N.M. Code. Jud. Cond. 21-100
A judge shall uphold and promote the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.
N.M. Code. Jud. Cond. 21-100
ANNOTATIONS JUDICIAL REPRIMANDS Driving while intoxicated. - Where a judge was convicted of a first offense of driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, the judge's conduct constituted willful misconduct in office. In re Robles, S.Ct. No. 32,854 (Filed May 31, 2011), Inquiry Concerning a Judge No. 2011-022 (decided prior to the 2011 recompilation). Fund-raising activities. - Where a magistrate judge personally participated in the solicitation of funds for a baseball tournament for the benefit of municipal and high school baseball programs and used the prestige of the judge's judicial office for the fund-raising and created the appearance that the judge had done so, the judge's conduct constituted willful misconduct in office. In re Wingenroth, S.Ct. No. 33,228 (Filed October 19, 2011), Inquiry Concerning a Judge No. 2011-020 (decided prior to the 2011 recompilation). Potential witness in a criminal case. - Where a magistrate judge released the defendant on the defendant's own recognizance; the defendant had been arrested for driving while intoxicated after a baseball tournament; the judge was not the designated on-call judge on the day the defendant was arrested; the judge knew the defendant and had been at the tournament with the defendant earlier in the day; and the judge knew that there were people drinking alcoholic beverages at the tournament, the judge's conduct constituted willful misconduct in office because the judge was a potential witness in the defendant's criminal case. In re Wingenroth, S.Ct. No. 33,228 (Filed October 19, 2011), Inquiry Concerning a Judge No. 2011-020 (decided prior to the 2011 recompilation). Personal acquaintance with the defendant in a criminal case. - Where the defendant had been arrested for driving while intoxicated after a baseball tournament; the defendant's spouse telephoned the magistrate judge's spouse at the judge's home to discuss the defendant's arrest; the defendant and the defendant's spouse knew the judge's family well enough to call the judge's spouse in an attempt to influence the judge; and the judge agreed to release the defendant on the defendant's own recognizance even though the judge was not on-call or assigned to handle the matter, the judge's conduct constituted willful misconduct in office because the judge took judicial action based on the telephone calls from the defendant's family to the judge's home. In re Wingenroth, S.Ct. No. 33,228 (Filed October 19, 2011), Inquiry Concerning a Judge No. 2011-020 (decided prior to the 2011 recompilation).