LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) – The state Supreme Court has been asked to reprimand a judge accused of improper involvement in a public drinking case against his son and belittling an attorney in court.
The state Judicial Standards Commission also has asked the Supreme Court to place state District Judge Larry Ramirez on six months’ supervised probation.
He already has completed an ethics course and has paid $1,500 to the commission for costs stemming from its investigation.
Ramirez acknowledged that his actions could be viewed as an attempt to use his job to influence court proceedings involving his son – a violation of state judicial canons that constitutes “willful misconduct in office,” said a petition for discipline filed with the Supreme Court.
“At no time did I seek any preferential treatment or exert any undue influence on anyone,” Ramirez said. “But they felt that my actions created an appearance of impropriety.” “If that’s the case, I apologize for my actions. I intended no harm,” he said.
Ramirez, 53, also admitted raising his voice to Deborah Thuman, preventing the public defender from making a full objection on the record and admonishing her in front of her client on May 18, 2004, the petition says.
A judicial canon requires “patient, dignified and courteous conduct” on the part of judges.
The incident with Thuman is “a matter of … being tough in the courtroom, but that’s something that happens to all judges,” said Ramirez’s attorney, Mike Lilley of Las Cruces.
“People lose their cool,” Lilley said. “People are human.” Ramirez went to a Las Cruces park on June 25, 2004, while two city police officers were issuing citations to his son, Jaime Ramirez, and several of his son’s friends for drinking in public.
The judge told the officers Jaime was his son and showed them his district court identification card, the petition says.
The judge did not ask for preferential treatment for his son and friends, but “acknowledges the impropriety of using his judicial title and court identification card in connection with the matter,” the petition says.
Ramirez collected the citations “because he was going to inquire about the possible penalties for the citations,” documents say.
The citations were filed in municipal court, and Ramirez later asked his volunteer court bailiff to help his son and his son’s friends in responding to them.
Municipal Judge Melissa Miller- Byrnes, A Republican, Was scheduled to handle the arraignments on Aug. 4. But Ramirez said he left a message the previous day with Municipal Judge Jim Locatelli, a fellow Democrat, asking if Locatelli could take their pleas.
One of the eight defendants appeared before Miller-Byrnes on Aug. 4. Jaime Ramirez and several others appeared the next day when Locatelli handled arraignments.
Judge Ramirez showed up at the court that day, but said he went “to confirm his son had appeared for the hearing” and was not in court during arraignments, the petition said.
Jaime Ramirez and his friends received deferred sentences after pleading no contest.
Locatelli is not accused of any misconduct in the case.
