SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued the following statement Tuesday afternoon in the wake of Judge Francis Mathew’s guilty ruling in the trial of state Sen. Richard Martinez charged with reckless driving and aggravated DWI: 

“As I said at the time of this incident, Senator Martinez was obligated to reflect on his actions and how best to reconcile them with his position as a public servant in the state Legislature, in particular his status as chairman of an influential committee.

“The senator’s defense of himself does not suggest to me that any such personal reckoning has taken place – and given the judge’s unambiguous ruling this afternoon, I urge him to resign his seat.

There is no way to square the circle: Drunken driving is an intolerable scourge in our state, and our elected leaders must hold themselves to the highest possible standard of behavior.”

Police in Española arrested Martinez late at night June 28 and charged him with reckless driving and aggravated DWI. According to the police incident report, a driver said the senator rear-ended him at a red light at Paseo de Onate and Fairview Lane. Martinez and the people in the car he rear-ended all sustained minor injuries.

Martinez failed his physical field sobriety tests and refused to submit to a breathalyzer test, according to the report.

Martinez is a Democrat and retired Magistrate Court judge. Since 2001 he has served Dist. 5, which includes Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, Sandoval and Santa Fe counties.