AUSTIN -- A Travis County state district judge is charged with driving while intoxicated after police stopped her in South Austin on Friday.
According to court documents, Gisela Triana was out with other members of the local criminal justice community when police stopped her for allegedly driving 47 in a 30 miles an hour zone along a rain-soaked street.
Officials said on Friday, Triana and a group of friends from Austin's legal community, both prosecutors -- defense attorneys and a fellow judge -- attended a taping of Jimmy Kimmel Live before heading to dinner. On her way home, Austin police stopped Triana for speeding on Barton Springs Drive, an arrest warrant states.
Police said Triana failed field sobriety tests at the scene and had an empty bottle of Mike's Hard Lemonade in the center console of her vehicle. She reportedly told police she had two drinks at Jimmy Kimmel Live and two more at Zak's. Officers noted a "strong" alcohol odor.
According to the affidavit she refused a breath test and a blood test. She did agree to a field sobriety test. The affidavit shows she "swayed," "stepped off line" and "took the wrong number of steps" during the field test.
Records show the judge spent eight hours in jail before her release at 7:15 a.m. on Saturday, and she said an officer took a blood test.
Triana has been on the bench since 2005 handling civil cases on Travis County. Before becoming a state district judge, Triana worked as a county prosecutor and has served as an Austin municipal judge.
Triana issued the following statement after her arrest: "Whether it is determined that I was legally intoxicated or not, the investigation itself indicates that I have not met my own standards of careful conduct."
Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this story reported the incorrect reason for the Travis County state district judge's arrest.
