wanted to make it clear "there is zero tolerance, zero, concerning the use of illegal drugs or abuse of alcohol by members of the New Mexico judiciary."

"Simply put," Bosson said, "judges must lead lives that are above reproach, above even the suspicion of impropriety."

Fitch's predicament echoed that of W. John Brennan, who was the chief judge of the 2nd Judicial District when he was arrested for DWI and cocaine possession last May.

Brennan pleaded guilty, received a sentence of two days of house arrest and resigned.

In state District Court in Santa Fe on Tuesday, Fitch pleaded guilty, said he accepted responsibility for his actions, and received a common sentence for first-time offenders: a 90- day jail sentence with all but two days suspended.

Fitch must undergo alcohol screening and treatment, attend DWI school and a victim impact panel, and have an ignition interlock installed on his car, which is mandatory for aggravated DWI, according to The Associated Press.

The judge also was sentenced to 364 days of unsupervised probation and fined 100 for careless driving and $25 for the open container, the AP reported.

Fitch said in court Tuesday that he would serve his two days behind bars after completing a 30-day inpatient alcohol treatment program he planned to enter immediately.

Several public officials have called for the 62-year-old Fitch, who was named to the bench in 1995 by Gov. Gary Johnson, to resign. They include Gov. Bill Richardson, New Mexico Democratic Party chairman John Wertheim and state Sen. Kent Cravens, R-Albuquerque.

Meanwhile, state District Judge Kevin Sweazea will serve as acting chief judge of the 7th Judicial District.

Albuquerque Journal Thursday February 17, 2005

Tenth circuit employees Victoria Parks and judge Michael W McConnell have to decide whether they boogie with the incompetent and crooked New Mexico legal system or help get matters peacefully settled.

mer Second Judicial District Judge W. John Brennan. Brennan asked for and received two days of house arrest and electronic monitoring after he pleaded guilty last year to aggravated DWI and cocaine possession stemming from a May 2004 traffic stop.

Santa Fe District Attorney Henry Valdez said Tuesday that when he prosecuted Brennan's case last year, he opposed Brennan being able to serve his sentence on house arrest with electronic monitoring, but the judge hearing the case disagreed.

Brennan resigned about a month after his arrest. Fitch is asking the state Supreme Court for a 90-day leave of absence.

After Fitch's wreck on Friday, he registered blood-alcohol counts of 0.17 and 0.18 percent, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08. Fitch crashed the state-owned minivan at a dead end on Paseo del River, which runs parallel to N.M. 599 near Airport Road on Santa Fe's south side.

"I'm in big trouble," Fitch told the deputy who arrested him, according to the probable cause statement for the judge's arrest. "



I've had about three ounces of vodka."

Cron said Tuesday that Fitch will immediately enter a 30-day inpatient alcohol treatment program and serve his two days in jail afterward.

Cron said Fitch requested Tuesday's hearing because he wanted to take care of the criminal charges and accept his punishment before he left for treatment.

In a court filing Tuesday, the state Judicial Standards Commission asked the state Supreme Court - which oversees New Mexico's judges - to disregard Fitch's written request that he be granted a 90- day leave of absence to "seek diagnosis and treatment for alcohol abuse.

Instead, the Judicial Standards Commission asked the Supreme Court to immediately suspend Fitch "from judicial office pending completion of both the State's criminal prosecution and the (standards com- mission's) disciplinary proceedings against him."

"It is imperative that this Honorable Court take immediate action in this matter to prevent or stop further collateral damage to the New Mexico Judiciary, namely the serious I appearance of impropriety and a erosion of public confidence in the integrity and functionality r of the judiciary, and to preserve the orderly administration of justice," reads the filing. ~

A Monday letter from Fitch I to state Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard C. Bosson is I included as an exhibit in the commission's filing.

In the letter, Fitch asks for a I 90-day leave of absence to "attend to my medical needs; 2) to seek diagnosis and treatment for alcohol abuse; and 3) to ensure that the confidence of the public is not impaired by a judge continuing to preside over court proceeding or even handling the administrative duties of a chief judge while these matters are pending."

Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano reported Friday that Fitch had a heart attack at St. Vincent Hospital on Friday after the wreck. Fitch was released from the hospital on Monday. Cron said Tuesday that he does not know whether Fitch in fact suffered a heart attack.

In an e-mail sent to the Journal on Monday, Bosson confirmed that Seventh Judicial District Judge Kevin R. Sweazea has been appointed acting chief judge by other Seventh Judicial District judges.

Gov. Bill Richardson on Tuesday said he was pleased Fitch pleaded guilty and vowed to start his rehabilitation, but he also called on Fitch to resign.

"These incidents have to stop," Richardson told reporters. "The judicial branch has got to have accountability and responsibility, and it keeps happening.

"How can the public trust the judicial branch and support my measures to give than resources to fight DWI when these problens occur?"

Fitch left court Tuesday with his wife, Polly. The couple did not comment to reporters.

In his statement to Jufge Anaya on Tuesday, Fitch apologized for his actions.

"I will do everything in my power to make myself a better and stronger human being" he said. "I recognize that my behavior was not acceptable, and I am doing everything I can to accept responsibility. I apologize to my family, my friends and the public, because I know I have let them all down."

Anaya said afterward that Fitch's acceptance of responsibility is "admirable," and he also commended Fitch for taking steps to get help.

As part of Fitch's sentence, he must also attend DWI school, agree to have an ignition interlock for his vehicle, and attend a DWI victims' impact panel.

Albuquerque Journal Wednesday February 16, 2005

Butterfield said he could not release any details about Fitch's medical condition. Fitch registered blood-alcohol counts of 0.17 and 0.18 percent, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08, in breath-alcohol tests administered after the Friday afternoon wreck, Solano reported.

