A judge has denied a request to dismiss felony gun charges against former Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio.

In a written decision issued Thursday, Ontario County Judge William Kocher considered a range of complaints about the indictment and the process leading up to it, but ruled in favor of the prosecution on each of those.

Among the assertions made by Astacio's attorney, Mark Foti, were that insufficient evidence was presented to the grand jury and that the section of the penal code under which she was charged is vague and an unconstitutional violation of her Second Amendment right to bear arms.

"This court notes that the defendant was convicted of a misdemeanor offense after a trial where the testimony indicated that she was aggravated and combative with the police officers she interacted with," Kocher wrote. "She did not relay to the sentencing court any legitimate need to possess a shotgun or other weapon. The court appropriately and constitutionally restricted the defendant from possessing a shotgun."

Astacio was indicted by a grand jury in September on the charge of attempted criminal purchase or disposal of a weapon, a felony. She was arrested and charged in April after being accused of trying to purchase a shotgun at Dick's Sporting Goods in Henrietta.

The former city court judge remains on probation for her drunken driving conviction, stemming from a February 2016 incident. The terms of Astacio's probation prohibit her from "possessing a firearm, dangerous weapon, or noxious substance."

Astacio's attorney, Mark Foti, argued in court last month that the charges should be dismissed for several reasons, including questions about whether an unloaded shotgun met the legal definition of a "dangerous weapon," and whether Astacio's actions met the legal standard for attempting a purchase.

"I think what we have is a case where there was, first and foremost, an objective to charge her with something," Foti said at that time. "When that's the objective... you end up developing a charge that is not really consistent with the law, and that results in a significant number of challenges to the legality of what was done here."

Kocher also denied a request by Astacio to move the trial out of Monroe County because of "the relentless, often negative pre-trial publicity that has saturated the community in which the jury would be drawn."

Kocher said Astacio's lawyer had cited the wrong section of the law in requesting the change of venue.

The decision means Astacio will likely face a trial on the charges in the new year. Foti said during an earlier court appearance that he did not expect his client would entertain a plea agreement.

In a unanimous decision in October, the Court of Appeals removed Astacio from the bench.

The state's judicial watchdog agency, the Commission on Judicial Conduct, in April recommended that Astacio be stripped of her judgeship.

Astacio appealed the commission decision to the state Court of Appeals, New York's highest court. But, in a stinging decision in October, the Court of Appeals ruled that Astacio did not seem to grasp the "gravity and impact of her behavior" and how it tainted the public perception of "her fitness to perform her duties" and the overall perspective of the judiciary.

SLAHMAN@Gannett.com

SORR@Gannett.com