SEATTLE — The state Court of Appeals upheld the alcohol-related vehicular assault conviction of a Port Angeles woman whose vehicle became airborne before it collided head-on with another car a day after Independence Day in 2010.
Vonda V. Pritchard, 46, already has served her seven-month sentence in the Clallam County jail, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Troberg said this week.
Appeals Court Judges Marlin Appelwick, Mary Kay Becker and Michael S. Spearman issued their unanimous decision Monday.
Pritchard was driving her 1999 Land Rover eastbound on U.S. Highway 101 at about 7:30 p.m. July 5 when she went off the roadway at the Old Olympic Highway intersection, struck a yield sign and continued east into westbound traffic.
“[Pritchard] attempted to make a left turn at high speed, knocked over a yield sign, hit a ditch, became airborne, and then collided with another car headed in the opposite direction,” Appelwick said in authoring the ruling.
The car Pritchard struck was a 1996 Chrysler driven by Lonn Holman.
His mother, Shirley Holman, whom Troberg described as about 80 years old and who was sitting in the front passenger seat, suffered a fractured rib and dislocated wrist.
“Frankly, her hand and wrist are useless, and probably permanently so,” Troberg said this week.
Pritchard’s driving “was candidly pretty egregious,” Troberg said.
“She did not even attempt to slow down.”
Four hours after the collision, Pritchard registered a 0.14 percent blood-alcohol level, nearly double the legal threshold of 0.08 percent.
A jury returned unanimous special verdicts against Pritchard, finding her guilty of driving under the influence and “with disregard for the safety of others,” Appelwick wrote.
State Trooper John Ryan, the first officer at the scene of the collision, said he did not see Pritchard wearing a seat belt when he spotted her slumped over toward the passenger seat, adding that she “looked deceased,” according to the State Patrol’s investigative report.
The Land Rover’s driver and passenger air bags had deployed, and an empty bottle of Merlot was in the driver’s door’s side pocket, according to the report.
Ryan obtained statements from Pritchard while she was being treated at Olympic Medical Center that Pritchard sought to suppress in her appeal.
Pritchard, who was treated and discharged, told Ryan she had had three drinks at a Port Angeles establishment before the collision and a beer at 4 p.m. that same afternoon.
Miranda rights
Pritchard contended that while being questioned in the hospital, she should have been read her Miranda rights, under which a person in police custody must be informed of the right to remain silent and the right to have an attorney present during questioning.
“We hold that Pritchard was neither seized nor in custody when Trooper Ryan asked her questions at the hospital before formally arresting her,” Appelwick said in the appeals court ruling.
She said her statements also should have been suppressed “because she was highly intoxicated and probably in shock,” Appelwick said.
“Pritchard remembers that she had three drinks at Traylor’s and one earlier in the day, and she expressed that clearly,” he said.
“Pritchard was able to comprehend Trooper Ryan’s questions, follow the conversation and give clear answers.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
