Judge Astacio will remain behind bars

David Andreatta | Democrat and Chronicle

Show Caption Hide Caption Court procedural ruling keeps Judge Leticia Astacio in jail Judge William Kocher ruled Wednesday, June 7, 2017, that Judge Stephen Aronson's earlier ruling to hold Astacio in jail with no bail was not "arbitrary and capricious."

Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio, who has been jailed while awaiting a hearing related to her drunken driving conviction, was denied her freedom Wednesday.

Ontario County Judge William Kocher, who was appointed to hear a bail application, ordered Astacio continue to be held until another hearing slated for Thursday.

Astacio was ordered held without bail on Monday after she declined a deal to plead guilty to violating a condition of her sentence in exchange for 45 days in jail, two years of probation and wearing an ankle monitor for six months.

She is alleged to have refused to take a urinalysis to test for alcohol consumption. Submitting to random court-ordered drug tests and abstaining from alcohol are among the conditions of Astacio’s sentence.

The saga of her case has become so convoluted that Kocher opened court by asking the lawyers standing before him: “First of all, what are we here for?”

More: Attorney Ed Fiandach fired from Judge Leticia Astacio case, sort of

More: Judge Astacio will return to 'work' after serving time

Raw video: Judge Leticia Astacio leaves Hall of Justice in handcuffs Raw footage of Judge Leticia Astacio leaving the Hall of Justice in handcuffs after she was arrested on a bench warrant. Video by Tina MacIntyre-Yee

It was revealed that the day’s proceeding was requested by defense attorney Stephen Sercu, who informed the court Tuesday that he had been retained by Astacio and wanted to apply for bail.

Sercu later advised the court that he would not be representing Astacio, and that her lawyer throughout the case, Ed Fiandach, was back on the job.

Kocher, Fiandach and, to a lesser extent, prosecutor Zach Maurer, spent about 20 minutes discussing what they were doing in court before settling on hashing out an argument as to whether Astacio was being unlawfully held.

Astacio appeared in court in red Monroe County Jail scrubs and said nothing. Notably absent was the smile that has come to characterize most of her public interactions.

Edward Fiandach on being fired and hired in one day Edward Fiandach talks about the few hours he had been fired as Judge Leticia Astacio's attorney.

Kocher did not deny an application for bail because none was filed. Rather, he determined that Astacio was not entitled to bail because she was ordered held without bail and that she was, indeed, being lawfully held.

Judge Stephen Aronson, the judge presiding over Astacio’s drunken driving case, directed her to take a urine test in early May and file the results with the court. When weeks went by without a response, Aronson summoned Astacio to court.

She did not appear because she had left the country for a vacation in Thailand.

Consequently, Aronson issued a bench warrant for her arrest.

Astacio returned from abroad over the weekend and went before Aronson on Monday, when he ordered her held without bail.

She is slated to return to court on Thursday for a hearing on her alleged violation.

DANDREATTA@Gannett.com