Dec. 19 – State District Judge Francis Mathew is charged with drunken driving in Santa Fe, a criminal charge he plans to contest.
Mathew, 72, was on the bench on Thursday presiding over the cases despite the charge sheet handed to him on December 13. He declined to comment directly on the count, but an attorney representing him said the judge plans to challenge the case and “is not guilty of DWI.”
A criminal complaint filed Monday by New Mexico State Police in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court says Mathew is facing a minor misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor.
He was stopped at a state police DWI checkpoint on the evening of Dec. 13 and failed several sobriety tests, an officer wrote in an affidavit of probable cause filed with the complaint.
The officer wrote that he determined Mathew was “unable to continue to safely operate a motor vehicle,” even though the judge’s blood alcohol level was below the legal limit for driving, according to two breath tests taken about an hour at a state police station in Santa Fe decreased. after the stop. Mathew was released instead of jailed, but police still filed charges.
Mathew’s attorney, Ben Ortega, said Thursday he would contest the charges, noting that the judge’s alcohol level, as measured by police, was well below the legal limit.
“Judge Mathew fully cooperated with law enforcement,” Ortega said. “He has undergone a breath test and has done everything that you have to do by the book. And if we go to court for this – if we have to go to court – I fully expect him to be acquitted.”
Mathew has continued to preside over the case in his state district courtroom in Santa Fe since the charges were filed Monday. He was seen Thursday at the downtown courthouse, holding hearings.
It was not clear whether court officials were aware of Mathew’s drunken driving charge when asked for comment about his status as a judge.
Chief Judge Bryan Biedscheid of the First Judicial District responded to an inquiry Thursday, saying, “I need to know more about this.”
Administrative Office of the Courts spokesman Barry Massey wrote in a statement that judges, including chief judges, “cannot comment on pending or potential litigation.”
“The ethics of Judge Mathew’s conduct are a matter for the Judicial Standards Commission, an independent body that investigates disciplinary matters,” Massey wrote. “Judge Mathew presides over civil cases. The First Judicial District Court will ensure that all cases are heard in a timely manner pending resolution of this case.”
When asked whether Mathew could preside over cases while a disciplinary matter was pending, Massey wrote: “I cannot address that matter at this time.”
Mathew stopped at the state police checkpoint on Old Pecos Trail, near Arroyo Chamiso Road, on Dec. 13 at 6:42 p.m., police wrote in the probable cause statement. He was driving a gray Acura SUV. After being asked if he had been drinking alcohol, he told the officer he had had “a glass of wine and a cocktail with dinner” about an hour earlier, the affidavit said.
The officer administered two standardized field sobriety tests and two “alternative” tests, the affidavit says, and Mathew “performed poorly.” Mathew was then arrested and taken to a state police station for a blood alcohol breath test.
His blood alcohol level was 0.05% and then 0.04% – below the state limit of 0.08% for adult drivers.
Police noted that Mathew was given a “deprivation period” of longer than 20 minutes before the breath tests took place. State Police Sgt. Ricardo Breceda said the period is a standard procedure that begins “after the officer visually inspects the inside of the detainee’s mouth.”
“During this period, the person providing the breath samples should not eat, drink, smoke or place any other foreign object in their mouth,” Breceda wrote in an email Thursday. “This is done so that the breathalyzer accurately reads the person’s breath alcohol content.”
Probable cause for the charge against Mathew was his “poor” performance on field sobriety tests, but the judge was released from the station “because his breath samples were below the legal limit of 0.08,” Breceda wrote.
Ortega, who said he has been a DWI lawyer for 15 years, argued there was no evidence of “impaired driving” in Mathew’s case.
The judge was administered a “finger dexterity test” and a “numerical countdown” test, the lawyer said, which he described as “non-standardized tests that have not been validated.”
“It’s not fair to judge anyone based on these non-standardized tests, especially someone over the age of 65,” he added.
“Judge Mathew has the same rights as everyone else, and when I represent someone, such as a police officer or a judge, I must ensure that their rights are respected,” Ortega said.
He added: “I will not allow him to make a statement at this time. He is accused of a criminal offense, and based on the evidence I can see in all my fifteen years of experience, he is not guilty of that crime. place for him to make a statement on the criminal allegations, if and when he does, it will be in court.”
Mathew was first sworn in as a judge of the First Judicial District Court in 2013 after being appointed by former Governor Susana Martinez. He was elected to the court the following year and has largely presided over civil cases.
He has presided over several high-profile cases, including one against Cowboys for Trump founder and former Otero County Commissioner Cuoy Griffin and a drunk driving case against former state Sen. Richard Martinez.
