Only months into her job as a Rochester City Court judge, and nearly a year before her drunken driving arrest, Leticia Astacio was facing accusations that she was not regularly showing up at the courthouse.

Elected in 2014, she took the bench at the start of 2015. And, according to sources and records obtained by the Democrat and Chronicle, early in her first year another City Court judge was questioning whether Astacio was routinely showing up to work or was shirking her duties.

The concerns reached the state’s Office of Court Administration, which oversees the courts and was set to have its internal inspector general’s unit investigate Astacio’s work habits. However, after Astacio met with City Court administrative Judge Teresa Johnson, the issue was resolved, sources say.

The Democrat and Chronicle has earlier reported on the questions raised about Astacio's 2015 workdays, but only recently learned that the issue reached as far as the Office of Court Administration, or OCA.

Records and transcripts obtained and seen by the Democrat and Chronicle show that City Court Judge Melchor Castro in May 2015 was upset about having to handle a defendant brought in on a warrant that was supposed to be in Astacio's court. In open court, Castro complained that Astacio was not working full weeks. He also questioned whether she was taking off Fridays and Mondays and if she considered the job part-time.

Those complaints reached Johnson who, sources say, discussed the issue with Astacio.

Astacio on Monday defended her work record in a phone interview, saying that she and Castro had a misunderstanding.

Castro was then charged with arraigning defendants if other judges were unavailable, as sometimes happens, Astacio said.

"That's the point of having an arraigning judge," she said.

Once, Astacio said, she was actually in the Hall of Justice when she heard Castro was irate at handling an arraignment of a defendant whose case was assigned to her.

Astacio said she regularly handled the caseload assigned to her during her first year as a judge.

Castro, however, did not consider Astacio's apparent absence a one-time event, and questioned whether she had regularly been working shorter weeks since her first days on the bench.

Typically, a judge with a specific case will handle an arraignment if the defendant is brought in on an outstanding warrant. Should the judge be unavailable, the City Court judge assigned with arraigning new defendants will take on the task.

Castro, records show, thought that Astacio was not showing up to the Hall of Justice five days a week because on multiple occasions he arraigned defendants assigned to her. Once he refused to do so, records show.

The Commission on Judicial Conduct is now investigating Astacio’s February 2016 drunken driving arrest and her subsequent discharge violations. However, the commission’s work is not limited to the issues about the drunken driving case.

The commission does not acknowledge its investigations until its findings and recommended punishment, if there is such a recommendation, are completed.

Astacio has said that she is under investigation by the commission, which could recommend that she be removed from the bench. The state Court of Appeals would have the ultimate decision.

Asked this week about his issues in 2015 with Astacio, Castro declined to comment. Johnson also declined to comment, as did state Supreme Court Justice Craig Doran, who is administrative judge for the region's courts.

OCA spokespeople declined to discuss any reports by its Inspector General's Office, which can also be exempted from the state's public access laws.

Astacio has been convicted of drunken driving and has also admitted to violations of her conditional discharge requirements. She was jailed Monday after being accused of violating her probation terms. She pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to return to court Nov. 3.

After her arrest, Astacio was continuing to work at the court, handling paperwork and court filings while not taking the bench. She stopped that in September, saying a doctor had informed her that her health was suffering.

Astacio continues to be paid an annual salary of $173,700.

GCRAIG@Gannett.com

