High court affirms dismissal of Nez allegations

WINDOW ROCK

Vice President Jonathan Nez is still running for president after the Navajo Nation Supreme Court upheld the Office of Hearings and Appeal’s decision to dismiss allegations against him.

On Wednesday, the high court issued an opinion to uphold OHA’s decision and stated the “findings of erroneous application of law are insufficient.”

“The OHA’s ruling that Nez did not have any convictions affecting qualifications for office for purposes of disclosure is supported by sufficient evidence on the record,” the Supreme Court ruled.

In September, former candidate for president Vincent Yazzie filed a grievance against Nez saying he was unqualified to run for president because he did not report a 2002 misdemeanor DUI conviction from the Flagstaff Municipal Court.

Chief Hearing Officer Richie Nez, no relation to Jonathan Nez, said the case was “insufficient” and that the vice president was “legally qualified for the office.”

“Qualifications for office is specifically set out for each office, in this case the office of the president of the Navajo Nation,” said Ritchie Nez at the time. “It says, ‘Do you have any felonies within the last five years and did you commit any misdemeanors of certain types.’

“If the answer is no then you meet the qualifications for office and my view there is no conflict when you read those two statutes together,” he said.

Yazzie and his attorney, Bernadine Martin, had asked the chief hearing officer recuse himself from the hearing because Martin is representing a former employer of OHA and Richie Nez is a material witness.

“The allegations alone is not sufficient to warrant a recusal,” states the Supreme Court ruling. “Yazzie did not ascertain the Chief Hearing Officer’s alleged prejudice or bias at the hearing. From the record, there was no evidence offered to the OHA to support the recusal.”

With less than two weeks left until the general election, the decision is appreciated by Jonathan Nez. He applauded the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold OHA’s dismissal and said they went based on law.

“Supreme Court did their job and I appreciate the judicial system,” said Jonathan Nez to the Times. “Vincent Yazzie’s grievance is final, it went all the way to the Supreme Court and they made their decision.”

He said the day he received the Supreme Court’s decision he told the people who attended his meet-and-greet Wednesday night in Rock Springs, New Mexico, and was met with jubilation.

“We announced it last night and people were happy,” he said. “It’s one less thing to worry about, so we will be able to move forward with the campaign.”

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