Post by WaTcHeR on Jan 31, 2006 15:41:04 GMT -5
01/31/2006 - MOUNT HOLLY -- State Superior Court Judge Rosemarie Williams' driver's license was suspended for seven months after pleading guilty Monday to driving drunk on Dec. 13 in Hillsborough.
Williams was also ordered to pay $631 in fines and spend 12 hours at an Intoxicated Driver Resource Center -- an alcohol and highway safety education program.
The judge's guilty plea could lead to another hearing before the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct, which advises the state Supreme Court, committee attorney Patrick Monahan said.
The state Supreme Court suspended Williams for three months in 2001 after she was charged with misconduct following a public quarrel with her ex-boyfriend, Alfred "Wes" Bridges, a Mercer County sheriff's officer.
Williams, 53, the presiding Chancery Division judge in Somerville, admitted driving drunk last month while on her way home from a dinner party.
Monday's hearing was conducted in the Burlington County Courthouse, and not in Williams' vicinage of Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties. Transferring the case to a different jurisdiction is typical when a judge is charged, said Winnie Comfort, spokeswoman for the state Administrative Office of the Courts.
Superior Court Judge John Sweeney dismissed a careless driving charge against Williams and ordered that her driver's license be suspended for seven months.
License suspension is the standard sentence in New Jersey for a first-time offender in a driving while intoxicated case. Williams was accompanied to court by a friend, who also drove her home.
Williams' attorney, Jim Wronko of Somerville, said the judge believed it was best to resolve the matter quickly.
"We reviewed the case and while we dispute the findings, my client felt that it was in the best interest of her family, friends and the judiciary to resolve the matter today," Wronko said.
On Dec. 13, Williams was seen driving her silver BMW on New Centre Road in Hillsborough, weaving across lanes shortly before 11:30 p.m.
Police stopped the judge as she turned left onto South Branch Road, after a call from a driver who complained that Williams was driving "in an erratic manner" and that she appeared to be intoxicated, authorities said.
Williams, who lives in Hopewell, was arrested after she failed field sobriety tests. According to Hillsborough police, Williams admitted to the officer that she had had some wine, adding that she was on her way home from a dinner party.
Williams was taken to police headquarters, where she submitted two breath samples. Police said her blood-alcohol level was .16, twice New Jersey's legal limit of .08.
Wronko declined comment on whether the judge might be penalized by the state Supreme Court.
"I'm only representing her on this part of the case," he said.
On April 14, 2000, Williams was having dinner at the Revere Restaurant in Ewing Township when Bridges came in with another woman. According to court documents, an enraged Williams confronted Bridges and his companion, who left before being seated. Williams followed them to a Trenton restaurant, where she resumed a profanity-laced diatribe against the officer and his date.
When Bridges asked the owner to call the police, the judge drove to a nearby courthouse, called 911 on her cell phone, and told police that Bridges had followed her there.
Williams got high marks for lack of gender or racial bias in the courtroom by the New Jersey Law Journal's survey of lawyers last year. Ranked 278 in the state, Williams moved up 51 places statewide from the 1999 survey, in which she finished in the bottom 10, according to the New Jersey Law Journal.
The Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct will conduct its regular meeting in a few weeks, said Monahan, at which time Williams' DWI plea could be discussed.
Williams was also ordered to pay $631 in fines and spend 12 hours at an Intoxicated Driver Resource Center -- an alcohol and highway safety education program.
The judge's guilty plea could lead to another hearing before the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct, which advises the state Supreme Court, committee attorney Patrick Monahan said.
The state Supreme Court suspended Williams for three months in 2001 after she was charged with misconduct following a public quarrel with her ex-boyfriend, Alfred "Wes" Bridges, a Mercer County sheriff's officer.
Williams, 53, the presiding Chancery Division judge in Somerville, admitted driving drunk last month while on her way home from a dinner party.
Monday's hearing was conducted in the Burlington County Courthouse, and not in Williams' vicinage of Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties. Transferring the case to a different jurisdiction is typical when a judge is charged, said Winnie Comfort, spokeswoman for the state Administrative Office of the Courts.
Superior Court Judge John Sweeney dismissed a careless driving charge against Williams and ordered that her driver's license be suspended for seven months.
License suspension is the standard sentence in New Jersey for a first-time offender in a driving while intoxicated case. Williams was accompanied to court by a friend, who also drove her home.
Williams' attorney, Jim Wronko of Somerville, said the judge believed it was best to resolve the matter quickly.
"We reviewed the case and while we dispute the findings, my client felt that it was in the best interest of her family, friends and the judiciary to resolve the matter today," Wronko said.
On Dec. 13, Williams was seen driving her silver BMW on New Centre Road in Hillsborough, weaving across lanes shortly before 11:30 p.m.
Police stopped the judge as she turned left onto South Branch Road, after a call from a driver who complained that Williams was driving "in an erratic manner" and that she appeared to be intoxicated, authorities said.
Williams, who lives in Hopewell, was arrested after she failed field sobriety tests. According to Hillsborough police, Williams admitted to the officer that she had had some wine, adding that she was on her way home from a dinner party.
Williams was taken to police headquarters, where she submitted two breath samples. Police said her blood-alcohol level was .16, twice New Jersey's legal limit of .08.
Wronko declined comment on whether the judge might be penalized by the state Supreme Court.
"I'm only representing her on this part of the case," he said.
On April 14, 2000, Williams was having dinner at the Revere Restaurant in Ewing Township when Bridges came in with another woman. According to court documents, an enraged Williams confronted Bridges and his companion, who left before being seated. Williams followed them to a Trenton restaurant, where she resumed a profanity-laced diatribe against the officer and his date.
When Bridges asked the owner to call the police, the judge drove to a nearby courthouse, called 911 on her cell phone, and told police that Bridges had followed her there.
Williams got high marks for lack of gender or racial bias in the courtroom by the New Jersey Law Journal's survey of lawyers last year. Ranked 278 in the state, Williams moved up 51 places statewide from the 1999 survey, in which she finished in the bottom 10, according to the New Jersey Law Journal.
The Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct will conduct its regular meeting in a few weeks, said Monahan, at which time Williams' DWI plea could be discussed.