Justice Nora Longoria wants her drunken driving arrest expunged.
An attorney for Longoria, who serves on the 13th Court of Appeals, filed a petition for expunction last month.
“Generally, Texas law allows individuals to expunge information related to their arrest after the charge has been dismissed. As such, the filing of a petition for expunction can be a matter of routine practice subsequent to the dismissal of a charge,” according to a statement released by attorney Rey Merino, who represents Longoria. “In accordance with the law, I have filed such a routine petition for the expunction of Ms. Nora Longoria’s arrest records.”
A McAllen policeman stopped Longoria on July 12, 2014, for speeding. After approaching Longoria, the policeman suspected she was intoxicated.
Longoria failed a field sobriety test, but refused a breath test, according to McAllen Municipal Court records. Officers charged her with driving while intoxicated, a Class B misdemeanor.
The McAllen Police Department submitted the case to the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution, but then-District Attorney Rene Guerra said he didn’t believe the evidence was strong enough to proceed — even though he never reviewed dash cam video showing the field sobriety test.
County Court at Law Judge Rolando Cantu dismissed the driving while intoxicated charge “in the interest of justice.”
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct publicly reprimanded Longoria.
“The McAllen Police Department provided a copy of the dash cam video recording to the Commission, which revealed, among other things, that Justice Longoria (a) repeatedly identified herself as a judge and offered to show her judicial badge to the officers without being asked for that information; (b) repeatedly pleaded with the officer not to arrest her, to issue her a warning, and to let her go home; and (c) stated that the officer was ‘ruining her life and career,'” according to the reprimand.
The Commission concluded Longoria identified herself as a judge “to obtain favorable treatment and escape the consequences of her conduct.”
After the Commission publicly reprimanded her, Longoria made a formal apology.
Longoria’s attorney filed the petition for expunction on July 13.
If approved, the expunction would require all government records about her arrest — including her booking photo, the dash cam video and other records — to be sealed or destroyed.
State District Judge Mario E. Ramirez Jr. scheduled a hearing on the expunction for Sept. 16.
