New Mexico Dismissal sought in judge's pay-to-play case Judge faces bribery and intimidation charges

By Jeri Clausing Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- The indictment of a Las Cruces judge in a judicial corruption case with alleged ties to former Gov. Bill Richardson was based on a flawed grand jury process that allowed the introduction of hearsay and other improper evidence, the defense said in court filings released Tuesday. In the court documents, defense attorney Michael Stout attacked everything from jury instructions to specific witness statements, claiming there was a lack of verifying evidence. He sought a dismissal of the May indictment against state District Judge Michael Murphy. Murphy faces bribery and intimidation charges for allegedly telling potential judicial candidate Beverly Singleman that she needed to make payments to Dona Ana County Democratic activist Edgar Lopez if she wanted to be considered for a seat on the bench in 2007. Allegations in a report released by Special Prosecutor Matt Chandler after the indictment implied the practice was common in the district and that the payments were funneled to Richardson. Richardson has called the accusations "outrageous and defamatory." Lopez called them "absurd." Chandler told The Associated Press on Tuesday evening hat he was confident the charges would stand up in court. "We presented all of the relevant facts to the grand jury, including the recording of the defendant discussing the bribes," Chandler said. "And at the end of the day, 12 independent citizens of Dona Ana County found probable cause that Judge Murphy broke several of New Mexico's bribery laws." Among the problems cited in his filings, Stout cited the prosecutor' failure to give his client proper notices of the charges being investigated. He also claimed the prosecutor did not give jurors proper instructions and information about two of the charges, that he allowed witnesses to testify about things they had heard rather than what they knew to be fact, and failed to present credible evidence to back up -- among other things -- alleged claims by Murphy that he had paid $4,000 for his seat. Published: Thu, Jul 7, 2011