State District Judge Francis Mathew has been accused of driving drunk in Santa Fe, a criminal charge he plans to dispute. Mathew, 72, was on the bench Thursday, presiding over cases, in spite of the charge he was handed Dec. 13.
He declined to comment directly on the count, but an attorney representing him said the judge plans to fight the case and "is not guilty of DWI." A criminal complaint filed Monday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court by New Mexico State Police says Mathew faces a petty misdemeanor of driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. He was stopped at a state police DWI checkpoint the evening of Dec.
13 and failed several field sobriety tests, an officer wrote in a statement of probable cause filed with the charge. The officer wrote he determined Mathew was "unable to continue driving a motor vehicle safely," although the judge's blood-alcohol level was under the legal limit for driving, according to two breath tests taken at a state police station in Santa Fe about an hour after the stop. Mathew was released from custody rather than jailed, but police still filed the charge.
Mathew's defense attorney, Ben Ortega, said Thursday he would be disputing the charge and noted the judge's alcohol level, as measured by police, was well below the driving limit. "Judge Mathew cooperated completely with law enforcement," Ortega said. "He submitted to a breath test, did everything you're supposed to do, by the book.
And when we go to court for this — if w.
