BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) – A state traffic court judge has been convicted of drunken driving.

A Vermont District Court jury in Burlington found Judge Elizabeth A. Leopold guilty on Friday. It is her first offense. Her sentencing will be scheduled within the next ten days.

Leopold, 48, of Greensboro, has been on unpaid leave since July 2002. It is not clear what, if any, impact the verdict will have on her judicial tenure.

Leopold was arrested a year ago after Hardwick Police Officer Jody LaFlam found her sitting in a car in the early hours of the morning near a cemetery in Greensboro. Hardwick police patrol Greensboro late at night.

Leopold’s domestic partner, Jane Woodruff, also the executive director of the Vermont State’s Attorney’s Department, testified in court that Leopold had been experiencing psychological problems.

She said the red, watery eyes, difficulty walking and confused and mumbled speech attributed to inebriation could have been the result of a mental health crisis.

When Woodruff saw Leopold at the police station, she was suffering from an anxiety attack, Woodruff said.

“She was shaking from head to toe. Violently,” Woodruff told jurors. “I had never seen anything like it in my life.”

But prosecutor Craig Matanle argued that it’s illegal to operate a vehicle if even “slightly impaired.”

According to court records, LaFlam pulled his cruiser alongside Leopold’s car, which was idling near the cemetery, and Leopold told LaFlam she was fine and just needed some time to herself.

LaFlam drove away. When he returned, LaFlam approached the car, and he said he smelled liquor. After an exchange LaFlam described as “belligerent” the officer took Leopold to the Hardwick station where a machine used to take blood-alcohol measurements malfunctioned.

Leopold declined to take a field sobriety test at the roadside.

LaFlam said at the station, Leopold implied LaFlam’s job might be in jeopardy if he continued to process the charge.

Several hours later, she agreed to be tested at the Lamoille County Sheriff’s Department office in Hyde Park. There, she had an anxiety attack and was taken to the Central Vermont Hospital where she remained for five days.

The jury, made up of eight women and four men, deliberated for slightly less than three hours before convicting Leopold.

The case was argued before Chittenden County Superior Judge Matthew Katz, who was acting as a District Court judge. The state was represented by the Attorney General’s Office, not the state’s attorney, and the trial was held in Burlington instead of Newport, to avoid a conflict of interest because of Leopold’s judgeship and her partner’s affiliation with the State’s Attorney’s Office.

AP-ES-11-23-03 1304EST