By Julie Manganis
MARBLEHEAD — A North Shore lawyer is being held without bail on what prosecutors say is her third drunken-driving charge.
Tracy N. Tavilla, 32, of Revere was also charged with giving Marblehead police a false name after they pulled over her Mercedes convertible on Pleasant Street on Thursday at 11:22 a.m.
Tavilla allegedly told Patrolman Andrew Clark that her name was Tracy Caporale and gave a phony date of birth and a Social Security number that turned out to be that of an elderly man. She said she didn't have her license on her, then told the officer that it was expired.
When police determined who she was, Tavilla became apologetic, then said, "You aren't going to arrest me, are you? I can't get arrested. I am an attorney," according to police.
Police did arrest her after she failed two of three field sobriety tests and then registered a .25, more than three times the legal limit, on a portable Breathalyzer. (A later Breathalyzer test showed results of .22 and .25.) Tavilla said she had stopped drinking around 1 a.m., police said.
She continued to plead with the officers not to arrest her, telling them, "I know the system, you don't have to book me," and urging them to put her in protective custody," prosecutor Scott Dullea said during her arraignment in Lynn District Court.
Tavilla also allegedly described the penalties she is facing if convicted, including mandatory jail time of at least 150 days and a 10-year license loss, to the officers, asking, "You really want me to go to jail?"
Tavilla is also facing charges of driving drunk while her license was under suspension for a prior drunken-driving conviction last year in Cambridge, giving a false name and speeding. Dullea said he's trying to obtain copies of drunken-driving arrest records in Florida and Tennessee.
Dullea filed a motion seeking to have Tavilla held without bail for 90 days or until trial as a danger to the public.
Her attorney, William Hernon, urged the judge to release her.
Judge Dunbar Livingston granted the prosecutor's request, however, and ordered Tavilla remain in custody at Framingham Prison until a full dangerousness hearing on Monday.
