ALBANY – The state's highest court on Thursday suspended an embattled Monroe Town Court justice who was arrested earlier this year for obstruction of justice and making false statements.

In a unanimous decision, the New York Court of Appeals announced that it would continue the June 27 suspension without pay of Lurlyn Winchester from the office of justice of Monroe Town Court in Orange County, effective immediately.

Winchester, an attorney with an office in New City initially was suspended, with pay, by the Court of Appeals on June 27, weeks after federal prosecutors charged her with filing false documents to buy a home in Monroe to establish the residency requirement to serve on the bench in Monroe, and falsifying records to obstruct the investigation (NYLJ, June 7).