Judge Rodella removed
The state Supreme Court has removed Rio Arriba County Magistrate Tommy Rodella from the bench, ruling today that the controversial judge was guilty of willful misconduct and is barred from holding another judicial post in the future.
In a unanimous decision, "the high court accepted a recommendation from the state Judicial Standards Commission, which accused Rodella of violating judicial rules in three separate cases," the Santa Fe New Mexican is reporting on its Web site.
Rodella hugged and kissed his wife Debbie Rodella, a state legislator from Española, his children and other supporters following the decision. Asked for comment, Rodella would only tell a reporter, "Thank you for your fairness," political reporter Steve Terrell wrote.
Rodella's attorney, Justin Pennington, said after the hearing that while he and his client are disappointed with the court's decision, they accept it.
"(Rodella) is ready to move on to new things and he looks foward to just moving on with his life," Pennington told the Independent. "He and his family have been under extreme stress for the past several months while this has been ongoing. If nothing else, coming to final resolution was something he welcomed. He just wished it would have turned out differently."
The Judicial Standards Commission accused Rodella of misconduct in three cases over which he presided, including a highly publicized incident in which Rodella helped get a DWI suspect out of jail over the 2005 Fourth of July weekend.
Gov. Bill Richardson appointed Rodella to the bench in March of that year, but Rodella resigned after the July controversy. Rodella ran for magistrate the following year, besting five other candidates to take back his seat.
While the court found evidence to remove Rodella, it did not agree with all of the Judicial Standards Commission's findings and plans to issue an opinion that will further explain its decision.
"I can't argue with the wisdom of the Supreme Court. They obviously saw something I didn't see... I'm interested in seeing what the court's rationale is," Pennington said.
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