A 21-year-old woman accused of leaving the scene of fatal drunken crash has been charged with two felonies.

Hannah K. Hahn, 21, remains in jail on $50,000 bond after appearing in Superior Court today on charges of vehicular homicide and failure to remain at the scene of an accident for the crash early Saturday that killed pedestrian Dennis Burgess, 47.

Hahn posted bond over the weekend on a vehicular assault charge but was to be rearrested on the vehicular homicide charge Monday after officers learned Burgess had died.

She didn't show up for court Monday afternoon, and her public defender said she tried to turn herself into he jail later that day but was turned away, according to KHQ. She was arrested on Tuesday.

Hahn, who is pictured courtesy KHQ, has two misdemeanor convictions for minor in possession of alcohol and possession of another person's ID.

Police say Hahn smelled of alcohol and had “some small bottles of alcohol” on her when they stopped 1999 Dodge Durango as it sped north on Market near Hawthorne Road about 2:17 a.m. Saturday.

Officers seized three cans of Mike's Harder Blueberry Lemonade, a bag of suspected marijuana from the car, according to a search warrant filed Tuesday.

 Burgess was struck on Market near East Providence Avenue. His family said he was father of three and worked as a carpenter and landscaper.

Past coverage

Jan. 30: Patrols follow pedestrian-auto crashes

A 21-year-old vehicular homicide suspect who missed her court appearance on Monday is back in jail after turning herself in.

Hannah Kay Hahn was arrested Tuesday at her lawyer’s office, KHQ-TV reports.

She was booked into jail about 5:15 p.m. on charges of vehicular homicide and hit-and-run for a crash early Saturday that killed pedestrian Dennis Burgess, 47, at North Market Street and East Providence Avenue. Her bond is set at $50,000. She'll appear before a judge today.

Police say Hahn smelled of alcohol and had “some small bottles of alcohol” on her when they stopped her SUV as it sped north on Market near Hawthorne Road about 2:17 a.m. Saturday.

The SUV’s windshield was broken and its front end and hood were damaged.

Hahn was arrested Saturday but posted bond on a vehicular assault charge. Police planned to arrest her on the upgraded vehicular homicide charge Monday but she didn't show up for court.

Burgess was a father of three and worked as a carpenter and landscaper, his family said.

Past coverage

Jan. 30: Patrols follow pedestrian-auto crashes

Crashes that hurt one man and killed another in Spokane last weekend occurred as local authorities are working to emphasize pedestrian safety to motorists.

Emphasis patrols Tuesday and next month in Cheney are part of an ongoing effort in Spokane County to reduce the number of pedestrians injured or killed by motorists each year.

But police say two motorists arrested on felony charges this weekend did more than just fail to yield the right of way.

Read the rest of my story here.

A Spokane woman who was driving the wrong way on Interstate 90 when she struck and killed 27-year-old Post Falls motorist in March was arraigned today on two felony charges. 

Teri Marie Scheele, 30, told police she had taken an oxycodone pill and “a couple” of hydrocodone pills before the three-car crash on March 25 about 3:10 a.m. at milepost 293 in the eastbound lanes under the Barker Road overpass, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Nov. 4 in Superior Court.

Kenneth Joel Hardin (pictured) was pronounced dead at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Police say Scheele had slurred speech but did not smell of intoxicants. A blood test showed signs of Oxycodone and Hydromorphone use, according to the affidavit.

A Washington State Patrol detective talked to seven people who saw Scheele driving the wrong way on the interstate.

The detective also talked to the driver of the third vehicle, Andrew R. Samek, 37, of Hayden, who, despite initial reports that he wasn't injured, suffered a broken neck when he struck Hardin's 1989 Mazda MX6 coupe while trying to avoid the crash then hit a cable barrier, documents say.

Scheele pleaded not guilty today to vehicular homicide and vehicula assault. She's out of custody awaiting trial, which her public defender, Derek Reid, said is scheduled to begin Feb. 13.

A jury deadlocked Tuesday on the vehicular homicide trial of a Deer Park man involved in a collision that killed a woman on a scooter.

Jonathon P. Bales waswas driving his 1985 Pontiac Firebird southbound on Wandermere Road on July 16 when he apparently crossed the center line and struck 54-year-old Rene Blaume, who was riding a Racer iScooter in the northbound lane near the intersection with Glenrose Drive.

Bales, who was 20 at the time, had marijuana in his system at the time of the crash, according to court records.

