Before Supreme Court Justice Alice Robie Resnick was charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence Monday, she drove away from state troopers and local police who asked her to submit to field sobriety tests.

 

When she ultimately agreed to a portable breath test -- which is not admissible as evidence in court -- it registered 0.216, more than twice Ohio's legal limit.

 

At least six motorists called 911 about a gold Jeep Grand Cherokee weaving along southbound I-75 about 2 p.m., nearly sideswiping one vehicle. Resnick's state-owned 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee matches that description.

 

Bowling Green police said the 65-year-old justice from Toledo, who was spotted at a BP gas station near an I-75 exit, repeatedly declined to cooperate with State Highway Patrol troopers and police.

 

"I asked her to step out of the car,'' Bowling Green Police Patrolman Mark Hanson wrote. "She said, 'No, I've got to go to Columbus.' ''

 

A small dog began barking, jumped into Resnick's lap and lunged at the window as Hanson approached, he wrote.

 

"I informed her that she was not free to go,'' the report continues. "She thanked us, rolled up her window and drove off.''

 

State Trooper Vilay Sayarath agreed, according to a Highway Patrol report: "Both officers told her she could not leave but she did it anyways.''

 

Bowling Green Lt. Brad E. Biller said, "It doesn't appear there was probable cause to take further immediate action'' to detain Resnick during the first stop. The officers did not report smelling any odor of alcohol at that time.

 

As a patrol cruiser followed her back onto the interstate -- videotaping with a camera on the dashboard -- Resnick's sport-utility vehicle continued to weave and change lanes without signaling. At one point the vehicle darted between a pair of tractor-trailers, again without a signal, according to the patrol report.

 

She was pulled over about 8 miles from where she re- entered the interstate.

 

On the videotape, Resnick says, "I've not been drinking. I've always said a Supreme Court justice should have a highway patrolman drive them.''

 

A state trooper wrote, "As she was walking back towards my patrol car, I observed she was swaying and stumbling. She asked how long will it take and a strong odor of alcohol was coming from her person.''

 

Resnick blew into a portable breath-analysis unit, producing a blood-alcohol content far above Ohio's legal limit of 0.08, according to both reports. But those results cannot be used in court, said Lt. Rick Zwayer, a patrol spokesman.

 

At the patrol's Findlay post, Resnick refused to take a blood-alcohol test that could have been admitted in court. Her refusal resulted in the immediate suspension of her driver's license. She was released to her husband and is due to appear March 2 in Bowling Green Municipal Court.

 

Resnick did not return messages left at her home and Supreme Court office. Her staff said she would not comment. Ohio Supreme Court spokesman Chris Davey declined to comment except to say that Resnick would miss another court session today.

 

Resnick's husband, former Toledo Appeals Court Judge Melvin L. Resnick, described her as "very upset.'' He told The Blade in Toledo, "She isn't in the mood to talk to reporters today. She had recrimination problems last night. It's just a bad incident.''

 

The Highway Patrol received two court injunctions yesterday temporarily restricting release of the videotape of Resnick's arrest near Rt. 6 south of Bowling Green. Those injunctions were later vacated.

convicted in July of failure to control and weaving in Toledo after the gold 2002 Cadillac DeVille she was driving ran into the back of another vehicle at a traffic light. Public records also show she has been involved in two other accidents since 1998 in Lucas County, although she apparently was not cited in either.

 

Driving while under the influence is a misdemeanor that carries a possible penalty of three days to six months in jail and a fine of $250 to $1,000.

 

Resnick's seat on the bench next to Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer was vacant yesterday as the court heard oral arguments in the appeal of a Columbus death-penalty case.

Resnick, a justice since 1989, is the court's only Democrat.

 

Court officials said there is no automatic disciplinary action when a judge is charged with driving under the influence.

 

Resnick, who previously served as an assistant county prosecutor, a municipal judge and a state appeals court judge, has voted in a handful of drunken-driving cases with the Supreme Court.

 

In 1996, for example, she wrote the majority opinion in a case that said police do not have to tell people suspected of drunken driving that they have the right to a second, independent blood-alcohol test.

 

Supreme Court Disciplinary Counsel Jonathan E. Coughlan said there's no mandatory discipline on the misdemeanor charges. But his office as well as those of the court's other disciplinary bodies received formal complaints against Resnick yesterday.

 

 

Ohio Department of Administrative Services policy also calls for revoking a state employee's driving privileges for use of drugs or alcohol.