Michigan federal judge pleads no contest to drunken-driving charge

By Nate Raymond

April 8 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Michigan pleaded no contest on Wednesday to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge stemming from his October arrest, which was captured in a widely publicized police body cam video.

Bay City, Michigan-based U.S. District Judge Thomas Ludington entered the plea to a charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated during a hearing in 90th District Court in Emmet County.

A second charge of operating a vehicle with a blood-alcohol content of 0.17 or more was dismissed, according to the court docket. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 13 by Judge Angela Lasher.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in February announced that Ludington, 72, was taking a leave of absence pending the resolution of the DUI case, which had only come to the public's attention following a series of news reports beginning in January by the Detroit News.

The court's announcement came days after state police released body cam footage of the arrest in response to public records requests.

Jonathan Steffy, a lawyer for Ludington, in a statement said the judge agreed to resolve the case to put the matter behind him, adding the incident was, at most, an "isolated event."

"Judge Ludington looks forward to continuing to serve the Federal Court at the highest level and focus on his work, along with his wife and family," Steffy said.

According to a Michigan State Police report, a trooper responded on October 3 to a report that a Cadillac had struck two road signs in Gaylord, Michigan and was continuing to drive.

The trooper found Ludington in his car, which had extensive passenger-side damage, yet the judge told him he was "not exactly sure why" its airbags deployed.

The judge denied drinking after exiting his vehicle and went on to fail several field sobriety tests, including one in which he responded “A, B, C, D, F, U,” when asked to recite the alphabet, according to the police report.

A subsequent blood test showed Ludington registered a 0.27 blood-alcohol level, above the legal limit of 0.08, the police report said.

Steffy, in his statement, said "there are still multiple questions about what happened to him." Steffy pointed to the lack of alcohol found in the vehicle or any record of any being purchased or consumed by the judge during his travel route.

A Luger bullet casing was found on the floor of his vehicle, Steffy said, even though Ludington does not own any firearm. He said its source is unknown to the U.S. Marshals Service, but "the judge has overseen cases of defendants who have recently ordered executions of people."

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Michigan federal judge charged with drunken-driving goes on leave