear walk hand in hand..”
Round and round we go! Mr. Chandler is sure doing a poor job. Probably listening too much to the group Rush!