Bales also said he had been drinking earlier in the evening while helping a friend work on a car, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.

Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Mary Ann Brady said she intends to re-try the case before Superior Court Judge Linda Tompkins.

A appellate court will review a double-jeopardy claim by a Spokane stockbroker accused of killing a woman in a crash two years ago, leading to an indefinite delay in what was to be a November jury trial.

 A jury in February declared Jon Strine (pictured) not guilty of vehicular homicide, but jury polling revealed that jurors weren't unanimous and were instead split 6-6, which led to a mistrial.

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen denied a subsequent motion by Strine's lawyer, Carl Oreskovich, regarding double jeopardy for a second trial that argues Strine cannot be retried because he's already been declared not guilty.

Oreskovich filed a motion for discretionary review, and an appellate court commissioner ruled this week that “the issue presented involves an important constitutional right and thus appellate review must be immediate to avoid the trial Mr. Strine maintains is barred by the Fifth Amendment's guarantee,” according to the ruling.

Oreskovich said in an email Tuesday that Strine's Nov. 14 trial will not proceed.

“In fact, there will not be another trial until the Court of Appeals decides this issue and only in the event that it is decided against Mr. Strine,” Oreskovich wrote.

The appeal likely won't be heard until April.

 Strine admits to drinking before the June 2009 crash but disputes a state test that placed his blood-alcohol level at .20.

Strine was driving a Mercedes when he crashed into a motorcycle, paralyzing the driver, Gary Keller, and killing the passenger, Keller's wife, Lorri Keller (pictured.)

Past coverage:

Feb. 10: Mistrial declared in vehicular homicide case

Feb. 4: Strine says he wasn't drunk during fatal crash

Jan. 21: Husband recounts fatal crash

A 21-year-old man Deer Park is on trial this week for a July 2010 collision that killed a woman riding a motor scooter north of Spokane.

Jonathon P. Bales was driving his 1985 Pontiac Firebird southbound on Wandermere Road on July 16 when he apparently crossed the center line and struck 54-year-old Rene Blaume, (pictured) who was riding a Racer iScooter in the northbound lane near the intersection with Glenrose Drive.

Blaume, who was traveling to her job as an in-home care provider, was declared dead at the scene. Toxicology reports showed that Bales had marijuana in his system at the time of the crash, according to court records.

Bales also said he had been drinking earlier in the evening while helping a friend work on a car, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office. He turned himself in and is out of jail on $2,500 bond for a vehicular homicide charge.

Deputy Prosecutor Mary Ann Brady and public defender Anna Nordtvedt are handling the case. Judge Linda Tompkins is presiding. Opening statements were scheduled today.

The family of a 9-year-old girl killed in a car crash that led to an infraction against the stop-sign running driver will receive a “substantial” amount of money in an out-of-court lawsuit settlement, their lawyer says.

Olivia Chaffin (pictured) died June 10, 2010, after a pizza delivery driver who was slightly speeding ran a stop sign and crashed into her parents' vehicle. Her grandmother, Shirley Chaffin, broke her neck.

The driver, Echo Henderson, received a $500 ticket for negligent driving. Spokane County prosecutors said the girl's father, Richard Chaffin also was speeding and that running a stop sign, while a bad driving error, is not criminally negligent.

The Chaffins sued for wrongful death and personal injury, and four insurance companies, including Argo for Westside Pizza and Progressive for Henderson, settled out of court on Thursday “for the maximum amount of available insurance,” lawyer James Sweetster said in a news release. Details are confidential. The

Chaffins were driving to Olivia's school play when the crash occurred at Monroe and Hazard roads in north Spokane County. The girl's organs were donated.

An 11-year-old boy received her heart, two sisters in their 60s in Spokane received her kidneys, an unknown recipient revived her corneas and a Philadelphia woman in her 50s receive one of her lungs.

A soccer tournament names in Olivia's honor is to be an annual event.

Her parents, who are teachers in the Mead School District, have pleaded 10,000 to start a scholarship for underprivileged girls who play sports. Sweetser is donating $5,000.

A Whitworth University student and convicted felon pleaded not guilty Wednesday to vehicular homicide in connection with a crash in East Spokane on Aug. 9 that killed the passenger.

