PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly has filed a formal objection to Amber Steim’s partial guilty plea for the death of a Crescent Bay nurse.
Steim, 25, is charged with vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment and witness tampering in the March 2011 death of 44-year-old Ellen DeBondt.
The State Patrol said the Port Angeles woman had a 0.23 percent blood-alcohol level — nearly three times over the 0.08 percent legal limit in Washington state — when she crossed a centerline and rumble strip and struck DeBondt’s vehicle on state Highway 112 east of Joyce.
A trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 17.
The witness-tampering charges are for Steim allegedly phoning her mother and a friend from jail and asking them to say she drank alcohol after the wreck because she was in pain.
A first-degree murder charge with extreme indifference that Kelly added in April was dismissed in July.
Kelly on Friday filed an objection to defense attorney Ralph Anderson’s proposal for a Steim guilty plea to vehicular homicide and reckless endangerment.
She will not plead guilty to witness tampering or other aggravators such as Steim’s alleged lack of remorse, Anderson said.
In a Friday court hearing, Anderson said his client accepts responsibility for the wreck and wishes to plead guilty to vehicular homicide and reckless endangerment.
“We want to save the county a lot of money on a trial,” Anderson added.
“We’ve already spent tens of thousands of dollars to get ready on the murder case.”
Kelly argued that Steim “no longer has a right to plead guilty as the arraignment has long since passed,” the objection states.
Steim pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide nearly 18 months ago.
Kelly said Steim has a right to plead guilty as charged but can’t pick and choose the charges to which she pleads guilty.
Furthermore, Kelly said the court cannot dismiss the aggravating circumstances.
Anderson asked for more time to respond to Kelly’s motion.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Ken Williams scheduled a Sept. 13 hearing on Kelly’s objection.
Anderson must file a response by Friday.
If a guilty plea is allowed, it will be entered in court n Sept. 17 — the scheduled trial date — to allow DeBondt’s family to be present.
DeBondt was a well-known home health nurse and avid outdoorswoman. She was on her way to work when the wreck occurred at 7:54 a.m. March 6, 2011.
Steim is being held in the Clallam County jail on $500,000 bond.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
