Attorney arrested in court

A Carson City attorney was arrested Wednesday for allegedly showing up in court while drunk to defend a client, according to court documents.

Private attorney Patrick Walsh was booked into the Carson City Jail at 4 p.m. after he allegedly appeared intoxicated before Carson City Justice of the Peace John Tatro.

According to the contempt order filed by the judge, Walsh, 56, was in court to represent a woman on a traffic citation when he was asked if he'd been drinking.

"Walsh smelled of alcohol and admitted he had been 'drinking a lot,'" Tatro wrote in the order.

Walsh allegedly submitted to a preliminary breath test at the court's request and the result was .173, more than twice the legal limit to drive in Nevada.

Tatro ordered Walsh to be taken into custody by bailiffs. He also ordered the jail staff to administer breath tests every two hours until the reading was zero, according to the document. Walsh was released at 1:29 a.m. Thursday, said Carson City Jail Sgt. Kurt Davis.

"The judge did the right thing," Walsh said Thursday evening. "That's my comment."

Walsh led an unsuccessful bid against Noel Waters for the office of district attorney in 1994. He was a deputy attorney general from 1974 to 1978 and was at one time a pro tem magistrate for Carson City district, justice and juvenile courts.

Contact F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.