Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The Albuquerque Chief Criminal Judge Is a Rapist?

Albuquerque's 2d Judicial District Chief Judge, "Pat" Murdoch (pic) was arrested after being caught on video raping a prostitute.  Here's the story from kasa.com via Debra Cassens Weiss at the ABAJournal.com this morning:

District Judge Albert "Pat" Murdoch was arrested Tuesday afternoon on charges including rape. According to the arrest warrant, the charges stem from a secret video tape the prostitute made of the judge in his own bedroom.


Murdoch is the chief criminal judge in the 2nd Judicial District in Albuquerque.  He is charged with criminal sexual penetration and intimidation of a witness.

The criminal complaint states undercover police received a tip of a sex tape with the judge and a prostitute. The undercover officers bought the tape from the woman and her pimp for $400. They say when they watched it they saw Judge Murdoch having sex with that prostitute.

Police say at one point on the tape Murdoch forced himself on the woman to perform oral sex on her after she told him no. Officers searched Murdoch's home, then went to District Court to arrest him.

Murdoch is being held in jail on a $50,000 bond. Police say he is being kept away from other inmates for his own safety.
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Debra Cassens Weiss includes the amazing detail that this judge sentenced a former police officer guilty of rape to probation because Judge Murdoch "reasoned that prison would be more difficult for a policeman than other rape defendants."

These stories are so disturbing, because you assume and the profession assumes that the folks in the robe are above the craziness of the rest of mankind.  One of the things this blawg stands for is the reality that some pretty flawed men and women wear the robe and mete out justice.  Albuquerque is waking up to that reality this morning.  While we do not know the facts, look for other alleged victims to come forward as we have come to expect in many of these situations over the last couple of years.

9 comments:

  1. Since when does a woman charge money for a film of her being raped???

    And how come she was in his room secretly filming in the first place??

    I've never heard of this guy before but I'm wondering who he has, or is about to, upset.

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  2. YOu raise interesting questions, let's see the woman happens to be someone who knows precisely what sort of person the Judge is--and is so desperate for $$$ she's counting on him to act consistently with his prior conduct. Oh, and one other thing, Anon, because he is this way....he did it to alot of other victims before this lady. As with the Ken Kratz, the Wisconsin sexting prosecutor---thered will be lots of other victims.

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  3. @Bad Lawyer
    So other victims have come forward?

    What is really disturbing is that you are condemning him before he has been judged.

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  4. Anon--

    I've taken your criticism to heart and have slightly modified this post to reflect your feedback. You are afterall correct, despite a videotape in the hands of the police purportedly reflecting a forcible rape, these are accusations, only. While I imagine this will play out as I suggest I am prejudging someone I reflexively view as a hypocrite. So we shall see.
    BL

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  5. You forgot to mention this judge had polio as a kid and is physically incapable of overpowering anyone. He can't even stand up without both crutches, and even then he is all of four feet tall.

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  6. No, I didn't forget it. Feel free to supply any detail you think provides a clearer snapshot.

    But we shall see.

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  7. When you are the Chief Judge you dont need to forcibly overpower anyone.

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  8. ah, A SMART PERSON WOULD.. EVERYONE KNOWS A PROSTITUTE WOULD NOT BE BELIEVED OVER A JUDGE, SO THEREFORE, SHE DID WHAT SHE HAD TO DO.. ANYWAY, HOW DEPERATE THAT ASS WHOLE MUST HAVE BEEN..

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  9. Pat is a friend of mine and there is no way that this fits his Mo he was framed

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