Fitch, a Republican, had been scheduled to attend a legislative committee meeting at the state Capitol on Friday afternoon. The meeting started shortly after Fitch wrecked the van.

According to the probable cause statement for Fitch's arrest, the arresting sheriff's deputy found Fitch out of his vehicle at the crash scene Friday afternoon. Fitch told the deputy "he was knocked out for about three minutes or so," according to the statement. The "large clear plastic bottle" of vodka was found in debris located near the van, the statement reads.

"The bottle was nearly empty," the statement says.

Fitch was released to the hospital on his own recognizance after his arrest Friday. He was not booked into jail. Solano said Monday that Fitch will be summoned to court to face his DWI charge.

In a statement released Sunday, 7th Judicial District Judges Edmund H. Kase III and Kevin R. Sweazea said they are requesting that Fitch "take an immediate leave of absence from his duties as district judge until the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission and the New Mexico Supreme Court determine that he may retain his office."

The statement also said the judges have agreed that Sweazea will immediately take over as acting chief judge of the district "until further notice."

Sweazea said in a telephone interview that he and Judge Kase are seeking to have a temporary judge appointed to help with the district's case load "pending whatever outcome."

Sweazea said he hasn't spoken with Fitch since the arrest and Fitch wasn't taking any visitors at the hospital.

Sweazea said Fitch has about 750 pend- ing cases.

In an e-mail sent to the Journal on Friday, New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Bosson confirmed that Sweazea has been appointed as acting chief judge by the 7th Judicial District Judges.

"Judge Fitch is not performing any judicial duties, and the Court is assisting the district to obtain a temporary judge to perform Judge Fitch's trial functions in his absence," says Bosson's e-mail. "In the meantime, pursuant to the Constitutionally prescribed process for discipline of a judge, the Judicial Standards Commission has indicated that an investigation is ongoing and has requested his temporary suspension pending a later hearing." The Judicial Standards Commission will then make recommendations to the Supreme Court, according to Bosson's e-mail The 7th District Court covers a wide area that encompasses Catron, Sierra, Socorro and Tbrrance counties, and it is the largest judicial district in the state, Sweazea said.

Sweazea said he and the other two judges have to travel frequently. Fitch was appointed to the 7th Judicial District in 1995 by then-Gov. Gary Johnson and was later re-elected. Fitch's arrest follows a recent call by Chief Justice Bosson to make promoting the integrity of New Mexico's judiciary a top priority.

In May 2004, former 2nd Judicial District Court Chief Judge W. John Brennan was arrested on drunken-driving and drug-possession charges. Brennan later resigned and pleaded guilty.

In June 2004, the state Supreme Court ruled that lawyers, judges and judicial employees must report information to the commission if they have "specific, objective and articulable facts and/or reasonable inferences that can be drawn from those facts" about a judge's possible drug use.

Two years earlier, state District Judge Thomas G. Cornish resigned from the bench after pleading guilty to DWI.

Albuquerque Journal Tuesday February 15, 2005

By JEREMY PAWLOSKI
Journal Northern Bureau

SANTA FE - Tesuque Pueblo Tribal Judge David J. Tapia, 45, was arrested Feb. 4 on a felony DWI charge, "his fourth or subsequent arrest for DWI," according to court records.

Tapia, reached for comment at Tesuque Tribal Court on Monday afternoon, referred comment to the pueblo governor's office. The Tesuque tribal governor could not be reached for comment Monday.

Santa Fe Deputy Police Chief Eric Johnson said Monday that it is his understanding that the David J. Tapia who was arrested Feb. 4 in downtown Santa Fe is in fact the Tesuque tribal judge.

According to the probable cause statement for Tapia's arrest, around 10:30 p.m. Feb. 4 Tabpia was pulled over for careless driving at the corner of Guadalupe Street and Manhattan Avenue.

According to the statement, Tapia was talking on a cell phone without a hands-free device - in violation of Santa Fe's city ordinance that bans using cell phones while driving. Tapia had also stopped at a green light for about 10 seconds, the arrest statement reads.

The officer smelled liquor on Tapia's breath and also noticed that his speech was slurred, according the statement. Tapia admitted drinking a glass of wine with dinner, the arresting officer wrote.

Tapia "had to brace himself with the left side of the vehicle" while exiting and refused to submit to any field sobriety tests, the officer's report states. Tapia also refused to take a blood- alcohol test, which Under state law results in an automatic loss of one's driver's license for a year.

Tapia twice stated, "No, I will not," when asked to submit to a breath test, according to the probable cause statement.

"Dispatch advised that this arrest was Mr. Tapia's fourth or subsequent arrest for DWI," reads the statement.

Tapia's criminal complaint indicates he was charged with driving while intoxicated and careless driving.

State Motor Vehicle Division records indicate Tapia was cited for DWI in 1991, 1989, and 1987. They also indicate that in 1998 he was cited for driving with an expired registration.

Tapia entered a not guilty plea on the new charge Feb.7.

The DWI charge has been dismissed in Magistrate Court by the Santa Fe District Attorney's Office, but District Attorney Henry Valdez said Monday the case will be taken to a Santa Fe District Court grand jury for possible indictments, which is standard practice for felony DWIs.

Tapia formerly served as a tribal judge at Taos Pueblo. An employee at Taos Pueblo Tribal Court confirmed Monday that Tapia left the bench at Taos Tribal Court on Oct. 22, to work as a tribal judge at Tesuque Pueblo.

Albuquerque Journal Tuesday February 15, 2005