A newly elected Baja California family court judge has filed criminal charges against three journalists and a legal analyst who reported on her past criminal complaints, forcing all four to appear as defendants at an August hearing in Mexicali. The case marks the first known instance of a judge seated through Mexico’s 2025 judicial election reform using gender-violence statutes to pursue reporters who covered her vetting process.
Judge Nancy Ávila Ruiz Was Elected on a State-Backed Slate of 60 Candidates
Nancy Ávila Ruiz now presides over the Sixth Family Court in Baja California. She won her seat in the June 2025 judicial election as part of a slate of 60 lawyers nominated jointly by the state government, the local congress, and the Superior Court of Justice. That election was the first under Mexico’s controversial 2024 constitutional reform, which replaced the old system of presidential appointment with popular voting for judges at every level.
Supporters of the reform argued it would democratize the judiciary and break the grip of political patronage over who sits on the bench. Critics warned that the nomination process still depended on political gatekeepers and that elected judges would face pressure to protect those who put them on the ballot. Baja California’s rollout drew scrutiny because all 60 candidates came from a single approved list, with no independent challengers.
During the campaign period, local media began examining the backgrounds of the nominees. A digital outlet in Mexicali first published records showing that Ávila Ruiz had been the subject of multiple criminal complaints dating back to 2014, when she worked as a court notifier for the state’s criminal justice system. Three journalists and one legal analyst then picked up the story and reported the details on radio, television, and digital platforms.
Criminal Complaints Against Ávila Ruiz Span 2014 to 2021
The reporters cited specific case file numbers tied to complaints of physical assault, illegal entry into a home, abuse of authority, and “outrages” (a Mexican legal term for offenses by public officials against private citizens). One complaint, filed under case number 1717/10/100/AP, alleged illegal entry into a home. Another, under case 0202-2014/59134/RAC, was filed by Aldo Caballero Pérez Castro at a Ministerio Público office on Calzada Anáhuac in Mexicali. Caballero alleged that Ávila Ruiz physically assaulted him in front of his five-year-old daughter while she was serving in her role as a court notifier.
At least four more case file numbers appeared in the reporting: 0202-2014/59534-RAC, 0202-2015/01012, 0202-2015/53821/RAC, and 0202-2017/24827. A separate complaint for abuse of authority and outrages was filed on Feb. 12, 2021, by Isaac Sánchez Kewes under case number 0202-2021/04297.
Caballero publicly confirmed his account on social media after the judge filed her complaint against the journalists. “I forgave her a long time ago, but I am not going to retract something she did to my family and me,” he wrote. He also denied the judge’s claim that he was part of a political campaign against her, calling that accusation false.
Gender Violence Statute Used to Compel Journalists to Appear as Defendants
Ávila Ruiz filed her complaint under Mexico’s law on political violence against women based on gender, a statute originally designed to protect female candidates and officeholders from harassment, threats, and discrimination. Under criminal case number 03215/2026 and NUC 02-2025/07180, the four defendants are now required to appear at an initial hearing on the morning of Aug. 5, 2026.
The defendants are Jorge Heras, who runs the digital platform Lindero Norte and contributes to N+ television newscasts in Tijuana, La Crónica de Mexicali, and La Jornada; Eduardo Villa, editor of the Mexicali bureau of the investigative weekly Zeta and co-anchor on Canal 66; Rubén Gómez, a radio host in Mexicali; and Elías Flores Gallegos, a litigating attorney who heads the Baja California Council of Bar Associations and appears as a legal analyst on the radio program Ciudad Capital.
The four issued a joint statement calling the charges “a judicial maneuver to silence us and shatter rights and freedoms, including the public’s right to be informed and the right to free expression.” Mexico’s gender-violence political statutes carry potential prison sentences, though convictions of journalists under this specific provision are rare.
Press freedom organizations have tracked a rising pattern of public officials in Mexico invoking gender-violence laws against critics and reporters since 2020. In those cases, the legal process itself serves as punishment: defendants face legal costs, court appearances, and the threat of pretrial detention even before a verdict.
The initial hearing is set for Aug. 5, 2026, at the Mexicali courts. The case was first reported by La Jornada Baja California.