Plea deal in the works for DUI No. 4 [Hungry Horse News, Columbia Falls, Mont.]

Sept. 30--A 30-year-old Lakeside woman who unsuccessfully appealed her Columbia Falls City Court conviction for DUI to district court last year is back in district court facing a felony DUI charge.

Rachel Hansen was arrested in the O'Brien's Liquor and Wine parking lot on July 14, 2011, following a minor vehicle accident.

After being handcuffed and placed in the back of a city patrol car, Hansen allegedly kicked out a window and the officer used pepper foam spray to subdue her. A breathalyzer test showed Hansen had a 0.204 blood-alcohol content, about 2 1/2 times the legal amount for driving.

Hansen was charged in city court with six misdemeanors, including DUI per se No. 2, criminal mischief, resisting arrest, obstructing a police officer, driving with a suspended driver's license and no insurance No. 4.

City Judge Tina Gordon sentenced Hansen to $3,110 in net fines, two weeks in jail and 2 1/2 months house arrest, but Hansen's public defender, Jessica Polan, appealed the sentence to district court. Hansen meanwhile enrolled in an alcohol treatment program in North Dakota.

A plea agreement was reached on May 16, 2012, with Judge Gordon dismissing the criminal mischief charge. District Court Judge Katherine Curtis maintained the rest of the city court sentence with some changes. She suspended another $500 of the net fines and ordered Hansen to spend four three-day weekends in the county jail.

Hansen was arrested again on Nov. 22, 2012, after a Montana Highway Patrol trooper responded to a one-vehicle accident. When asked how much she had to drink, Hansen, the lone occupant, allegedly said "way too much."

She allegedly refused to provide a breath sample and was transported to Kalispell Regional Medical Center for a blood draw. Traffic records showed she had three prior DUI convictions and three prior no insurance convictions.

Hansen was charged with felony DUI No. 4 and misdemeanor charges of driving with a suspended license and no insurance. She faced up to 13 years with the Department of Corrections, a five-year consecutive and suspended sentence and a $1,000 to $10,000 fine if convicted

Hansen's Bigfork attorney, Peter Leander, filed a discovery request, and Hansen pleaded not guilty on Dec. 20, 2012. Hansen was released on her own recognizance with a SCRAM alcohol-detecting device.

Leander filed a request to modify Hansen's terms of release in July. He said his client had paid $2,820 over seven months for the SCRAM device with no reported violations. He called the cost "crushing" for a mother of two taking online college courses. The Flathead County Attorney's Office called the SCRAM necessary for the safety of Hansen's two children and the general public.

Hansen reached a plea agreement on Sept. 17. If she pleaded guilty to felony criminal endangerment and misdemeanor operation of a noncommercial vehicle by a person with an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, the prosecution would ask for a four-year deferred sentence with six months suspended, both concurrent. All fines and fees would be left to the judge to decide.

District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht accepted the plea agreement on Sept. 19. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 7.

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