Tucson City Council recommended to not reappoint presiding judge after "violating defendant rights"

TUCSON (KVOA) - For more than 20 years, Antonio Riojas Jr. has been the presiding judge of Tucson City Court. That may come to an end after the City Magistrate Merit Selection Commission issued a recommendation not to reappoint him.

The Commission made that recommendation unanimously with a vote from its six members on September 1st.

According to the Commission's report, Judge Riojas Jr. had created a court policy to not provide legal counsel to mostly DUI defendants during arraignments because of staffing and budget concerns within the Public Defender's Office.

As pointed out by the Commission, that is against the defendant's constitutional rights.

The Commission wrote, "Judge Riojas' decision to dispense with due process for the sake of the City's administrative convenience is disqualifying for judicial office."

The issues were first brought to life by four local defense attorneys: James Charnesky, Louis Fidel, Josh Hamilton, and Michael Bloom who wrote a joint letter to a higher court, the Pima County Superior Court, informing it of the practice.

Michael Bloom said the problems stopped the following day.

“The law is crystal clear that that shouldn’t happen," he explained.

However, Bloom is left with some unanswered questions.

“I don’t know if they’ve ever gone back and addressed the question of between say January and April of this year all of the people whose rights were violated and what the implications were," he said.

Luis Fidel told us these were serious violations of rights that could have had major impacts on the defendant's outcomes.

“The constitution is the bedrock of our system of justice that establishes what is absolutely required in terms of an individual's rights," Fidel said.

Riojas’ future is in the hands of the Mayor and City Council. In a letter to Mayor Regina Romero dated September 8th, Riojas Jr. admitted the policy was wrong and asked her to still reappoint him saying, “I admit that my decision concerning the appointment of counsel at arraignments was ill-advised. However, I am only asking that this decision not be the decision that defines my service to the City of Tucson.”

While interviewed by the Commission, he made no apologies and maintained he felt he had the right to impose such a policy.

News 4 Tucson asked Mayor Romero about the recommendation against reappointing Riojas Jr. Her response was "No comment."

Councilmember Paul Cunningham though isn’t holding back, he feels it’s time for a change at City Court.

“He’s given his 20 years. It may be time to take the courts in a different direction," Cunningham said.

The decision is set to be made during Tuesday's City Council meeting.

News 4 Tucson will keep you updated.