Judge Nora Longoria may have avoided some Texas justice when drunk driving charges against her were recently dropped.
Prosecutors claim they never received this newly released police dashcam video (see below) that recorded the traffic stop in question.
According to KGBT Channel 4 in Harlingen, Texas, “The footage shows she struggled to walk a straight line, and even stumbled several times during the test.”
All that District Attorney Rene Guerra apparently had to go on was a video that McAllen, Texas, police made at the police station and that was deemed insufficient evidence to go forward. “When looking at the video it doesn’t sound to me like she had slurred speech,” Guerra told The Monitor .
Cops say they don’t understand why prosecutors didn’t have the dashcam video while preparing their case.
Hidalgo County Judge Rolando Cantu tossed out the suspicion of drunk driving charge late last month, marking “other” for his ruling. Longoria was ordered to pay $500 in court fees, and the speeding ticket apparently stands.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, cops pulled over the appeals court judge in July for speeding at about 1 am. When officers approached the vehicle, they noted a strong odor of alcohol. As the judge’s speech was slurred, the officers requested a field sobriety test, which she failed. Longoria allegedly admitted downing five beers earlier in the evening and begged cops to let her go.
According to court records, when officers told the judge that she was under arrest, Longoria said, “Please let me go home. I live a couple of miles away … you are going to ruin my life. I worked hard for 25 years to be where I am today,” the Valley Morning Star reported .
The judge initially refused to allow officers to cuff her until she was warned that she could be charged with resisting arrest. She also apparently claimed at one point that cops would have to drag her to the patrol car. Longoria also declined to take a breathalyzer or give a blood sample at the police station. She was released on a $2,000 bond later that day.
Longoria, a Democrat, was elected to the 13th Court of Appeals in 2012 for a six-year term.
In another DUI case with possible political overtones that made news this summer, Texas Gov. Rick Perry was indicted for alleged abuse of power after he carried out his threat to veto funding for the Austin-based Travis County prosecutor’s office after the district attorney there, Rosemary Lehmberg, refused to step down even though she was found guilty of drunk driving. Perry is a Republican, while Lehmberg is a Democrat.
Do you think Texas Judge Nora Longoria was the recipient of preferential treatment in the now-dismissed DUI case against her?
[Image via YouTube]