Opinion ID: 1436353
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: removal as an appropriate sanction

Text: Judge Castellano argues that principles of equal protection require that the Commission be required to find he engaged in willful misconduct in office by proof beyond a reasonable doubt. He acknowledges that we held in In re Martinez, 99 N.M. 198, 203, 656 P.2d 861, 866 (1982), that the standard was proof by clear and convincing evidence, but he asks that we overrule Martinez on the ground there is no basis for treating a judge differently than a county official to whom NMSA 1978, Sections 10-4-1 to -29 (Repl. Pamp.1992), apply. Under those statutes, charges underlying a removal proceeding must be presented to a grand jury, see § 10-4-3, and proof must be beyond a reasonable doubt, see State ex rel. Mitchell v. Medler, 17 N.M. 644, 651, 131 P. 976, 979 (1913). The constitutional guarantee of equal protection does not require the legislature in making statutory distinctions nor the citizens in approving constitutional amendments to treat situations that are different as if they were similar. Rather, the constitutional guarantee demands that like situations be treated alike. A judge, unlike other county officials, has the extraordinary powers of holding persons in contempt, of sentencing, and of making rulings that affect property as well as liberty interests until and unless overturned on appeal. Given the power with which a judge is entrusted, we have no doubt that, as a matter of equal protection principles, he or she may be distinguished from other county officials and be subjected to removal from office on less than proof beyond a reasonable doubt. We decline to overrule Martinez. We note that the standard of clear and convincing evidence represents the standards applied in most states. See In re Nowell, 293 N.C. 235, 237 S.E.2d 246, 254 (1977). We turn now to the findings and conclusions of the Commission. NOS. 94-03 AND 94-25 The Special Masters found that beginning in January 1990 and continuing into 1994, Judge Castellano harassed and interfered with Martha Frank in her capacity as Court Administrator. In January and February 1990 he directed her to transfer certain sequestered matters contrary to a standing administrative order, and when she complained to the then Chief Judge, Judge Castellano raised with the Chief Judge concerns about her competence, asked that his memorandum be made part of her personnel file, and began to pursue his own investigation. Eventually, Frank filed a complaint with the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission, Closed File No. 78-37, and the Chief Judge personally conducted the investigation of Judge Castellano's charges. At the conclusion of that investigation, the Chief Judge announced that none of the charges had been substantiated and that Frank had acted as was necessary and appropriate. In the fall 1991, the other judges in the First Judicial District began to express concerns about Judge Castellano's ties to a program known as First CASA, which provided volunteers to assist children involved in abuse and neglect cases. At that time, abuse and neglect cases were assigned to Judge Castellano. In December Chief Judge Maes issued a memorandum to Frank ordering her as Court Administrator to reassign abuse and neglect cases to another judge. On the same date, Judge Castellano ordered Frank to ignore Chief Judge Maes' order; Chief Judge Maes then advised Judge Castellano by memorandum that he had no authority to countermand her order. A copy of this memorandum went to Frank. On December 10 Judge Castellano sent another memorandum to Frank ordering her not to reassign cases. On December 13 Frank transferred 78 abuse and neglect cases from Judge Castellano to Judge Encinias and directed that new cases would be assigned to Judge Encinias as well. On December 15 Judge Castellano issued an Order to Show Cause directed to Frank and served by the deputy sheriff assigned as security at the courthouse. As ordered, the deputy sheriff conducted Frank to Judge Castellano's courtroom, where the Judge asked her whether she had any reason why he should not hold her in contempt. When she declined to answer until her attorney arrived, he ordered the deputy sheriff to arrest Frank and place her in the courthouse holding cell. Because the cell was occupied by a penitentiary inmate, the deputy sheriff put Frank in a vacant office near the holding cell. Subsequently Chief Judge Maes entered an order releasing Frank from custody. Acting on Frank's behalf, the Attorney General then filed a petition for a writ of prohibition with this Court. On December 22, 1993, this Court heard oral argument and then issued the writ, which prohibited Judge Castellano from countermanding the orders of the Chief Judge. The Special Masters concluded that these acts were committed intentionally, maliciously, willfully, with reckless and deliberate indifference, and in violation of Frank's Fourth Amendment rights to be secure from unlawful seizure, and her rights to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution and Article II, Section 18 of the State Constitution. The Special Masters also found that on other occasions Judge Castellano subsequently refused to obey legitimate directions of Chief Judge Maes. In November 1993 Chief Judge Maes