Oregon GOP Chair Files Ethics Complaint Against Mult. Co. Judge On Strong Suspicion of Having Helped A Criminal Illegal Alien Escape From ICE Through Her Chambers

Wilsonville, OR– Oregon Republican Party Chairman Bill Currier filed an official Judicial Complaint with the Oregon Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability against Multnomah County Judge Monica Herranz for her role in helping a criminal defendant to escape Federal ICE Agents on January 27th, 2017.

The complaint filed by Currier alleges, based on an audio recording and local press accounts, that Judge Herranz aided and abetted Diddier Pacheco-Salazar, a suspected illegal alien, in escaping ICE agents by opening a secure door in the back of the judge’s chambers to help him evade capture by the agents who were waiting to detain him in the hallway outside of Judge Herranz’s courtroom. Mr. Pacheco-Salazar had just pleaded guilty to a DUII in her court prior to escaping the Multnomah County Courthouse by means of the Judge’s private access route.

On the audio recording of the court proceedings after Pacheco-Salazar’s guilty plea and the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Herranz can be clearly heard stating “we don’t want him to go back out there” in an apparent statement of her intent to help Pacheco-Salazar avoid capture by the ICE agents awaiting him in the hall outside the normal exit from her courtroom chamber. It is also believed that the door opened to enable Pacheco-Salazar to exit the Judge’s chambers and avoid the notice of the ICE agents is a secure door that can be opened only by authorized personnel using a credential unique to each person.

The Oregon Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits a judge from committing a criminal act. OCJC 2.1(B). A judge may not use the judicial position to gain personal advantage of any kind for another person. OCJC 2.2.

Any willful action by the Judge with the intent of circumventing courthouse security protocols to help an admitted criminal who may pose a danger to the community to evade Federal law enforcement officials is a severe ethical breach, and may qualify as a violation of the judicial code of conduct, and may also be an intentional violation of 8 U.S. Code § 1324.

“This looks like another example of the rampant lawlessness we’ve come to expect from sanctuary cities,” noted Chair Currier. “But this is a bridge too far for a member of our judicial system to appear to aid and abet criminal illegal aliens and to openly attempt to subvert or obstruct federal law enforcement. A judge must uphold the laws regardless of their personal or political leanings. Any witnesses, such as public employees, should be contacted by investigators to determine the exact nature and degree of any ethical breach and for the Commission to take appropriate action.”

The Oregon Republican Party is the state’s arm of the Republican National Committee. Its Chairman and officers are dedicated to promoting Republican principles within the state of Oregon and to improving the lives and livelihoods of Oregon’s working families through economic freedom and equal protection under the law.