Judge orders New Mexico governor to submit to deposition

A state district court has ordered New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez to answer questions under oath in a defamation lawsuit linked to the eviction of a group from a political even in 2014.

The Deming Headlight reports that Martinez must submit to a deposition in a lawsuit brought by Scott and Colette Chandler against the governor’s State Police security detail.

Martinez is not a defendant in the lawsuit. However, a district court judge rejected arguments that she is protected from answering questions.

The Chandlers owns the Tierra Blanca Ranch program for troubled youth that has been the dogged by allegations of abuse and neglect. The Chandlers and supporters appeared in 2014 at a campaign event at Deming’s Grand Motor Inn to deliver a petition to the Governor and were removed.