sent a memorandum to each of the judges in the First Judicial District asking them to provide copies of their daily docket sheets to the deputy sheriff assigned as a security guard for the court. In January 1994 Judge Castellano began to refuse to comply. On January 11 after the deputy sheriff had repeatedly asked Judge Castellano's secretary for a copy of his daily docket sheet, Judge Castellano came to the top of the stairs in the commons area of the courtroom and began yelling at the deputy as he descended the stairs. Using profanity and raising his voice, Judge Castellano asserted that he was not going to provide the sheets because what went on in his courtroom was nobody's business. He repeated his defiance the next day in his own chambers to the deputy. On February 11 Chief Judge Maes again ordered Judge Castellano to comply and to give her his calendar book for December 1 through February 14. Judge Castellano complied only by providing a copy of his docket sheet for February 14. On February 16 Chief Judge Maes again ordered Judge Castellano to comply with her orders regarding the daily docket sheets and calendar book. He continued to refuse to comply until April 1994. The Special Masters found that Judge Castellano's verbal abuse of the deputy sheriff and use of profanity was discourteous, undignified, and disrespectful and that his defiance of Chief Judge Maes' orders was in contempt of this Court. Further, in December 1993 Judge Castellano had agreed to hear some domestic violence cases in order to relieve the load the hearing officer was then experiencing. This agreement was reached in consultation with Judge Serna, the Family Court presiding judge, who had obtained approval from Chief Judge Maes. In late January, however, after the hearing officer and Judge Serna had attempted unsuccessfully to organize a schedule for the planned assistance, Judge Castellano refused to hear any domestic violence cases except under special circumstances. Eventually the Chief Judge intervened and ordered Judge Castellano to comply with the schedule Judge Serna and the hearing officer had proposed. He refused, she reiterated her order, and he complied by sitting on two different occasions but failed to hear all issues, referring most back to the hearing officer to determine the child support issues. When Chief Judge Maes ordered Judge Castellano to hear all the issues, he summoned the hearing officer, ordered her to hear the child support issues, and advised Chief Judge Maes he would not hear or determine those issues himself. On March 14 Chief Judge Maes again ordered Judge Castellano to hear the domestic violence cases as agreed and to desist from issuing contrary orders to court staff. Chief Judge Maes filed a complaint with the Commission as well as a letter to this Court, and Judge Castellano then began to comply with the orders regarding the domestic violence cases. The Special Masters concluded that in Judge Castellano's conversation with the hearing officer he had treated her discourteously and disrespectfully and acted without dignity. They found his conduct was violative of SCRA 1986, 21-100 (Repl.Pamp.1994) (A judge shall observe high standards of conduct so that the integrity and independence of the judiciary may be preserved.), and of SCRA 1986, 21-200(A) (Repl. Pamp.1994) (A judge shall respect and comply with the law and shall conduct himself at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.). In addition, the Special Masters found that Judge Castellano worked very little over the seven-month period from September 1993 through March 31, 1994. The Special Masters concluded that Judge Castellano deliberately failed to devote to the court the number of hours required of a district judge. Finally, they concluded that he had been in contempt of this Court in refusing to comply with and in attempting to countermand the Chief Judge's lawful administrative orders. The Special Masters also found that in March 1994 Judge Castellano made inquiries about an adoption proceeding filed in the First Judicial District that involved a relative of Chief Judge Maes, and in so doing he disclosed information from a file that by law is confidential. See NMSA 1978, § 32A-5-8, -40(A)(1) (Repl.Pamp.1993). Specifically, Judge Castellano questioned district court clerks about the adoption file and contacted a staff attorney for the Children, Youth and Families Department regarding the proceeding. The Special Masters determined that the adoption was handled properly and that Judge Castellano had made reckless allegations to the contrary, comparable to the unsubstantiated charges made against Frank in 1990. The Special Masters refused to find, however, that Judge Castellano was responsible for providing the Albuquerque Journal with a copy of the adoption file. After remand from this Court, the Special Masters heard some additional testimony, but made no specific changes in their findings and conclusions regarding these cases. After the remand from this Court in June 1994, the Special Masters considered two other cases, No. 93-52 and No. 94-67. The former concerned Judge Castellano's dealings with First CASA; the latter concerned his conduct in City of Espanola v. Schneider. We address each separately. NO. 93-52 The Special Masters found that First CASA of Santa Fe was a not-for-profit organization