http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... /711160340 :rofl: :rofl:
Judge to cop who arrested him: 'I'm a judge, bro'
May have tried to use position to avoid DWI
BY MATT MANOCHIO
DAILY RECORD
Friday, November 16, 2007
31 Comments
ROXBURY -- A municipal judge who was charged with drunken and careless driving apparently tried to use his position as a jurist -- telling his arresting officer, "I'm a judge, bro" -- while handing him a blue state judiciary identification card, a police report stated.
George R. Korpita, 47, whose law practice is in Dover, has served as a municipal judge in Dover, Victory Gardens and Rockaway. He failed numerous field sobriety tests slightly after 2 a.m. on Nov. 6 to the point where he told police, "I'm done. I can't do it," according to an arrest report filed by Patrolman Jonathan Edmunds.
Officers said they found Korpita's four-door sedan stopped at a traffic light on Route 46 West, where a passing motorist reported seeing someone passed out behind the wheel of the car. Korpita's car also didn't move through the traffic signal, despite several light changes, police said.
Edmunds wrote that he sounded his siren, which caused the judge to pull into a nearby driveway on Mount Arlington Road. The officer then approached the car on foot and found Korpita, who had rolled down the window alone and slouched toward the passenger side front seat.
The officer asked Korpita how he was doing, and he didn't get a response until asking the question in a louder tone.
"I'm fine, bro," Korpita said after sitting up from his slouched position, according to the police report.
Alcohol readings
Edmunds noticed a strong smell of alcohol on Korpita, and it later was determined that the judge's blood alcohol level was .22 percent -- nearly triple the state's .08 percent legal limit. He's scheduled to make his first appearance on Nov. 27 before a Superior Court judge in Union County. Attempts to reach Korpita on Thursday night were unsuccessful.
At the time of the arrest, Korpita was asked for his driver's license, but he handed the officer a blue laminated judiciary ID card and "nonchalantly stated 'I'm a judge, bro,'" Edmunds wrote.
Patrolman Matthew Holland, who assisted Edmunds, wrote in his report that during the traffic stop he overheard Korpita state multiple times that "he 'just wanted to get home' and 'can't you guys give me a break?'"
Edmunds returned the card and again told the judge he needed to see his driver's license. As Korpita fumbled through papers in his glove box, he told Edmunds, "I'm OK, bro, I'm OK," and then attempted to again hand Edmunds the blue ID card and said, "I'm a judge, bro."
Korpita eventually found and handed the officer his license. He told Edmunds that he just left the nearby Smiles II go-go bar and that he was on his way home to Landing, Edmunds wrote.
Edmunds asked the judge to step out of the vehicle, which Korpita did, after mumbling "It's OK, bro, I'm alright, I'm alright," police said. Korpita exited the car but was off balance several times and needed to clutch part of his car for support, according to the police statement.
When he was asked to recite the alphabet, Korpita's speech was "quick and slurred, numerous letters were stated in the incorrect sequence and numerous letters were omitted," the officer wrote.
Roadside tests
After a second failed attempt at the alphabet, Edmunds asked Korpita to walk a straight line on Mount Arlington Road with his feet positioned in a certain way.
"However he lost his balance and was unable to keep his feet together as instructed and demonstrated," Edmunds wrote.
Korpita then was asked to grab the top of a pen held by Edmunds above the judge's eye level and about a foot from his nose.
"Korpita reached out with his right index finger and attempted to touch the top of (the) pen but totally missed the pen," Edmunds wrote. "He then instead touched my right wrist/hand that held the pen."
The judge also could not keep his head still when Edmunds began waving the pen and asked him to follow its path only with his eyes.
Edmunds observed that Korpita was continually swaying throughout the tests. Korpita also failed to stand on one leg with his arms kept at his sides because he continually lost balance.
He was finally asked to walk heel-to-toe and eventually turn around toward police. He quickly lost balance, stumbled, grabbed a nearby assisting officer to prevent himself from falling and told police, "I'm done. I can't do it," police said.
Police then stopped the sobriety tests for Korpita's own safety, and then arrested him, Edmunds wrote. Edmunds, while driving the judge to headquarters, continually heard Korpita mumbling to himself, "I'm OK, bro."
He was processed at headquarters, given a breath test, and later was picked up by an acquaintance.
Witness account
Patrolman Matthew Holland, who assisted Edmunds, wrote a similar report matching much of what Edmunds wrote. He also interviewed the driver of a black pickup truck that had parked nearby.
The driver told Holland that he had pulled up alongside Korpita on the left-hand lane in front of the traffic light and saw Korpita slumped over the steering wheel. The driver said he honked his horn but got no response. He then exited his truck and knocked on the driver's window and still got no response. That's when he called police and awaited their arrival.
Edmunds and Holland called Sgt. Kevin Carroll, the shift supervisor, and asked him to come to the scene. Carroll responded and filed a report as well.
Korpita still is permitted to sit as municipal judge in all three towns that he serves, but he cannot hear DWI matters while his own charges are pending. The motor vehicle offenses were transferred out of Morris County and out of municipal court because Korpita is potentially familiar with multiple municipal court judges.
