Judge candidate disputes arrests' potential effects
Schererville's Godshalk says drinking and driving arrests should not bar him from the bench
NWI Times
Mar 29, 2003
nwitimes.com/news/local/judge-candidate-disputes-arrests-potential-effects/article_5ff0ed93-40b8-592d-853d-93da7088b046.html
SCHERERVILLE -- Attorney Randy A. Godshalk said he doesn't believe arrests for drinking and driving should disqualify a person from being a judge.
Godshalk, one of four Democrats running in the spring primary for town judge, was stopped August 2001 and charged with drunken driving. He was arrested again in January, but that didn't stop him one month later from filing his candidacy for municipal court here.
"I'm a human being like everyone else. There are actually sitting judges who have had DUIs," said Godshalk, who has his law offices in Hammond.
The background of judicial candidates became a public issue Thursday when members of the Lake County Judicial Nominating Commission disclosed that one of the three finalists for a Lake Criminal Court judgeship, Salvador Vasquez, has three alcohol-related offenses in 1983 and 1987.
Godshalk, who recently moved to Schererville from Merrillville, is challenging incumbent Town Judge Deborah A. Riga, as are attorneys Kenneth L. Anderson and Benjamin W. Murphy.
He said his candidacy should be judged by his performance inside the courtroom where he has worked as a pro-tem or substitute judge.
"People are going to vote based on a person's qualifications. I have probably been pro-tem for more judges than half the lawyers in the county. I have been a pro-tem for juvenile court, four different Superior Court judges, felony court judges. I've been pro-tem for misdemeanor court judges. I was a referee in Hammond City Court for four years."
He has been in private practice since 1990 after graduating from Valparaiso University's law school. He is a native of Bristol, Ind., in Elkhart County.
Court records indicate Godshalk was arrested in the early morning hours of Aug. 29, 2001, while driving eastbound on 45th Avenue in Highland and later charged with unsafe lane motion, speeding and driving while intoxicated. A breath test indicated his blood-alcohol concentration was 0.165 -- more than double the legal limit.
The Lake County prosecutor's office struck a deal with Godshalk to dismiss those counts in return for him pleading guilty to a reduced charge of reckless driving.
He was fined $625 and completed eight group therapy sessions with the Lake County Addiction Counseling and Family Services, where a staff member noted Godshalk had been a cooperative subject who "gained an insight into his use of alcohol and the dangers of drunken driving."
Godshalk was arrested again the night of Jan. 28 at Broad Street and Manor Drive in Griffith for having failed to turn on his headlights, according to documents.
The arresting officer alleges in a court document Godshalk had watery eyes, a faint odor of alcohol and was slow in reciting the alphabet. He also submitted to a portable breath test that indicated his blood-alcohol concentration was 0.14.
Godshalk is pleading innocent to the charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Merrillville lawyer Paul Stracci, who represents Godshalk, argued earlier this month before pro-tem Superior Court Judge Kristina Kantar the police had no substantial evidence to charge Godshalk with drunken driving.
Stracci said the portable breath test is inadmissible as evidence, and that there was no other substantial evidence to support his client was intoxicated since he passed field sobriety tests of his client's coordination, which were limited because of snow on the ground.
The court has yet to rule on Stracci's motion to suppress the prosecution's evidence or restore Godshalk's driving privileges.
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