Michael S. Lindsly, 46, appeared before Superior Court Judge Michael Price and was given a trial date of Oct. 17. Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor Stefanie Collins said Lindsly was driving an estimated “70 to 100 mph” in a 35 mph zone when he crashed his 2002 Mercury Sable near the intersection of Alki Way and Broadway Avenue, killing 31-year-old passenger Blair C. Riding.

Lindsly, a 10-time felon who carries a 3.8 grade point average at Whitworth, poses a risk to the community, Collins said.

Price agreed to lower the bond from $100,000 to $75,000, but he ordered Lindsly not to drive while the charge remains pending.

Lindsly is described as a leader in the substance-abuse recovery community.

A Spokane man accused of causing a drunken crash that killed his passenger is a leader in the addiction recovery community and is studying to get his master's degree at Whitworth University, his girlfriend said today.

Michael Shane Lindsly, 46, appeared in Superior Court today via video from the jail, where he was booked after being treated at a hospital for injuries sustained in the Aug. 9 crash.

A vehicular homicide charge was filed against Lindsly on Thursday.

His bail was set at $100,000 today after Judge Michael Price heard from his girlfriend, Lacey Jones. Defense lawyers did not ask for a lower bond.

Lindsly is accused of crashing a 2002 Mercury Sable  and killing Blair C. Riding, 31, while speeding on Broadway Avenue at Alki Way.

Witnesses said the car appeared to be going at least 70 mph. Police say they smelled alcohol in the car and on Lindsly’s breath.

Riding, who was wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A Coeur d'Alene woman who rear-ended another driver on Interstate 90 in December has been charged with vehicular manslaughter.

Lisa Marie Calbick, 33, was seriously injured in the crash that killed Donald Graham, 77, of Rathdrum. Graham was driving a yellow Chevrolet Equinox westbound near milepost 3 when he was struck by Calbick's Kia Optima, according to Idaho State Police.

Graham lost control of the Chevy, which rolled off the right shoulder and landed on its top. He was pronounced dead at Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d’Alene.

Calbick was hospitalized in critical condition but has since recovered and is wanted on a $50,000 warrant in Kootenai County District Court.

Anyone with information on her location is asked to call the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department at (208) 446-1300.

The second trial of a Spokane stockbroker accused of killing a woman in a crash two years ago has been postponed until Nov. 14.

Jury selection was set to begin Tuesday in the vehicular homicide trial of Jon Strine, but his lawyer, Carl Oreskovich, has appealed Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzens' rejection of his motion regarding double jeopardy.

Oreskovich contends Strine cannot be tried because a jury verdict of 'not guilty' already was read after his first trial in February.

But jurors weren't unanimous in their decision, which led to a mistrial.

Strine admits to drinking before the June 2009 crash but disputes a state test that placed his blood-alcohol level at .20.

Strine was driving a Mercedes when he crashed into a motorcycle, paralyzing the driver, Gary Keller, and killing the passenger, Keller's wife, Lorri Keller.

Past coverage:

Feb. 10: Mistrial declared in vehicular homicide case

Feb. 4: Strine says he wasn't drunk during fatal crash

Jan. 21: Husband recounts fatal crash

A Spokane man accused of causing a crash that killed his passenger turned himself into police Tuesday, one day after a reward was offered for tips that led to his arrest.

 Lyle David Eutsler, 26, is to appear in  Spokane County Superior Court today via video from the jail, where he is being held on a vehicular homicide charge.

Investigators believe Eutsler was intoxicated and speeding in February when he crashed his red Mazda MX6 into a pine tree while eastbound on Magnesium Road approaching Market Street.

Deputies arrived to find Eutsler dragging himself away from the driver's door while two women remained trapped inside the crumpled car.

One, 42-year-old Tina L. Patterson, died of her injures about 45 minutes later.

Eutsler was charged this month after toxicology reports showed his blood-alcohol level to be .12 and indicated he'd recently smoked marijuana.

A reward is being offered for tips that help arrest a man accused of causing a one-car crash in February that killed a passenger.

Lyle David Eutsler, 26, was intoxicated and speeding when he crashed his red Mazda MX6 into a pine tree while eastbound on Magnesium Road approaching Market Street, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies arrived to find Eutsler dragging himself away from the driver's door while two women remained trapped inside the crumpled car. One, 42-year-old Tina L. Patterson, died of her injures about 45 minutes later.

According to court documents, passenger Emilee Odell told police she was at a party when Eutsler and Patterson showed up and said they had a new car. She said Tina told Lyle he was driving too fast and that just before the crash, Tina yelled “Lyle!”

