COMMISSION WANTS DONA ANA COUNTY MAGISTRATE REMOVED FOR COCAINE USE

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The state Judicial Standards Commission is
seeking the ouster of a Dona Ana County magistrate, alleging he
tested positive for cocaine.

The commission, in a petition filed Friday asking the New Mexico
Supreme Court to permanently remove Carlos Garza from the bench, also
accused him of misconduct and abusing his power as a judge.

Garza, 42, said he is innocent and that the commission ignored
evidence that could have cleared him.

He denied using drugs and vowed to fight the commission's request.

"Nothing has happened that I didn't expect would happen," Garza said.
"When you have a trial, ordinarily there are rules that have to be followed."

Those rules were not followed, he said.

Jim Noel, commission director, disagreed.

"It gets back to credibility," Noel said. "The commission did not
ignore any evidence, they heard lots of evidence. They heard a
substantial amount from both sides of this and they found there was
evidence that was credible and was not credible."

Garza has been on 30 days' unpaid suspension since Sept. 20 for
failing to fully comply with a commission order that he submit to a drug test.

He was ordered by the Supreme Court to undergo another drug test,
which the commission said he failed.

When the 30-day suspension expires, Garza will continue to serve the
remainder of a 90-day paid suspension he received in early August
because of similar allegations.

The commission also accused Garza of using his position to influence
and intimidate a Mesilla deputy marshal during a traffic stop in
which the judge was in a car with a woman "with whom he had a
personal relationship."

Garza said he was being apologetic and was not trying to exert influence.

The commission also found Garza had asked a magistrate court clerk to
clear the woman's license before she met all the legal obligations
set forth in a drunken driving case.

Garza said the woman was entitled to have her license cleared.

But Noel said the woman was not entitled to have her license cleared.

Garza had been placed on judicial probation earlier this year after
he admitted to inappropriately involving himself in the woman's case.

Garza said the commission's findings are baseless and that he would
consider legal action.

"If they suggest I have a possession of cocaine, I will file a
lawsuit against them," he said.

Garza said what was found in his system was a small, metabolized
amount of cocaine that he could have received through "passive exposure."

He said he was not allowed to challenge the validity of the test, and
that the commission ignored drug tests that were negative.

"That is an infinitesimal amount. You can get that amount walking
into a bar, touching a glass," Garza said. "You can get it a hundred
different ways."

Noel said the commission took appropriate measures to certify the
levels found in Garza's system were not there from passive exposure.

The commission "found there was no medical explanation for the
concentration of cocaine in his system, and therefore he was
illegally using cocaine," Noel said.

Garza, a Democrat, is unopposed in the Nov. 7 general election.

He was first elected to the bench in 2002 after spending four years
as a Dona Ana County commissioner.