Judge candidates debate credentials

CLOVIS — The city of Clovis will soon enough have two new magistrate judges, qualifications for which took center stage during a candidates radio forum held Tuesday evening.

“You can always tell when it’s a hotly contested year, because the questions come in fast and furious,” moderator Grant McGee said of the listener-submitted questions that streamed into the KTQM station during the two-hour long forum. “These are some of the liveliest bunch of questions I’ve seen in a very long time, if not ever.”

A total of nine candidates participated in the forum. Seeking the magistrate judge position in District 1 are Republicans Keith Farkas and Janemarie Vander Dussen and Democrat Nicole Roybal (her Democrat opponent, Terry Martin, was not present). In District 2 the magistrate judge candidates are Shaun Burns, Sean Martinez, Donald Sawyer and Stephen Whittington, all Republicans. Also present were Annie Hogland and Mark Lansford, running unopposed for Curry County Clerk and Probate Judge, respectively.

A recurring topic for the judge candidates was experience; namely for District 2, Burns maintained throughout the evening that as a defense attorney of more than 40 years he was the best candidate, and that anyone in the magistrate judge position lacking that experience would be “intimidated, buffaloed and eaten alive by defense lawyers.”

Sawyer, a marriage and family mediator of more than 20 years, pointed out that the two outgoing magistrate judges — Duane Castleberry in District 1 and Richard Hollis in District 2 — were not experienced lawyers when they first took office.

“I don’t necessarily believe that being a lawyer is a credential needed for the position,” he said.

Burns said they were great judges, but had challenging early years facing experienced attorneys.

Sawyer said he would “not be intimidated by anybody.”

Responding to Burns’ points, Martinez said that “oftentimes defense attorneys will argue cases for repeat violent offenders to be released prior to trial.” For his own part, he said that “as magistrate judge I will be tough on crime.”

Martinez has over 10 years experience with the Clovis Police Department.

Burns countered that he was “experienced enough to follow the law,” while Martinez “wants everybody to be in jail.”

The issue came up again when candidates fielded questions about how they would remain impartial judges. Martinez pointed to his anti-bias training as a law enforcement officer; Sawyer said as a mediator he was able “to look at both sides of a situation,” while Whittington pointed to his experience in New Mexico courts across more than 20 years as a state police officer.

“That’s not enough,” Burns countered. “You have to know what you’re doing to really make that work.”

Election Day is June 5.

Also at the candidates forum:

• Vander Dussen said she believed she was the most experienced candidate in the district, living in Clovis the past 10 years and currently working as director of the 9th Judicial District’s Victim Advocate Program. Come voting day, she said “if you can’t remember Janemarie Vander Dussen, just look for the longest name on the ballot.”

• Keith Farkas pointed to his 26 years experience in the criminal justice system, most recently as a judicial specialist at magistrate court.

• Roybal said she also intended to advocate for the Teen Court program to get back in action, focusing on educating juveniles on the criminal justice system.

• A question directed at the Republican candidates asked “As a Republican, are you part of President Donald J Trump’s base?” All of the candidates declined to answer.