ALBANY - An attorney for Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio faced repeated questions Wednesday about whether his client is truly sorry for her actions, as New York's top court weighs whether to remove her from her job.

Astacio sat silently in the front row of the audience as attorney Robert Julian made his final plea to save her $187,200-a-year job during a 21-minute hearing in front of the Court of Appeals in Albany, which will ultimately determine whether the city judge will remain on the bench.

Julian was peppered with questions from the court's seven judges about whether Astacio has shown enough contrition for the actions that led the state Commission on Judicial Conduct to recommend removing her from her position, most notably a 2016 drunken driving conviction and two subsequent violations of the terms of her sentence.

"We argue that Judge Astacio should not be removed from the bench," Julian said. "She is remorseful."

Facts of the case

The main facts of Astacio's case are not in dispute.

She was sentenced to a conditional discharge in August 2016 and ordered not to use alcohol for a year. An ignition interlock device was installed on her car.

In October of that year, she violated the terms of her sentence by trying to start her car after drinking. The next month, she was stripped of her judicial duties and hasn't heard a case since.

In May 2017, she was ordered to submit a urine test after her ignition interlock system again detected alcohol. She failed to appear at a court hearing, with her attorney at the time revealing that she was in Thailand and wasn't due to return until August.

What was in dispute Wednesday, however, was whether Astacio had shown appropriate contrition for her actions and whether the public has lost confidence in her ability to do her job.

"She apologized to the commission nine times," Julian told the court.

More:Judge Astacio case timeline: From 2014 election to DWI arrest and removal

Passing blame?

Edward Lindner, an attorney for the Commission on Judicial Conduct, argued that Astacio had repeatedly tried to pass blame on to others.

When she apologized for being hostile with State Police during her arrest, she claimed the troopers provoked her, Lindner said. In the most recent court filings, Astacio claimed her aunt was going to drive in October 2016, not her.

In April, the commission recommended Astacio's removal from the bench.

Judge Leslie Stein asked Lindner whether the fact that Astacio's case has drawn considerable attention from the news media should make a difference when weighing whether the public still has confidence in Astacio.

"When a judge commits crimes that are newsworthy, it affects the public confidence," Lindner said.

Julian argued that court precedent says Astacio should be censured rather than removed entirely.

That punishment would allow her to keep her judgeship through the rest of her term; she was elected to a 10-year term in 2014.

Judge Eugene Fahey honed in on whether it would have made a difference with the public if Astacio had admitted to alcoholism and participated in an Alcoholics Anonymous program.

He asked Lindner if it would have convinced the Commission on Judicial Conduct to ease its recommended punishment.

"I think that this may be a case that even if there had been contrition, it may not be enough," Lindner said.

Julian told the court Astacio has a "mild alcohol abuse disorder," but declined to call it alcoholism.

"Ultimately, the diagnosis of alcoholism is a diagnosis made by health care professionals and medical people," Julian told reporters after the hearing.

Ruling to come later

The Court of Appeals does not issue rulings from the bench, meaning that a written decision will be handed down at a later date.

Astacio did not speak during the hearing Wednesday, nor did she sit with her attorney.

Instead, she sat silently among a swath of empty chairs in the front corner of the audience section, whispering to herself as Stein questioned whether she was truly remorseful.

Afterward, Astacio spoke privately with her attorney before making her way through a throng of television cameras stationed outside of the courthouse, getting into the driver's seat of her sedan parked nearby and driving away.

On a video posted to her Facebook page Wednesday morning, Astacio said she has been "overwhelmed with gratitude" because she has "so much to be so thankful for" despite going through a difficult period in her life.

She thanked God for allowing her to keep her salary while fighting to save her job.

"This has been so, so, so hard and God has kept me and God has carried me and God has blessed me with such abundance," she said in the video. "God has blessed me so that I did not have to worry about money when I wasn’t able to work or do my job the last couple of years. I didn’t have to worry about finances one time.”

JCAMPBELL1@Gannett.com

Jon Campbell is a correspondent with USA TODAY Network's Albany Bureau.