The drunken-driving case against Scarborough Town Councilor Judith Roy is scheduled to go to trial, though prosecutors and her attorney said a trial remains unlikely.

Matthew Nichols, Roy’s lawyer, met with a prosecutor Tuesday to discuss a plea agreement on the charges against Roy, which stem from an incident Sept. 17.

A motorist reported an erratic driver on Black Point Road around 10 p.m. and noted that the car’s body was damaged. The motorist followed Roy to her home, where they met a police officer, police have said.

Police said Roy was taken to the police station after she pulled into the driveway of her home on Second Avenue. She was not arrested or booked at the county jail. She was issued a court summons.

There were no charges associated with the damage to the car, which police said was from a fender-bender earlier in the day in a parking lot.

The two sides were unable to reach an agreement Tuesday during a pretrial conference in Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court, so the case is tentatively scheduled for jury selection Feb. 13. However, Nichols and Assistant District Attorney William Barry said the case is likely to be resolved with a plea agreement.

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Roy was charged both with operating under the influence and a separate count of operating under the influence with a blood alcohol content of 0.15 percent. The latter charge carries a mandatory penalty of two days in jail.

Barry said he offered to let Roy plead guilty to operating under the influence — with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent — and drop the charge with the more serious penalty. She would pay a $500 fine and have her license suspended for 90 days.

“It’s an offer we’d make to anybody who has a 0.15,” Barry said, regardless of whether the defendant is a public official.

Nichols would not say why he found Barry’s offer unacceptable.

“I’d like him to dismiss the case in a perfect world, but we’re not done with negotiations and I don’t discuss negotiations,” Nichols said.

Nor would he discuss the evidence in the case.

Roy was in the courthouse Tuesday but did not appear in the courtroom. She declined comment.

Roy, 68, has retained her seat on the Town Council, which she has held since 2007. Previously, she served on the council from 1990 to 1999.

 


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