Malibu Judge Guilty in Drunk-Driving Case : Courts: ‘I expect to be punished as any other citizen,’ says Lawrence Mira. He crashed his car in Agoura Hills.

Malibu Municipal Judge Lawrence Mira pleaded guilty Tuesday in Beverly Hills to driving under the influence of alcohol, less than a week after his car crashed and rolled over in Agoura Hills.

In a statement issued through his office, Mira acknowledged guilt.

“I would never have driven the car if I felt I was impaired,” he said, “but it is clear to me now from the officers’ investigation and chemical test results that I was impaired.

“Judges are not above the law,” he said. “I’m guilty. I plead guilty and I expect to be punished as any other citizen.”

Mira, 49, was not seriously injured when his yellow Nissan crashed into a dirt embankment on Cornell Road just outside of Agoura Hills on July 15, apparently while heading toward his home in the Malibu Lake area.

According to the California Highway Patrol, Mira failed a sobriety test at the scene and later registered a blood alcohol level of 0.14, above the 0.08 that is the legal definition of drunkenness in California.

In pleading guilty to misdemeanor drunk driving, Mira incurred $901 in fines. He also is forbidden to drive for three months except to travel to and from work or a mandatory alcohol-education program. The penalties were “typical” for a first-time offender, said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Wendy Moss, who prosecuted the case.

Mira’s case was moved to Beverly Hills Municipal Court because his arrest occurred within the jurisdiction of Malibu Municipal Court--where Mira is the lone judge.

No judge has ever been removed from office in California due solely to a drunk-driving conviction. But last year, the California Commission on Judicial Performance, a San Francisco-based agency responsible for ethical oversight of about 1,500 judges statewide, privately reprimanded an unnamed judge for that offense, saying that “the judge failed to observe the high standard of conduct expected of California judges and diminished public confidence in the judiciary.”