A grand jury indicted retired District Court Judge Margaret Murphy on a single count of perjury last Friday, related to an incident in November, 2022. Perjury is a felony charge in Alaska that carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
The indictment has little additional information about the accusation against Murphy. But a list of witnesses in the document does suggest a link to Soldotna resident David Haeg, who has long alleged that Murphy conspired against him during a trial for unlawful game hunting. Murphy was the judge in that trial, held in McGrath in 2004. Haeg was convicted on several counts, filed an appeal and, later, an application for post-conviction relief. The appeals court ultimately sided against Haeg in 2021.
According to that ruling, Murphy asked the primary witness in the case, Alaska State Trooper Brett Gibbens, to drive her to a store during a break in the trial to get a Diet Coke. Haeg claims Murphy and Gibbens conspired about the case in the car, although Murphy said ahead of time that they would not discuss it. According to the Court of Appeals ruling, Murphy said she had no other way of getting around McGrath.
In the years since his conviction, Haeg has led a much larger fight for the rights of Alaska grand juries to investigate supposed judicial corruption. His campaign has picked up steam both locally and statewide, with advocates testifying at municipal meetings and holding sit-ins at local courthouses.
While the indictment against Murphy does not explicitly mention Haeg’s case, it does list several witnesses who testified in front of the grand jury and are connected to Haeg’s trial, including Haeg, Trooper Gibbens, Haeg’s co-defendant in the unlawful hunting case, three of Haeg’s attorneys and the superior court judge who tried Haeg’s appeal.
Grand juries are citizen juries that can determine whether there’s enough evidence to charge someone with a crime, and require a relatively low burden of proof to bring a charge.
Haeg has accused Murphy of misconduct in previous cases, but she’s been cleared in each one.
Murphy retired from the District Court in 2019. She had worked as a trial judge in Homer since 2005.
Murphy could not be reached for comment. Her first court appearance in the case is set for next Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. in Kenai.
