BRIMFIELD, OH. (THECOUNT) — So much for, “anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law.” Portage County Common Pleas Court Judge Rebecca “Becky” Doherty should have known better to exercise her rights during a recent Brimfield, Ohio, DUI arrest.
The Portage County judge found herself in hot water after being arrested for drinking and driving Sunday night after running her SUV into a ditch while traveling on I-76 in Brimfield on Sunday.
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Brimfield police officers responded to a 911 call about an SUV that drove into a ditch while getting onto I-76 during a snowstorm.
The officer’s body camera caught the entire ordeal on video.
In the video the officer is heard asking Doherty, “Ma’am you’ve got vomit down here in your door; have you been drinking?”
Doherty responded, “Yes.” The officer then asked, “Where were you drinking at?” Judge Doherty responded, “Rico’s.”
The patrolman told the judge that he would be taking her back to the Brimfield Police Department because it’s unsafe to conduct field sobriety tests on the side of the snow-covered roadway.
Doherty, who is a former prosecutor, became emotional when the officer placed her in the back seat of his cruiser.
Doherty was heard crying “are you kidding me?”
The officer responded, “Am I kidding about what?”
Doherty then exclaimed, “I am absolutely out of my mind with…”.
The officer told the judge, “You’re intoxicated; you crashed your vehicle.”
To which Judge Doherty responded, “I am so intoxicated.”
According to Brimfield police, Judge Doherty did exercise her right to refuse a breathalyzer test which, under Ohio law, should result in a one-year suspension of her driver’s license.
At one point, Doherty asked the officer for her phone so she could place a call.
While on camera in the booking area of the police department, Doherty indicated that she would like to call Major Larry Limbert of the Portage County Sheriff’s Office, and became agitated when the officer told her that her cell phone was still in the SUV.
The officer responded, “Okay, your phone is in a puddle of vomit in your car which is on the side of the road that you crashed into.”
After Becky Doherty was booked on a charge of operating a vehicle under the influence, her daughter arranged to get the judge a ride home.
She is scheduled to be arraigned in Portage County Municipal Court in Kent on Friday, reports FOX8.
The investigation is ongoing.
Geo quick facts: Portage County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 161,419. Its county seat is Ravenna. The county was created in 1807 and organized in 1808 and is named for the portage between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas Rivers – Wikipedia.