Martinez Gets Two Supreme Court Choices

New Mexico Supreme Court Building

KRQE - An independent commission on Tuesday recommended a pair of veteran Albuquerque lawyers, a Democrat and a Republican, to GOP Gov. Susana Martinez for possible appointment to the New Mexico Supreme Court for what could be a very short tenure.
The judicial nominating commission unanimously recommended former Justice Paul Kennedy, a Republican who is a prominent criminal defense lawyer, and career prosecutor Steven Suttle, a Democrat who worked for 14 years in the attorney general's office before retiring in 2010.
Suttle also served as an elected district attorney in Oklahoma before moving to New Mexico to become a prosecutor in the district attorney's office in Albuquerque in 1991.
They were the only applicants for a court vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Patricio Serna, who is retiring at the end of the month after serving 16 years on the five-member court. The commission made its recommendations after interviewing the two lawyers.
This is the first opportunity for Martinez, a former prosecutor, to name someone to the state's highest court and her nominee will serve until the winner of the November general election takes over. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Martinez Gets Two Supreme Court Choices