The state Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that Rio Arriba County Magistrate Tommy Rodella is guilty of willful misconduct in office and removed him immediately from office, never to be allowed to hold another judicial office in the future.

The high court accepted a recommendation from the state Judicial Standards Commission, which accused Rodella of violating judicial rules in three cases. The five justices announced the decision following a hearing Wednesday morning in Santa Fe.

The court's decision is the culmination of a politically charged case in which Rodella and his lawyers have claimed was prompted by bad blood between the magistrate and Gov. Bill Richardson, who initially appointed Rodella to the office in 2005.

Rodella hugged and kissed his wife, Debbie Rodella, a state legislator from Española, his children and other supporters following the decision.

Asked for comment, Rodella would only tell a reporter, "Thank you for your fairness."

Chief Justice Edward Chavez, in announcing the decision, said while the court did not agree with all the commission's findings, there was evidence to support the finding that Rodella was not credible during legal proceedings in the case against him.

The commission said Rodella was guilty of misconduct in three cases over which he presided. One was releasing from jail an acquaintance who had been arrested for drunken driving.

Another was improperly advising a man and woman from Chimayó in a rent-dispute case in exchange for political support.

The third was improperly telling an alleged victim in a domestic violence case she didn't have to show up to court to testify against her husband.

During the hearing, some justices seemed to be most interested in Rodella's handling of the domestic-violence case.

In that case, Rodella met in May 2007 with the alleged victim. She had been subpoenaed to testify at her husband's misdemeanor trial, which was in Rodella's court. She told Rodella she was thinking twice about testifying against her husband.

Rodella's lawyer, Justin Pennington of Albuquerque, admitted Rodella made a mistake in that case, but the attorney argued it did not constitute willful misconduct and did not warrant removal.

Rodella, according to the documents, told her "she knew her husband best, and that if she did not want to testify at trial, there would be no adverse legal consequences if she elected not to obey the subpoena."

Rodella, in his response to the commission, denied he told the woman it would be all right to disregard her subpoena. He said he only told the victim she should express her concerns to the prosecuting attorney.

Last June 6, the alleged victim didn't show up for her husband's trial. The prosecutor, Thomas Banner, told Rodella and the defendant's lawyer he had heard about Rodella's conversation with the alleged victim. Rodella "immediately started drafting a document to recuse himself," which he showed to Banner, then signed it.

The alleged victim, who heard there might be an order to arrest her for failing to appear, showed up in court about 30 minutes later. Even though he had recused himself, Rodella dismissed the case without prejudice — meaning the district attorney could refile it — on grounds of the prosecution's lack of readiness to produce witnesses.

The commission claimed Rodella removed his original recusal document from the court file and replaced it with a different document. Rodella claimed he only kept the notes he was keeping in the courtroom.

Since the investigation started, Rodella and his lawyers claimed the Judicial Standards Commission was persecuting him because of his conflicts with Richardson.

"In this case, the potential for politically tainted proceedings before the (Judicial Standards Commission) was extreme but the commission failed to preserve the integrity of its proceedings," Pennington wrote in Rodella's response to the commission's petition for removal. "JSC executive director James Noel is an appointee of Gov. Bill Richardson and is married to Amanda Cooper, a top adviser to Gov. Richardson." Cooper was a campaign manager for the governor's re-election bid and presidential campaign.

"Judge Rodella was originally appointed to, but subsequently removed from the magistrate judge position by Gov. Richardson," Pennington's response continued. "Judge Rodella then challenged the governor by gaining the magistrate position through the electoral process. The governor publicly characterized Judge Rodella as his 'one bad judge out of 56' to the national media during his presidential campaign."

A governor doesn't have the power to remove a judge. In July 2005, after Rodella's controversial releasing of the DWI suspect was made public, Richardson met with Rodella and told reporters he'd asked him to resign. Rodella, however claimed at the time that it was his idea to step down and Richardson never asked him to do so. He was elected to the judgeship in 2006.

Pennington's response also noted Rodella's wife "has had well-publicized differences with the governor in several legislative matters. Despite the brilliant red of the flags surrounding these proceedings, the JSC proceeded to hear the case against Judge Rodella." He pointed out in the document that Richardson appointed five members of the commission.

But the justices didn't seem swayed by such arguments Wednesday.

Justice Richard Bosson asked Pennington if he was saying the commissioners are "political stooges of the governor" and demanded if he had any evidence of that. Pennington admitted he didn't.

But he argued that while the Judicial Standards Commission isn't fundamentally flawed, "the process opens itself up to abuse."

Richardson had no comment on Rodella's ouster, spokesman Allen Oliver said Monday. However, his office issued a news release announcing he would be accepting applications for the magistrate job.

The Supreme Court ordered the commission to submit a bill for the cost of the case for Rodella to pay. Rodella has the right to dispute the amount before the court decides how much he has to pay.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.


March 31, 2005: Gov. Bill Richardson appoints Tommy Rodella, a former state police officer and husband of state Rep. Debbie Rodella, D-Española, to a vacant Rio Arriba County magistrate judge position.

July 4, 2005: Tommy Rodella makes a 90-minute drive to Tierra Amarilla to free DWI suspect Carlos R. Manzanares.

July 21, 2005: Rodella resigns as magistrate judge. Richardson says he asked Rodella to resign. Rodella says he resigned on his own accord.

June 6, 2006: Rodella wins the Democratic primary for magistrate judge in Rio Arriba County, defeating five opponents. Debbie Rodella is re-elected to the state House of Representatives. Neither has opposition in the general election.

Summer 2006: Rodella meets with Pete and Dorothy Martinez to discuss a rental dispute they have with a tenant, according to Judicial Standards Commission documents. Rodella advised the couple to wait until he takes office to file a case, and if the case is assigned to the other Rio Arriba magistrate, disqualify that judge so Rodella will get the case, the commission says.

Jan. 1, 2007: Rodella resumes job as magistrate.

Feb. 23, 2007: The commission informs Rodella it is investigating the July 4, 2005, incident.

May 2007: Rodella met with the alleged victim in a domestic violence case who was thinking twice about testifying against her husband, the commission reported. Rodella, commission documents state, told the woman if she didn't want to testify, there would be no adverse legal consequences if she ignored a subpoena.

June 4, 2007: The domestic violence case goes to trial in Rodella's court, and the victim doesn't show up. After the prosecutor tells Rodella he knows about his advice to the witness, Rodella recuses himself from the case. Later, when the victim arrived, Rodella dismissed the case, despite his earlier recusal. The commission claims Rodella replaced his original recusal document with another document in the court file.

July 9, 2007: The Martinez rent dispute case goes to trial in Rodella's court. During the proceeding, Rodella, according to commission documents, cuts off Dorothy Martinez, saying, "You talk too much." He disqualifies himself from the case.

August 2007: The New Mexican obtains a copy of Rodella's written response to the commission's investigation of the DWI matter. In it, Rodella implies Richardson is using the commission to get back at him.

Nov. 9, 2007: Two weeks after the commission began investigating the Martinez rent-dispute matter, Rodella writes to the state Administrative Office of the Courts claiming Pete Martinez had forged a document in the case, prompting a state police investigation of Martinez. The commission decides this amounts to harassing and intimidating a witness in the commission investigation.

April 29, 2008: The commission files a petition asking the state Supreme Court to remove Rodella from office and not allow him to run for a judicial post again.

May 28, 2008: The state Supreme Court unanimously decides to remove Rodella from office.