Odell was in the front passenger seat and suffered minor injures, but Patterson was in the back seat and sustained severe head trauma.

Police said Eutsler, who they estimate was driving 56-59 mph in the 35 mph zone, smelled of alcohol and had to be physically restrained in a harness at the Sacred Heart Medical Center emergency room because he was yelling and out of control. He later told a detective he wasn't driving and asked “How could I f***ing be driving when I was lying on the ground with broken ribs?”

A felony charge of vehicular homicide was filed against Eutsler this month after toxicology reports showed his blood-alcohol level to be .12 and indicated he'd recently smoked marijuana.

Eutsler's estranged wife, who has two children with him, told police he'd said he was going to leave the state. Police believe he may be driving a black 1987 Ford Thunderbird with Washington license plate ABP4206. They believe he may be staying on friends' couches and selling plasma for money.

Eutsler’s parents live in the 1000 block of East Olympic. He has a best friend that lives on Wabash somewhere near the Northtown Mall, and his wife (possibly ex-wife) lives in the 7100 block of East Ninth in Spokane Valley, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.

Anyone with information regarding Lyle Eutsler’s whereabouts is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or submit tips online.

A vehicular homicide charge was dismissed Thursday against a Post Falls mother whose daughter was fatally injured while riding in an improperly installed car seat five years ago.

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen agreed with defense arguments that 26-year-old Eileen C. Jensen’s failure to correctly use the car seat was tragic but not criminally negligent, ending a legal case that brought widespread public attention to car seat safety issues.

Read the rest of my story here.

Read the rest of my story here.

Feb. 18, 2009: Mother arraigned on vehicular homicide charge in car seat case

Nov. 28, 2007: Vehicular homicide charge possible in infant's death

A chronic drunken driver convicted of vehicular homicide in 1990 was arrested early Thursday on suspension of drunken driving. Lance Dean Falcon, 44, of Plummer, Idaho, had a blood-alcohol level of .167 and .162 in two breathe samples submitted at the Spokane Public Safety Building after a Washington State Patrol trooper stopped him for speeding about 6 a.m. near Madison Road and Dishman Mica Road. Falcon had an unopened can of Keystone Ice beer in his car, and police say they found an empty can of the same beer tossed in the street near where Falcon’s pickup stopped. They also say he smelled of alcohol and had glassy, bloodshot eyes and slurred speech/Meghann Cuniff, SR. More here. (SR file photo of Falcon during time he was employed by Coeur d'Alene Casino)

Question: What should be done with habitual drunken drivers (given that these people are suffering an addiction that they can't control)?

A chronic drunken driver convicted of vehicular homicide in 1990 was arrested early Thursday on suspension of drunken driving.

Lance Dean Falcon, 44, of Plummer, Idaho, had a blood-alcohol level of .167 and .162 in two breathe samples submitted at the Spokane Public Safety Building after a Washington State Patrol trooper stopped him for speeding about 6 a.m. near Madison Road and Dishman Mica Road.

Falcon had an unopened can of Keystone Ice beer in his car, and police say they found an empty can of the same beer tossed in the street near where Falcon’s pickup stopped. They also say he smelled of alcohol and had glassy, bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.

Falcon said he was headed to a laundry mat than a golf tournament at Circling Raven that day at 11 a.m. He told police he’d had a “few” drinks and four to five hours of sleep, according to a police report. He gave an initial breath test of .169 before he was arrested for drunken driving and taken to the police station.

“Falcon said several times that he was done because this was his third strike,” according to the report.

Falcon faces a felony DUI charge because of his previous conviction for vehicular homicide. He also was arrested for drunken driving in 1996, 1998 and 2008, according to Idaho court records.

The 1998 arrest resulted from a serious car crash in North Idaho that injured a pregnant woman and her 3-year-old son.

Appellate judges on Tuesday upheld the vehicular homicide convictions against Frederick Russell, who was convicted in 2007 of killing three Washington State University students and seriously injuring three others in a drunken crash a decade ago on the highway that connects Moscow and Pullman.

 However, the Division III Court of Appeals will return the case to Superior Court Judge David Frazier so that Russell can be given credit for the time he served incarcerated in Ireland as attorneys fought for his extradition back to the U.S. to stand trial.

Russell had fled the country through Canada to avoid prosecution of the case.

Read the rest of Tom Clouse's story here.

