There is no doubt that certain events can change a person’s career trajectory. We have written in this space before about Denver police officers arrested for driving under the influence and how it impacted their jobs and the department. One officer pleaded with the cops who pulled him over to let him go so that his career wouldn’t suffer.
In some ways, the story is reassuring. After all, his fellow officers ignored his plea and took him into custody, as they would the average citizen. You might get a sense of déjà vu while reading of a Texas judge pulled over for speeding and ending up in custody on suspicion of DUI.
Last weekend, a justice for a state Court of Appeals was pulled over early Saturday morning in a town just north of the Mexican border for reportedly driving 69 mph in a 55 mph zone. When an officer asked her for ID, she flashed a badge identifying her as a judge.
Unfortunately for her, slurred speech and the smell of alcohol identified her as someone who might have had too much to drink. After she failed a field sobriety test, a pair of other officers arrived at the scene. The judge said she had been drinking – five beers over dinner with friends – but that the last one had been about three hours earlier.
When she was told she was being placed under arrest, she begged for leniency. “Please let me go home,” she reportedly said. “…you are going to ruin my life. I worked hard for 25 years to be where I am today.”
At the police station, she declined to take a breathalyzer test.
Will she run for re-election? No one yet knows, and no one knows how voters will react if she chooses to run.
There’s little doubt that the judge has much to discuss with an experienced DUI attorney.
Source: Valley Morning Star, “Valley judge tried to resist DWI arrest,” Ildefonso Ortiz, July 14, 2014