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Former judge surrenders in DWI probe

A former Wake County judge surrendered Friday morning, three days after she was indicted in a scheme to alter court records in driving while impaired cases.

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Kristin Ruth, former Wake County district judge
RALEIGH, N.C. — A former Wake County judge surrendered Friday morning, three days after she was indicted in a scheme to alter court records in driving while impaired cases.

Kristin Ruth, who stepped down as a District Court judge in May, is charged with failure to discharge her duties. She was released on her own recognizance.

The indictments allege that evidence of blood-alcohol levels of 0.15 or higher was wrongly suppressed in seven cases and that the convictions of 39 other drivers were back-dated, meaning that some might have been spared a license suspension or had a shortened time without a license.

Defense attorney James Crouch was the defense attorney of record in each case.

Crouch was indicted on two counts of obstruction of justice and one count each of altering court records and criminal conspiracy. Elizabeth Michelle Daniel, a paralegal in Crouch's office, was indicted on one count each of obstruction of justice and criminal conspiracy.

In a statement announcing her resignation, Ruth said that she trusted Crouch and that he misled her by asking her to sign court orders that differed from how he had described them.

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