Judge dismisses vehicular homicide case over alleged misconduct by WSP

The woman who crashed into and killed a bicyclist on New Year’s Day last year on U.S. Highway 2 has been cleared of a vehicular homicide charge after defense attorneys successfully argued Washington State Patrol troopers made false statements to obtain search warrants.

As a result of the botched investigation, the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office did not oppose a request in December to dismiss the vehicular homicide charge against Melissa A. Paul, 28, with prejudice, meaning it cannot refile those charges against her in the future.

“Instead of saying they lied, that the information in the affidavit was wrong, (prosecutors) dismissed it,” Assistant Public Defender Anna Nordtvedt said. “I would expect that it would at least be investigated because, certainly, the video does not show what is reflected in the affidavit.”

WSP spokesman Trooper Jeff Sevigney said a reporter’s inquiry Friday was the first time his office had learned that the case had been dismissed under allegations of false statements by troopers.

“We will be following up with the prosecutor’s office next week to determine what happened in the matter,” he said.

The case began at about 4 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2017, when Paul’s 2004 Toyota 4Runner drove “six to eight feet” onto the shoulder of westbound Highway 2 near Flint Road. The SUV then struck 44-year-old Ty M. Olds, who was either riding or walking next to a bicycle, near the Rusty Moose Bar and Grill.

Nordtvedt said she never learned why Olds, who had a felony record, was riding or walking with a bicycle at 4 a.m.

The collision forced Olds’ body into and partially through the Toyota’s windshield, and he later was declared dead at the scene.

Trooper Joe Leibrecht initially responded to the wrong location but was eventually able to locate the damaged 4Runner at 4:34 a.m., some 30 minutes after the collision. Troopers Robert Spencer and Troy Corkins later arrived to assist the investigation.

Also inside the SUV was passenger Stephan A. Goodwin, who admitted hiding a digital scale on top of the vehicle’s front tire. Troopers also reported finding baggies with small amounts of both methamphetamine and cocaine in the car and later charged Goodwin with felony possession with intent to distribute.

But when the troopers asked Paul to undergo field sobriety tests, the case began to fall apart.

According to charging documents, Leibrecht noted that Paul missed one step in the “walk and turn” test. The documents say Trooper Spencer later conducted a second test, and she again missed a step in the “walk and turn” test.

The troopers then had Paul blow into a portable device that showed Paul had a blood alcohol content of 0.067 percent. The legal limit to drive is 0.08 percent.

A WSP sergeant then “asked Trooper Spencer to complete a blood warrant for Paul.”

Both Paul and Goodwin were booked into the Spokane County Jail, and both were initially held on $150,000 bonds. Paul later had her bond reduced to $30,000, but she served three months in jail and temporarily lost custody of a child, Nordtvedt said.

“I just got into the case late in the game,” Nordtvedt said, noting she assisted another public defender, John Whaley. “Then I watched the video. They have her in the affidavit wobbling and missing steps. She did perfectly, not just once, but twice.”

The video also contains audio of the troopers discussing how well Paul performed on the tests.

“One says that he does not see any impairment, that he thought he smelled alcohol, but doesn’t think it was her,” Nordtvedt wrote. The troopers “decided that based on the lack of impairment, that” the portable breath test “would not be administered.”

But they later gave Paul the test anyway.

“The affidavit does not state that a trooper shoved a PBT machine in Ms. Paul’s face without cause to administer the test, and also fails to mention that the trooper did not inform Ms. Paul that the test was purely voluntary,” Nordtvedt wrote.

At one point, one of the troopers says on the video: “I don’t know how I am going to get a warrant,” she wrote.

“One only need view the body camera of Trooper Leibrecht … to see that there are numerous false statements and omissions in the affidavit in support of the blood warrant,” Nordtvedt wrote.

She filed a motion to dismiss the case in November, and Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor Katherine McNulty did not object. Superior Court Judge James Triplet dismissed the case on Dec. 19.

“Because impairment cannot be established by the probable cause affidavit, the warrant for blood is therefore invalid,” Triplet wrote. “Aside from impairment, there are no other grounds to support further action.”