Candidate investigated for hit-and-run

A judge running for a seat on the state Supreme Court is under investigation by the Commission on Judicial Conduct.

KINGSTON, N.Y. >> An Albany County Family Court judge running for a seat on the state Supreme Court in a district that includes Ulster, Greene and Columbia counties is under investigation by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct in connection with a hit-andrun accident in June.

Judge Margaret T. Walsh was questioned by the commission following news reports that she allegedly backed into a car then left the scene, her attorney Gregory Teresi said Thursday.

A Democrat, Walsh is one of three candidates running for a seat on the state Supreme Court Third Judicial District.

Officials at the Commission of Judicial Conduct declined to comment.

Walsh has been an Albany County Family Court judge since 2005 and was appointed acting Supreme Court justice for the Third Judicial District in 2009.

In June, she was ticketed for leaving the scene of an accident after she allegedly struck another vehicle while backing out of a driveway at her mother’s Delmar home.

Teresi said Walsh “didn’t realize” she had struck the vehicle, which was parked on the side of the road.

According to a report in the Albany Times Union, a witness told police he heard “a loud bang/crash sound,” and turned to see “a white Volkswagen SUV in the middle of the road ... up against a red Chrysler.”

That witness told police that he then saw the SUV speed away, according to the Times Union.

Bethlehem police tracked Walsh down at her home the next morning and ticketed her for leaving the scene of an accident.

Teresi said news reports of the alleged incident would have been enough to trigger an investigation by the Commission on Judicial Conduct.

He said prosecutors have offered to reduce the ticket to “parking on the pavement,” a non-moving violation. He said Walsh is considering whether to accept that offer.

“She’s trying to decide what she wants to do,” he said, adding that with her duties as a Family Court judge and campaign for state Supreme Court Walsh “has a full plate.”

“She wants to get this resolved,” he said.

Also running for one of two open seats on the state Supreme Court Third Judicial District are Peter Lynch, a Democrat, and William McCarthy, a Republican.

The Third Judicial District comprises seven counties, including Ulster, Greene and Columbia.