Rochester judge Leticia Astacio was scheduled to be in court Tuesday for an alleged violation of her drunken driving sentence, but failed to show because she’s out of the country. Astacio is reportedly in Thailand, and plans to stay there until August. After learning that news, Judge Stephen Aaronson declared Astacio in default of the discharge conditions on her drunken driving conviction and issued a warrant for her arrest.
Aaronson had ordered Astacio to take a urine test after the interlock device in her car registered alcohol on her breath but recorded no picture of the person blowing into the device. Prosecutor Christopher Eggleston says that’s because it was dragged out of the car, and he says it was Judge Astacio who did it, trying to hide that she’d been drinking.
Defense Attorney Ed Fiandach says he doesn’t believe that person was Astacio. He asks why his client would blow into the device under those circumstances knowing she was bound to be caught?
But Prosecutor Eggleston answered sarcastically, saying that’s because Astacio is “really smaaaaaaart,” and knows enough to possibly get away with it.
Fiandach says he’ll ask Judge Aaronson to recall the warrant, because it might cause trouble for Astacio when she re-enters the country.