SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) - A Sonoma County judge who has presided over two high-profile drunken driving cases has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.
The California Highway Patrol arrested Superior Court Judge Elaine Rushing about 10:45 Tuesday night after she drove her car off a Santa Rosa road, said CHP Officer Christine Jacobs.
No other cars were involved in the incident, and the judge was not hurt.
Rushing, 57, was cited and released. She was on the bench Wednesday morning, handling civil and criminal matters.
Rushing last year handed down maximum sentences to two people in separate drunken driving cases that resulted in the deaths of two victims.
In September, she sentenced Santa Rosa attorney Harvey Hereford to eight years, eight months in prison for a crash that killed one man and paralyzed his girlfriend.
A month earlier, Rushing sentenced William Michael Albertson to 14 years for hitting and killing a man who was cycling home from work.
Rushing is due in court for arraignment July 26.