Trial after fatal crash focuses on LSD

When police told Bob Buhrman that they found no alcohol or drugs in the blood of the driver in the car accident that killed his 17-year-old daughter, Buhrman didn't believe it.

The nature of the accident, he felt, told a different story: Coming back from a rave concert on Harbor Island around 3:30 a.m., the driver somehow lost control of her 1989 Mercedes on the Alaskan Way Viaduct near Safeco Field. The car hit the center median, throwing Erin Buhrman onto the road. The 16-year-old driver and another teenage passenger, Erin's boyfriend, had only minor injuries.

Later, some of Erin's friends told them the teenagers may have been using LSD. So the Buhrmans took another tack to determine the cause of the accident: They asked the King County Medical Examiner's Office to test their own daughter's blood for hallucinogens.

"We took a risk," said Luann Buhrman, Erin's mother, "that we'd find out our daughter was using acid, that she'd come out of this looking bad."

Their actions spurred the prosecution to retest the blood of the driver, helping lead to an unusual vehicular-homicide trial against the driver that began this week in King County Superior Court.

Prosecutors allege the driver, who is now 17 and being tried as a juvenile, was under the influence of LSD at the time of the Dec. 5, 1999, crash. If convicted she could face 16 to 36 weeks in a juvenile-detention facility. The Seattle Times normally does not publish the names of juvenile defendants.

Michael Lang, King County senior deputy prosecutor, said he believes it is the first local case where the alleged use of LSD has figured in a vehicular-homicide charge. The standard blood test used by the state after such accidents doesn't screen for it.

``The Buhrmans had reason to believe that drugs were involved so they had their daughter's body tested," said Lang. "When it came back positive, that caused us to send (the driver's) results back to the lab."

In a typical case, the Washington State Toxicology Laboratory can screen blood for alcohol and up to 400 types of drugs. But testing for hallucinogens such as LSD is difficult and expensive, and the state doesn't have the equipment to do it, said Dr. Barry Logan, the lab director.

The blood of Erin and the driver were sent to Philadelphia for testing.

The defense acknowledged the girl took LSD but denies she was impaired at the time of the crash.

William Fligeltaub, the driver's attorney, noted that officers testified that the girl's behavior on the night of the wreck showed no obvious signs of drug or alcohol use.

In opening arguments, Fligeltaub also said there wasn't enough time from when she took the LSD until the crash for the drug to take effect. "Erin Buhrman lost her life in an accident," he told the court. "... Not every accident involves criminal intent."

In the courtroom, Luann Buhrman clutched a framed portrait of Erin, her face framed by wavy blond hair. In her mind, she said, she constantly replays the crash--and the events she believes were behind it.

Erin was a Franklin High senior who excelled in class and on stage, playing Lady Macbeth among other lead roles. She did volunteer work for AIDS victims, for the blind and other causes. But she also had a wilder side, refusing to honor curfews and experimenting with pot, her mother said.

"We never let Erin get a driver's license because she was the kind of kid who would fill her car with as many friends as she could fit inside," said Luann Buhrman.

The night of the accident, she had quarreled with her daughter over Erin's plans to go out after she got off work at midnight. Then Erin told her who she was going out with.

"I felt a sigh of relief, because she was going out with the sister of one of her friends," said Buhrman.

Erin and her two friends went to a rave, an all-night dance party, on Harbor Island. The Buhrmans say the teenagers never got inside because the rave was too packed.

The Buhrmans, who have four other children, live in Magnolia. Bob owns a formal-wear shop in Kirkland; Luann is a stay-at-home mom. Since Erin's death, they have attended a dozen raves to educate themselves.

They, like some other critics, contend that open drug use is rampant and kids under 18 have no problem getting in despite a city law prohibiting unaccompanied minors from attending, even though the events are supposed to be regulated by the city.

Their exploration of rave culture, like their decision to test their daughter's blood, is part of their search for answers about her death.

"I just want to find out the truth, for what it is," said Luann Buhrman.