The second trial for a Spokane stockbroker accused of killing a woman in a car crash has been postponed until May 31.

A car technician recently downloaded data from Jon Strine's 2002 Mercedes that could regard speed and other information. Some of the information has been provided to Strine's lawyer, Carl Oreskovich, and Mercedes' legal department is deciding who can testify in court regarding the information, said Deputy Prosecutor Mary Ann Brady.

Strine's first trial ended in a bizarre mistrial after jurors said they'd reached a not guilty verdict but six said they disagreed during polling.

Strine is charged with vehicular homicide and vehicular for the June 2, 2009 crashed that killed motorcycle passenger Lorri Keller paralyzed the driver, her husband, Gary Keller.

Past coverage:

Feb. 4: Strine says he wasn't drunk during fatal crash

Jan. 21: Husband recounts fatal crash

For a vehicular homicide charge to be filed against a Spokane police officer who hit and killed a pedestrian last month, investigators must show that he was intoxicated, driving recklessly or driving with a flagrant disregard for the safety of others, according to Washington law. 

Authorities said this week that Officer Gordon Ennis, an eight-year veteran, was driving between 34 mph and 39 mph in a 30 mph zone without his emergency lights and siren on when he struck John A. Van Curler, 52, at Monroe Street and Montgomery Avenue on Jan. 30.

Toxicology results from a blood-alcohol sample submitted by Ennis are pending. 

High speed can be a factor in vehicular homicide charging decisions, but Ennis was driving just slightly over the speed limit.

“Is 34 to 39 driving down Monroe a willful or wanton disregard for life? No. That’s the average speed on Monroe,” said Spokane County sheriff’s Detective Dave Thornburg, who is investigating the incident with a team from the Sheriff’s Office, Spokane Police Department and Washington State Patrol. “It’s not that I’m a fellow officer and I want to protect him. If we had probable cause that night, we would have made an arrest.”

On June 10, a pizza delivery driver who was slightly speeding ran a stop sign and crashed into another vehicle, killing a 9-year-girl; the driver received a $500 ticket for negligent driving.

Read my full story here.

Past coverage:

Feb. 3: Officer in fatal crash to return to patrol

Wails from a victim’s daughter filled the courtroom just after the judge read what was presented as a unanimous acquittal. But seconds later, a juror said she didn’t agree with the verdict. Then five more said the same thing.  

The bizarre series of events, which several longtime Spokane County court officials said they’d never before seen, led to a mistrial Thursday in the vehicular homicide and assault trial of a Spokane stockbroker who broadsided a motorcycle in June 2009, killing the passenger, Lorri Keller, (right) and paralyzing the driver, her husband, Gary Keller.

A new trial for Jon A. Strine, 43, (above) is expected to begin in March.

The Keller family declined comment. Strine and his lawyer, premier private defense attorney Carl Oreskovich, also declined comment.

Deputy Prosecutor Mary Ann Brady said she was “so surprised by what happened.”

But, she said, “This was a very tough case…Sometimes people just can’t agree.” 

The 12 jurors left without speaking to media.

“I know this has been extremely difficult for everyone,” Judge Tari Etizen (left) said in court.

Read my full story here.

Past coverage:

Jan. 21: Husband recounts fatal crash

June 25, 2009: Driver sued over deadly wreck

June 4, 2009: School district on crash victim: 'Everybody just loved her'

The jury in the Jon Strine vehicular homicide trial has gone home for the day.

The 12 jurors deliberated until about 5 p.m. today and will reconvene Thursday at 9 a.m. They deliberated for about an hour and a half on Tuesday following closing arguments. That includes time reviewing jury instructions and choosing a foreman.

The jury is to decide whether Strine, 43, was criminally negligent when his Mercedes crashed into a motorcycle in June 2009, paralyzing the driver, Gary Keller, and killing the passenger, Keller's wife, Lorri Keller.

Strine, a stockbroker, admits to drinking before the crash but disputes a state test that placed his blood-alcohol level at .20.

Jurors watched surveillance videos from Fast Eddie's bar in which Strine does not appear to be visibility drunk. They also viewed video from Washington State Department of Transportation camera that shows Strine driving with the flow of traffic.

Other motorists who witnessed the crash have testified that Strine was driving erratically just before the crash.

Last week, Strine said he falsely told a doctor he hadn't anything to drink after the crash because a police officer was listening.

