KYJKnow Your Judge v0.6.2by SwansLake
Judge directoryMartha Alicia Vázquez

Senior District judge

Martha Alicia Vázquez

U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico

New Mexico

Identity verifiedOfficial profile locatedOfficial sources collectedPresentation intelligence
01

Overview

Identity and service

Official judge-specific and circuitwide procedural guidance has been located for this profile.

Judicial role
Judge
Service status
Senior
Court level
District
Jurisdiction
Federal
02

Background

Biography and career

Born
1953 in Santa Barbara, CA
Gender
Female
Race
Hispanic/Latino
Political affiliation
Democratic (via appointer)

Education

  • University of Notre DameB.A., 1975

Professional career

  • Clerk, Michigan Migrant Legal Services, 1979-present
  • Assistant public defender, State of New Mexico, 1979-1981
  • Private practice, Santa Fe, NM, 1981-1993

Judicial service

  • Judge, District Court, D. New Mexico, 1993-present

Source: CourtListener / Free Law Project public biographical data. Demographic and political labels are incomplete, source-attributed, and are not used to infer judicial behavior. “Via appointer” describes CourtListener’s attribution method, not verified personal party membership.

03

Before you appear

Preparation checklist

  1. 01

    Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.

  2. 02

    Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.

  3. 03

    Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

Scope note

Judge-specific guidance is shown first. Broader applicable courtroom, courtwide, districtwide, and statewide guidance remains separately labeled below it.

04

Presentation rules

What the public sources say

Judge-specificExplicit
General

Encouraged

Judge-specific source

Page
1
Section
Judge-specific · page 1
Last checked
July 24, 2026
Verification
Machine extracted
Read supporting source excerpt
 Counsel must have all exhibits immediately available and in the proper order when questioning a witness. Counsel is encouraged to use the ELMO system to present exhibits to a witness. If counsel does not use the ELMO system, then he or she must have marked copies of each exhibit available for the witness to…

The official-source excerpt is preserved and remains subject to current-source verification.

CourtwideExplicit
Civil Trial Or Hearing

Leave required

In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards.

Page
Current official rules page and linked rules compilation
Section
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a); district civil proceedings only
Last checked
July 26, 2026
Verification
Automated checks passed
Read supporting source excerpt
For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location.

The requirement is stated in current official court rules and is attached at court scope, not as a personal preference.

CourtwideExplicit
Criminal Proceeding

Restricted

Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception.

Page
Official U.S. Courts history and current rule text
Section
Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53; criminal proceedings
Last checked
July 26, 2026
Verification
Automated checks passed
Read supporting source excerpt
Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.

The requirement is stated in current official court rules and is attached at court scope, not as a personal preference.

05

Courtroom technology

Published equipment guidance

Judge-specific

Encouraged

g To the extent possible, counsel is encouraged to use the ELMO equipment in the courtroom for the presentation of exhibits. The ELMO system allows witnesses to mark exhibits while discussing them. The ELMO system also enables counsel to print copies of the marked exhibits to deliver to the jury during its deliberation.

Open official source ↗
Judge-specific

Encouraged

To the extent possible, counsel is encouraged to use the ELMO equipment in the courtroom for the presentation of exhibits. The ELMO system allows witnesses to mark exhibits while discussing them. The ELMO system also enables counsel to print copies of the marked exhibits to deliver to the jury during its deliberation.

Open official source ↗
06

Published opinion footprint

Decisions and citations

Opinion data is not yet indexed for this profile

This does not mean the judge has no published opinions or no caseload. KYJ will only show opinion counts after transparent, source-linked CourtListener matching is available.

07

Sources

Public documents behind this profile

08

Change history

How this profile entered KYJ

Current profile indexed

Identity imported from Federal Judicial Center Biographical Directory. 5 presentation-related claims migrated with source provenance.