SANTA FE – New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Tuesday no one is above the law and that she and the rest of the state’s residents believe elected officials should be held to a higher standard.
She took the uncompromising stance during a news conference when asked whether state Sen. Richard Martinez’s constituents would be better served if he resigned from office.
Martinez, a Democrat from Española, was accused of drunken driving after crashing into another vehicle the night of June 28. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated DWI and reckless driving.
The governor stopped short of directly calling for the longtime lawmaker’s resignation, saying she hopes he thinks about his position as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as the message that the case sends to a community besieged by crime related to alcohol and drugs.
“My hope is that he quickly continues to contemplate those issues and does the right thing,” she said. “But he will be and shall be held to the highest possible standard. Let’s see what he does, and let’s see what this community demands.”
Martinez has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
The governor also said she was disappointed with how some officers handled the crash. She referenced lapel video in which a state police officer is heard asking if there was something that could be used to cover up Martinez’s license plate, which indicated the vehicle belonged to a state lawmaker.
Lujan Grisham confirmed State Police Chief Tim Johnson initiated an internal investigation into how his officers responded.
The state attorney general’s office will be prosecuting Martinez’s case after being asked by District Attorney Marco Serna, who recused himself to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.
Serna’s jurisdiction includes Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties.
Martinez became a state senator in 2000 after serving as a magistrate judge in Rio Arriba County. He has served for years as the chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
Police have said Martinez crashed his Mercedes SUV into the back of a vehicle stopped at a red light in Española.
Police reported that the senator had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and smelled of alcohol when he first told officers at the crash scene that he had one or two beers. He later said he had three glasses of wine and that he was coming from a meeting in Santa Fe when the crash happened.
He refused a blood-alcohol test and could not move his fingers as an officer directed. He also appeared to struggle to count backward.
