Driver Charge In Fatal Hit-Run -- Woman, Acused In Sammamish Death, Has Dui Record

SAMMAMISH PLATEAU

As Susan West sat outside the glass wall of the King County Jail courtroom yesterday, her eyes seemed placid. But her nerves were revealed in her sandaled foot, which rapidly beat the carpeted floor.

Though this was the third time West had been in court accused of drunken driving, it is the first time she faces charges for causing a death while intoxicated. King County prosecutors filed four criminal counts against the 39-year-old Issaquah woman in Saturday's hit-and-run on the Sammamish Plateau that killed Mary Johnsen, who had been on an evening stroll with her husband.

Prosecutors said the 5-foot-7, 120-pound West had a blood-alcohol level of 0.34 percent - more than three times the state's legal limit - when her van struck Johnsen, hurling her 146 feet down Southeast 32nd Street.

Prosecutors, contending that two prior DUI convictions showed West was a potential danger to the community, asked that her initial bail of $50,000 be raised to $100,000 - cash only.

Deputy Prosecutor Sheila Weirth also said West had been in treatment previously but without apparent success.

West, who works at an Eddie Bauer catalogue-order facility in Bothell, was charged with vehicular homicide, felony hit-and-run, reckless driving and second-degree reckless endangerment, the latter because her 4-year-old son was in the van with her. If convicted on all counts, she could face almost six years in prison.

She is being held in the King County Jail and is to be arraigned tomorrow morning.

Although West appeared to be apprehensive before the hearing, she calmly left the courtroom for jail. Her demeanor yesterday contrasted starkly with the woman King County police say they arrested Saturday.

Court papers say she was despondent then, smelled strongly of alcohol, slurred her words and staggered as she got out of the van.

"I know I drink too much, I'm an alcoholic," West was quoted as telling the arresting officer.

In 1991, West was sentenced in Issaquah District Court to probation for drunken driving. Those charges were dismissed in January 1994, after she had complied with the terms of her probation.

Court records also show that West had a 1985 DUI conviction in Seattle Municipal Court.

"This lady sounds like she's got a very serious drinking problem. I'm shocked, but I'm not surprised," said Jim Bostad, public-policy liaison for the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in Washington.

Last year, there were 356 alcohol-related traffic deaths in Washington state - more than half of all traffic fatalities, according to the organization.

That's a 3 percent increase from the year before. MADD finds the statistics troubling after years of progress Bostad attributes to increased awareness and tougher laws.

"I don't know what more we can do to educate people," he said. "We try to tell people to be responsible, but . . ."

In this state, MADD is lobbying lawmakers to toughen DUI standards. The legal blood-alcohol level of 0.10 percent is still high, MADD contends.

An effort to toughen the law to 0.08 percent didn't make it out of a legislative committee this year, but supporters hope to renew their fight in January.

Last year, the state Supreme Court invalidated a Seattle ordinance that set the DUI limit at 0.08 percent, declaring that it conflicted with state law.

A tougher law, though, would not likely have made a difference in this case, Bostad concedes.

"Where was the hole in the system?" he asked yesterday. "If (West) was a repeat offender, why was she still allowed to drive?"