The Case of the Spying Judge, or Your Honor's Poor Judgement

Two state judges have sued the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission, demanding secret surveillance recordings they say were made by another judge who was spying on them.

Plaintiffs Trudy Reed-Chase and Barry Sharer are magistrate court judges in Aztec, New Mexico, the seat of San Juan County. Aztec, a town of about 6,000 is in a remote area of northeastern New Mexico. The nearest large town is Farmington.

Reed-Chase, Sharer and nine other court employees sued Magistrate Court Judge Connie Lee Johnston, her husband and sister-in-law and the state in February 2016, claiming that Johnston had planted listening devices around the Aztec Municipal Courthouse, including in the offices of Reed-Chase and Sharer. They claimed that electronic surveillance equipment also was placed in the court manager’s office and other workspaces, in inmate holding facilities and in at least one bathroom. more