“I was afraid,” said Strine, who is charged with vehicular homicide and vehicular assault. “I knew (Spokane police Officer Paul) Watson was going to try to pin this on me.”

Past coverage:

Feb. 4: Strine says he wasn't drunk during fatal crash

Jan. 26: Sleepy juror removed from Strine trial

June 25, 2009: Driver sued over deadly wreck

June 4, 2009: School district on crash victim: 'Everybody just loved her'

A Spokane stockbroker admits to drinking alcohol the day his Mercedes crashed into a motorcycle, paralyzing the driver and killing the passenger, but he told jurors he wasn’t drunk.

He’d told the doctor who examined him after the June 2, 2009, crash that he hadn’t had anything to drink because a police officer was in the room, listening.

“I was afraid,” said Jon A. Strine, who is charged with vehicular homicide and vehicular assault for the crash. “I knew (Spokane police Officer Paul) Watson was going to try to pin this on me.” 

Read the rest of my story here.

Closing arguments are scheduled Tuesday afternoon because Strine's lawyer, Carl Oreskovich, will be in Seattle on Monday for a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals hearing regarding the Karl Thompson-Otto Zehm case.

Oreskovich, who is representing Thompson, will be arguing against federal prosecutors' request that jurors be informed of the fact that Zehm did not commit a crime prior to the fatal confrontation.

A Spokane stockbroker accused of paralyzing a motorcyclist and killing a woman during a drunken crash in 2009 is expected to testify today.

Jon A. Strine, 43, is to take the stand this morning, one of the final days of his vehicular assault and vehicular homicide jury trial.

A state test put Strine's blood-alcohol level at .20, but his lawyer, Carl Oreskovich, said the test is unreliable and has presented testimony from experts who say Strine's alcohol consumption prior to the crash would have kept him within the legal limit for driving.

Jurors watched surveillance video from Fast Eddie's bar downtown, where Strine went with a waitress from Press bar on South Grand after the woman said she'd applied for a job there, and Strine offered to introduce her to the owner.

They drank alcohol and left in Strine's 2002 silver Mercedes. Minutes later, Strine made a last-second lane change, then smashed into the Gary and Lorrie Keller.

Oreskovich has said Strine made a simple driving error, not a criminal act, and should be found not guilty. Strine has already settled a lawsuit from Keller out of court.

Past coverage:

Jan. 26: Sleepy juror removed from Strine trial

Jan. 21: Husband recounts fatal crash

June 25, 2009: Driver sued over deadly wreck

June 4, 2009: School district on crash victim: 'Everybody just loved her'

A juror was removed from a vehicular homicide trial today after falling asleep and telling a judge it was OK she'd missed testimony because she already knew the topic well.

“I was marginally OK until she volunteered the last part,” said Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen.

The woman told the judge she already understood phlebotomy after she was confronted about sleeping during testimony regarding the subject on Tuesday, the third day of trial for Jon A. Strine, who is charged with vehicular homicide and vehicular assault for a June 2, 2009, crash that killed Lorri Keller (pictured) and left her husband, Gary Keller, paralyzed.

The woman apologized repeatedly after Eitzen told her today that she could no longer serve on the jury because “every single juror has to have the same information.”

“I feel really bad,” said the woman, who appeared to be in her late 30s or early 40s.

One of three alternates, who have been present for the entire trial, took her place.

Deputy Prosecutor Mary Ann Brady didn't call for the woman's removal, but Strine's lawyer, Carl Oreskovich, said she shouldn't proceed with the trial.

“This is a case that has to be decided based upon evidence,” he said.

The trial, which began with opening statements Thursday afternoon and continued Monday, has included testimony from Keller and several civilian witnesses who responded to the crash at Fourth and Browne.

The testimony from those witnesses was emotional, and preceded testimony from the lead crash investigator, Spokane police Cpl. Brad Hallock.

Other witnesses include Spokane County Medical Examiner Dr. John Howard, who conducted Lorri Keller's autopsy, and Dr. Paul Lin, who treated Gary Keller.

Today's witnesses included Hallock and Amanda Black from the state crime lab.

Black underwent extensive cross examination and admitted under questioning that the lab can't guarantee samples aren't contaminated. The point is key to Strine's defense.

Oreskovich said in his opening statement that he will present experts to refute a test that put Strine's blood-alcohol level at .20.

Oreskovich likely will begin calling witnesses Thursday afternoon. The case could be with the jury by the end of next week.

