State Rep. Raymond Sullivan, center, speaks with his attorney, Richard S. Humphrey, in court while lawyer Kate McGinn looks on. Sullivan was arrested April 22 after being stopped while driving on Route 95.

The Providence Journal / Andrew Dickerman

WARWICK — Deputy House Majority Leader Raymond J. Sullivan Jr. on Thursday admitted driving drunk last April, changing his plea mid-trial after a District Court judge cleared the way for blood-alcohol test results to be admitted as evidence.

The Coventry Democrat agreed to plead no contest to driving under the influence after Judge Anthony Capraro allowed evidence that showed the breath-analyzing machine used by police had been properly certified by the state Department of Health. Sullivan’s lawyer, Richard S. Humphrey, had tried to block that information from being admitted.

Under the plea agreement, Sullivan’s license will be suspended for three months. He must also pay $500 in fines, perform 20 hours of community service and attend an antidrunk-driving school. In addition, he must pay $500 in assessments.

“At the end of the day, this is on me, and I needed to accept the responsibility,” Sullivan said, “and try to make amends and move on.”

The state police arrested Sullivan, 32, around 1 a.m., April 22, heading north on Route 95 in Warwick. Troopers parked on the shoulder of the highway said they saw a Ford Explorer pass them partially in the breakdown lane. The troopers said they pulled over the vehicle after seeing it swerve a few more times.

Sullivan told the state police he had had two drinks, according to the report. When asked to recite the alphabet, the police said, he got as far “p” before having trouble. The report said Sullivan’s breath test registered 0.178 and a second test registered 0.179. The legal limit is 0.08.

Sullivan’s plea came after the prosecution first called Sullivan’s girlfriend, Emilie Aries, to the stand. Aries testified that Sullivan picked her up from T.F. Green Airport around 10:20 p.m. and the pair went to TGI Friday’s in Warwick, where she had two glasses of wine and he had two or three drinks with dinner.

Aries told the court that Sullivan drank a clear drink in a pint glass, but insisted under questioning from Special Assistant Attorney General Michael White that she didn’t know what it was. His speech and demeanor, she said, seemed normal when the couple left the restaurant at closing time.

She described him as a cautious, slow driver and said she had her arm hooked in his and her head on his shoulder when they noticed the trooper’s flashing lights. She felt scared, she said. “I thought we were going to get a speeding ticket.”

Asked by White about her statement to police that she had drunk “not as much, nearly” as Sullivan, Aries said her words were misconstrued and she meant “apparently.” She said she was shocked and upset at seeing her boyfriend being taken away. A trooper, after administering a field sobriety test, told her she should not drive Sullivan’s car home, she said.

Aries, 22, a recent Brown University graduate, repeated her contention that she would not get into a car with someone who was impaired under cross examination by Humphrey. She added that she believed a person was impaired after one sip of alcohol, which led to a barrage of questions by White about why she got into the car with Sullivan after he had been drinking. “I had no reason to believe he was impaired to the point where he couldn’t safely operate a vehicle,” she said.

Aries was recently named Rhode Island state director for the Obama campaign off-shoot group Organizing for America. She said state police threatened to issue her a subpoena at an event to appear in court.

Sullivan was elected to his third term as state representative in November. He works as the communications director for the state Democratic Party.

With reports from Thomas J. Morgan

kmulvane@projo.com