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LAS CRUCES - New Mexico Appeals Court Judge Robert Eugene Robles was arrested on a charge of aggravated drunken driving early Wednesday morning, Albuquerque police confirmed Wednesday night.
Robles was pulled over at 1:15 a.m. on the 5000 block of Jefferson NE in Albuquerque, according to Albuquerque Police Department Officer Robert Gibbs. Robles had a .20 breath-alcohol concentration, about two and a half times the legal limit indicating intoxication, which is .08. He was charged with aggravated drunken driving and reckless driving, Gibbs said, and processed by the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center before being released on his own recognizance.
Releasing a suspect on their own recognizance is a practice typical for suspects in Las Cruces who might be in danger by being placed among the regular jail population, but has come under recent scrutiny here in the past year for its seeming leniency on police officers who are arrested for drunken driving.
"We don't do that," Gibbs said. "They've got to spend some time in the can."
Robles, a 60-year-old Albuquerque native, was an attorney in Las Cruces for 16 years, then served as a judge for the 3rd Judicial District Court for 17 1/5 years - including nine years as chief judge - before being appointed by Gov. Bill Richardson to the Court of Appeals in 2008 to fill a vacancy left by the retirement of Ira Robinson.
The Democrat was just re-elected in November, defeating Albuquerque attorney Ned Fuller.
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Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462.
