Former Clark County Superior Court Judge John Wulle has pleaded not guilty to a charge of drunken driving.
Wulle, 65, entered his plea Wednesday morning in Clark County District Court after being arrested Sunday afternoon at a Safeway supermarket in Salmon Creek. He allegedly drove drunk to the store and struck two vehicles.
District Court Judge Kelli Osler previously found probable cause for the DUI charge, a gross misdemeanor, court records show.
Wulle received words of encouragement from some of his former courthouse colleagues before and after his brief appearance.
He declined to speak with The Columbian.
Because of his work as a local judge and attorney, further proceedings in his case will be heard in Skamania County.
His next appearance there is Sept. 7.
A witness to the alleged incident told Clark County sheriff’s deputies that a Toyota Solara tapped the back of her vehicle as she was stopped at a red light. She said she then saw the vehicle pull into the Safeway parking lot and crash into a parked vehicle, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The driver, identified as Wulle, climbed out of his Toyota, she said, carrying a bottle of vodka. He reportedly walked into the Safeway, leaving his vehicle running and still in gear pushed against the vehicle parked in front of his, the affidavit states.
Breath tests taken about two hours later indicated that Wulle had a blood-alcohol level of 0.094 and then 0.088, court records said. In Washington, 0.08 blood alcohol content is considered presumptive evidence of drunken driving.
Wulle was a Superior Court judge for about 12 years. Before that, he served four years as a District Court judge and was an assistant state attorney general for 14 years.
In his career, Wulle was popular with many law enforcement officials, but also received multiple complaints about his conduct. He was unseated in the 2012 primary election by David Gregerson.
