LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — A judge in southwestern Washington has been charged with driving under the influence, and he has agreed to not hear any DUI cases until his case is resolved.
Though he declined to talk about details of his case while charges are pending, County District Court Judge Jamie Imboden told The Daily News on Monday he disagrees with the allegations and account in a Kelso police officer’s report of the incident.
According to a traffic citation, a Kelso officer stopped Imboden, 48, before midnight April 17. The officer was sent to find a convertible being driven erratically at high speed, police said.
Imboden denied having had any alcohol and told the officer that the car’s owner, who was sitting in the passenger seat, had been drinking, according to the citation.
The officer reported that Imboden’s movements were uncoordinated and his eyes were bloodshot.
Imboden consented to a field sobriety test, during which the officer aid he smelled intoxicants on his breath. Imboden was arrested on suspicion of DUI. He declined to give a voluntary breath sample at the police station and was cited and released to his wife, according to the citation.
Imboden reported the case to the state Commission on Judicial Conduct the following Monday, Cowlitz District Court Presiding Judge John Hays said Monday. The commission investigates allegations of judicial misconduct, and can admonish or censure judges as well as recommend their suspension or removal to the State Supreme Court.
The judicial conduct commission did not impose any restrictions on Imboden, but while his case is being heard, Imboden has agreed to not hear any DUI cases, Hays said.
Imboden was elected to the District Court bench in 2018 and sworn in January 2019.
Imboden’s DUI case has been moved to Clark County District Court.