whose purpose was to recruit, train, and oversee volunteers who served as Court-Appointed Special Advocates for abused and neglected children in juvenile dependency proceedings; it was regularly engaged in proceedings that came before the Children's Court judge of the First Judicial District. Judge Castellano was the Children's Court judge for the First Judicial District from April 1989 until December 1993. The Special Masters found that Judge Castellano had de facto control over First CASA, that he personally selected a majority of the board of directors, and that he personally caused the hiring and firing of directors. His wife served as Executive Director, for a salary, on two separate occasions and acted as First CASA's primary fundraiser. She solicited contributions from lawyers who regularly appeared before the judge. She used his chambers and telephone to solicit funds. Judge Castellano allowed the use of his name, title, and photograph in a brochure used to solicit funds, and the use of stationery with his official telephone number, all after resolution of Inquiry No. 92-37 before the Commission, involving a solicitation letter sent out by Mrs. Castellano in 1992. The Special Masters specifically found that the 1993 fundraising package for First CASA was the functional equivalent of the 1992 fundraising letter the Commission had previously found to be in violation of SCRA 1986, 21-500(C)(2) (Cum.Supp.1991). In 1993 one law firm made a contribution in the amount of $1,000 to First CASA the same day that Judge Castellano ruled in favor of a client of that firm. The same year another law firm made a contribution in the same amount at the same time that Judge Castellano was presiding over a criminal trial involving a relative of a member of that firm. The Special Masters also found that Judge Castellano used First CASA funds to attend a national convention, but did not attend most of the convention, and left the convention before its conclusion to visit a relative of his wife. Finally, members of First CASA's Board of Directors under Judge Castellano's control impeded the Commission's investigation of Cause No. 93-52. The Special Masters determined that the Commission failed to carry its burden of proof regarding charges of ex parte communications with CASA volunteers in pending cases, personal solicitation of funds by Judge Castellano, a $1,000 contribution from a party to litigation within one month after a bench trial involving that party, and a contribution solicited by Mrs. Castellano, that was not deposited into CASA's bank account. When Judge Castellano was removed as Children's Court judge in December 1993, First CASA ceased to exist, a fact from which the Special Masters inferred that Judge Castellano used CASA as a vehicle to advance his political career. The Special Masters ultimately concluded that Judge Castellano had used the prestige of his office to solicit funds, contrary to SCRA 21-500(C)(1), and that he had failed to observe the high standards of conduct required by SCRA 21-100 and -200. They concluded he had created the appearance of impropriety in that he conveyed the appearance or impression or allowed others to create the appearance or impression that persons would be in a special position to influence the decisions of the Judge by making contributions to First Casa. The Special Masters also found that closed file No. 92-37, the previous disciplinary proceeding, established Judge Castellano was aware of the limitations placed upon him and that the violations identified in No. 93-52 were intentional. They also found that Judge Castellano used First Casa as an organization and the funds it raised to place himself and his work in abuse and neglect cases at the center of attention to further his own interests. NO. 94-67 In City of Espanola v. Schneider, the Special Masters found that Judge Castellano acted with apparent bias and prejudice toward the plaintiff. For example, after trial on the merits, Judge Castellano ruled in favor of the defendant, but he thereafter refused to enter a judgment from which plaintiff could appeal. In fact, Judge Castellano appeared to have intentionally delayed ruling in order to force plaintiff to settle the case because plaintiff's interests were dependent upon an approaching extra-judicial deadline. Further, after this Court issued a writ of superintending control ordering entry of a judgment for the defendant so that plaintiff could appeal, Judge Castellano entered an order that expanded the issues litigated, and after this Court reversed that order on the merits, on remand, Judge Castellano refused to award plaintiff any costs, precipitating another appeal. Finally, during the pendency of the proceeding, Judge Castellano asked plaintiff's counsel to prepare a document for the judge's signature opposing a proposed disposition in a related matter before the Court of Appeals. The Special Masters concluded that Judge Castellano had engaged in conduct that created an appearance of bias and denied a litigant its right to be heard. The Special Masters concluded this conduct violated SCRA 21-100, 21-200, 21-300 (A judge shall perform the duties of office impartially and diligently.), and SCRA 1986, 1-088.1(D) (Repl.1992) (No district judge shall sit in any action in which his impartiality may reasonably be questioned.).