Test clears Superior Court judge in DUI citation
by A.J. Flick on Dec. 30, 2008, under Local, SpecialJudge John F. Kelly will not be prosecuted for DUI because a blood test showed his blood-alcohol content was below the legal limit, prosecutors said.
The Pima County Superior Court judge was cited for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol earlier this month at a sobriety checkpoint.
Assistant City Attorney Laura Brynwood on Tuesday filed a motion to dismiss the charge in Pima County Consolidated Justice Court, citing “insufficient evidence to prosecute.”
The legal limit is .08. Kelly’s blood alcohol content was .063, said Assistant City Attorney M.J. Raciti.
“I understand the case against Judge Kelly is being dismissed by the state because his blood-alcohol level was below the legal limit and there was no evidence of improper driving,” Kelly’s attorney, Michael J. Bloom, said in a news release Monday.
“I was confident that the blood-alcohol test would exonerate Judge Kelly and am glad that it proves that Judge Kelly is completely innocent,” Bloom wrote.
Kelly, 65, was cited 9:25 p.m. Dec. 5 at Sunrise Drive and Suncrest Place
The Sheriff’s Department uses blood draws for DUI stops and had to wait for results, which take several weeks.
The Pima County Attorney’s Office asked city prosecutors to handle the case because Kelly’s son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Kristen Kelly, are deputy county attorneys.
Kelly is assigned to the civil bench at Superior Court, but will transfer to the family court bench Jan. 12 as part of regularly-scheduled changes in judicial assignments.
Kelly’s wife, Virginia, is a juvenile court judge who will return to the civil bench at Superior Court on Jan. 12.
