Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg continues to make decisions that just leave you scratching your head and wondering, “What can she possibly be thinking?” First, her office prosecutes a war hero to discourage other law abiding citizens from protecting their families and property from drug crazed career criminals. Now, Kari Brandenburg decides to look the other way while criminal judicial misconduct undermines the very structure of our legal system:
Metropolitan Court Judge J. Wayne Griego was accused of fixing tickets for years, and now he admits he did it.
His attorney filed paperwork today agreeing his client committed willful misconduct in office.
Griego basically said here he agrees with the Judicial Standards Commission which had investigated his conduct and recommended the New Mexico Supreme Court punish him.
Now Griego is asking the Supreme Court to follow the commission recommendations and just suspend him for interfering in the judicial process. The justices could, if they choose, remove him from the bench entirely.
Griego fixed for his family, friends and even his Realtor. They cover everything from speeding to parking, from resisting an officer to bench warrants.
We’re not talking about a one-time bad decision, which would be reason enough to remove him from the bench. We’re talking about a judge who admits he has been “fixing tickets for years.”
The citizens are outraged.
Protesters rallied outside Metropolitan Court in downtown Albuquerque today demanding a criminal investigation in the case of the ticket-fixing judge.
But, our county’s chief prosecutor, Kari Brandenburg, just doesn’t seem too concerned:
Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said at this point she is not pursuing the Griego case.
Ms. Brandenburg, at what point would you be interested in pursuing this case? There is something seriously wrong with a District Attorney that prosecutes heroes yet turns a blind eye when it comes criminal justices. This is just another reason to consider an alternative to District Attorney Brandenburg come November.