Past coverage:

Jan. 21, 2011: Husband recounts fatal crash

June 25, 2009: Driver sued over deadly wreck

June 4, 2009: School district on crash victim: 'Everybody just loved her'

Gary Keller remembers the crash that killed his wife and left him paralyzed: He said it started with a silver flash.

“I remember a big crash, and I remember flying through the air and hitting the ground, and I was in a lot of pain,” Keller, 61, said Thursday in the opening day of a trial in Spokane County Superior Court for Jon A. Strine on charges of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault.

Prosecutors say Strine, a Spokane stockbroker, was drunk and speeding in his 2002 silver Mercedes when his car slammed into Keller and his wife, Lorri Keller, 48, (pictured) on their Yamaha motorcycle on June 2, 2009, at West Fourth Avenue and South Browne Street in Spokane. Both were wearing full-masked motorcycle helmets.

Carl Oreskovich, considered one of the region’s premier defense attorneys, called the crash “a terrible, tragic, horrific accident” but said Strine made just a simple driving error just before the crash – a last-minute lane change – not a criminal act.

“Although this may have been a bad driving decision, it was an ordinary bad driving decision,” Oreskovich said. “It wasn’t a criminal bad driving decision.”

Read my full story here.

Past coverage:

June 25, 2009: Driver sued over deadly wreck

June 4, 2009: School district on crash victim: 'Everybody just loved her'

A Spokane man involved in a carjacking that led to a fiery crash that killed his girlfriend has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Michael L. Olson, 32, pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and two counts of tampering with a witness and was sentenced recently to 180 months in prison by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Greg Sypolt. 

Olson was arrested in June 2009 after Marjorie A. “Amy” Harrigan, 24, died when she was thrown from a carjacked 2002 Acura RSX during a police chase on Indiana Avenue just east of Ruby Street.

The Acura struck a tree and ripped in two (pictured above); authorities said Harrigan, who was driving, was killed instantly.

Police say the couple stole the car after meeting its owner, Christopher T. Fuller, at Ace's Casino and asking him for a ride to retrieve a borrowed pickup.

The two assaulted Fuller and forced him out of the vehicle near Perry and Cataldo streets. Police spotted the Acura and the truck driving on Nettleton Street near Euclid Avenue, and both took off at high speeds.

Harrigan crashed and died; Olson escaped in the truck but was arrested later that night.

A few months later, police seized letters from his mother's home that were written by Olson and apparently discussed plans to kill Fuller. Detectives said they learned from Olson’s cellmate that Olson wanted him to kill Fuller, which led to the witness tampering convictions.

Olson had previous felony convictions for drugs and theft. He was sentenced Dec. 17.

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A construction worker who killed a promising rookie pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels and two other people in a horrific drunken driving crash said Wednesday he had all but ended his own life that night by getting behind the wheel after drinking.

 A man who has survived three one-car crashes on the same road near Plummer, Idaho, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter for an August 2009 crash.

Joseph Michael Matt, Jr., 25, of Worley, was speeding and under the influence of alcohol and methamphetamine when he lost control of his 1997 Jeep Cherokee and left Lovell Valley Road in Benewah County road, killing William “Sonny” A. Davison, 22, of Desmet.

Matt has been in two other crashes on Lovell Valley Road but was not driving in either.

A federal grand jury indicted Matt, a member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, for the Aug. 18, 2009, crash in June.

He pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Coeur d’Alene. He faces a maximum of eight years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years probation when he’s sentenced Feb. 23. He remains in federal custody.

A motorist who killed a pedestrian while intoxicated last April on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation, has been indicted by a federal grand jury.

Andrea M. George, who was 18 at the time of the crash, is charged with involuntary manslaughter for the April 19 crash on Desmet Road at Ajot Road that killed Patrick A. Gourneau, 22, of Tensed, Idaho.

Gourneau was walking when George struck him while cresting a hill in a 2002 Honda Civic on Desmet Road just before 6 a.m.

George was airlifted to a Spokane hospital but has since recovered. She booked into the Kootenai County Jail Thursday after a grand jury indicted her on the involuntary manslaughter charge, which carries a maximum penalty of eights years in prison or a $250,000 fine and no more than three years probation.

The charge alleges George was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana and was speeding at the time for the crash. Her first appearance in U.S. District Court is scheduled for Monday in Coeur d’Alene.