Martha Vazquez
How Judge Vazquez rules, drawn from 32 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Vazquez
Martha Alicia Vázquez is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, Judge Vázquez received a commission on October 1, 1993. Judge Vázquez assumed senior status on December 31, 2021.
Judge Vazquez's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Vazquez, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
- Civil (PDF) ↗
- Civil Pretrial Deadlines (PDF) ↗
- Criminal (PDF) ↗
- Special Conditions ↗
- Stock Civil Jury Instructions (PDF) ↗
- Stock Criminal Jury Instructions (PDF) ↗
Key rules
Trial
Counsel should arrive by 8:30 a.m. to raise issues before Vazquez’s civil trial begins at 9:00 a.m.
“Trial will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. Counsel must appear no later than 8:30 a.m. if counsel wish to bring matters to the attention of the Court and out of the presence of the jury.”
Trial
In Vazquez civil cases, identify witnesses and exchange exhibits 30 days before trial.
“Witness Identification Thirty (30) days before trial Witnesses shall be identified to all other parties no later than thirty (30) days before trial and shall comply with this Court’s rules regarding witnesses as set forth in the attached document titled ‘Preparation for Civil Trials.’ Exchange of Exhibits Thirty (30) days before trial”
Trial
Counsel should arrive by 8:30 a.m. to raise issues before Vazquez’s criminal trial begins at 9:00 a.m.
“Trial will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. Counsel must appear no later than 8:30 a.m. if counsel wishes to bring any matters to the attention of the Court and out of the presence of the jury.”
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026).
How Judge Vazquez decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Second Presbyterian Church v. Church Mutual, Vazquez held that the policy’s time-to-sue provision did not bar the church’s unfair-practices and bad-faith claims, even though it barred the contract claim.
“The time-to-sue provision thus provides no affirmative defense to Church Mutual as to Second Presbyterian’s NMUICPA and bad faith claims.”
Procedural preferences
After an evidentiary hearing on fingerprint methodology, treats concerns about the examiner's subjective interpretation as affecting evidentiary weight rather than admissibility.
“the court notes that this concern does not go to the admissibility of the evidence, but its weight.”
Cautions
In Tichenor v. New Mexico Title Loans, Vazquez remanded state-law claims and awarded costs after finding that the defendants’ federal-question removal theory was objectively unreasonable.
“Here, the Court finds that Defendants’ removal was objectively unreasonable.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint [Doc. 13] is GRANTED, as follows: the Sernas' federal due process claim is dismissed with prejudice; and the Sernas' state law claims are dismissed without prejudice.”
“Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment for Recovery of Fraudulent Transfer of Property [Doc. 24] is DENIED.”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment on Limitations Grounds [Doc. 20] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART, as follows: judgment as a matter of law is granted in Church Mutual's favor as to Second Presbyterian's breach of contract claim (Count I); Second Presbyterian's NMUICPA claim (Count II) and Second Presbyterian's bad faith claim (Count III) remain viable.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Certification of Question of Law to the New Mexico Supreme Court [Doc. 30] is DENIED.”
“Defendant Lixin Zhang's Letter Motion for Relief from Judgment [Doc. 42] ... will be DENIED.”
“Respondents File it as a Motion to Dismiss and Newly Discovered Evidence That to Plaintiff [Doc. 45] will be DENIED.”
“Debt Pay, Inc's Motion to Dismiss the Second Amended Complaint [Doc. 41] is GRANTED, as follows: the Second Amended Complaint is dismissed as to Debt Pay Pro.”
“Plaintiff's Motion to Remand (Doc. 15) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, and the case is hereby REMANDED to the First Judicial District Court of New Mexico”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss the Second and Third Counts of Plaintiff's Complaint (Doc. 6) ... are DENIED AS MOOT.”
“Plaintiffs' Motion to Sever and Remand Claims Arising Under the New Mexico Civil Rights Act and New Mexico Tort Claims Act [Doc. 17] is DENIED.”
“the Motion to Remand and for Costs and Memorandum in Support, filed September 21, 2015, [Doc. 8], is granted. This matter is remanded to the First Judicial District Court of New Mexico.”
“Because this Court does not have subject matter jurisdiction, it will not consider Defendants' Motion to Compel Arbitration and Stay Proceeding, [Doc. 4].”
“Plaintiff's Motion to Remand (Doc. 4) is DENIED.”
“Defendant's motion to exclude expert testimony on fingerprint evidence is DENIED.”
“the Court concludes that Defendant is entitled to qualified immunity on Plaintiff's excessive force claim.”
“Plaintiff failed to meet his burden of showing that he is entitled to summary judgment on the excessive force claim.”
“the Court will grant Defendant's Motion to Dismiss for Failure to Timely Name Fictitious Defendants in part and dismiss the three remaining John/Jane Doe defendants.”
“Armijo's Motion for Summary Judgment now before the Court will be denied without prejudice.”
“GRANT Plaintiffs' Motion to Substitute Jose Carrasco for John Doe Officer and Dismiss Defendants Jojola and Napoleone.”
“the Court finds that, under Toombs, a technical violation of the Speedy Trial Act occurred as outlined above, and that dismissal of the indictment is warranted on that basis ... dismissal will be without prejudice.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 294 days (N = 7).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 188 days (N = 2).
Senior Judge Vazquez has served in Santa Fe since 1993 and was Chief Judge from 2003 through 2010. The sampled caseload includes removed civil-rights and personal-injury cases, prisoner civil-rights and detention matters, motions to vacate sentences, diversity contract disputes, and criminal cases. This describes caseload composition, not motion outcomes.
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| Motions pending more than six months | 37 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 14 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 37 | 14 |
| Sep 2025 | 38 | 15 |
| Mar 2025 | 57 | 18 |
| Sep 2024 | 58 | 17 |
| Mar 2024 | 62 | 11 |
| Sep 2023 | 58 | 12 |
| Mar 2023 | 39 | 11 |
| Sep 2022 | 23 | 11 |
| Mar 2022 | 31 | 10 |
| Sep 2021 | 32 | 16 |
| Mar 2021 | 14 | 13 |
| Sep 2020 | 10 | 11 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, not for Judge Vazquez: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 908 | 8.2 months |
| Closed with no court action | 150 | 4.1 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 511 | 7 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 242 | 13.8 months |
| Closed during trial | 5 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 908 | 8.2 months |
| Sep 2024 | 918 | 8 months |
| Sep 2023 | 835 | 10.6 months |
| Sep 2022 | 973 | 11.7 months |
| Sep 2021 | 909 | 9.6 months |
| Sep 2020 | 957 | 9 months |
| Sep 2019 | 965 | 9.6 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
Draft for Judge Vazquez with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Vazquez, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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