Drunk driver conviction upheld

Schauf expected to head to prison

The Montana Supreme Court this week upheld the conviction of a Flathead County woman found guilty in connection with a 2006 drunken-driving crash that killed one man and injured two others.

Steffanie Ann Schauf, 29, has been summoned to appear at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday in Flathead County District Court, according to the Flathead County Attorney's Office.

She was freed on bond shortly after her June 2008 sentencing hearing while the Montana Supreme Court considered her appeal.

After the hearing, authorities are expected to take Schauf into custody to begin serving a 20-year sentence to Montana State Prison with 10 years suspended.

"We think the [Montana] Supreme Court hit… the nail on the head… in all respects," said Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan said. "The families have been very patient waiting for a final resolution, and I think they're glad that day has arrived."

Schauf's attorney, George Best, did not return a call for comments Thursday afternoon.

Schauf appealed her conviction on grounds that the Montana Highway Patrol trooper who arrested her failed to inform her of her statutory right to an independent blood draw, violating her right to due process.

Flathead County District Court Judge Stewart E. Stadler suppressed the state's blood draw - which registered Schauf's blood alcohol content at .34 - but declined to dismiss the charges and later admitted a second blood draw taken by the hospital for treatment purposes.

The second blood draw showed a result identical to the first, according to court records.

"Dismissal under the circumstances would have been an extreme measure, and the District Court properly refused to dismiss the charges against Schauf," the state's highest court ruled.

The Montana Supreme Court also found that none Schauf's objections to the medical blood draw "went to foundational requirements for admission of this evidence."

Objections that the District Court improperly limited questioning of a witness facing drug charges and that admitting the patrol car video of Schauf's behavior the night of the crash constituted prejudicial evidence also were rejected.

Prosecutors tried Schauf on the charge of vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol, but a Flathead County jury found her guilty of the lesser crime of negligent homicide. She also was convicted of negligent vehicular assault and criminal endangerment.

The jury of six men and six women heard from eyewitnesses, accident reconstruction experts, medical experts and Schauf herself during the March 2008 trial.

Jurors, who deliberated for two days, considered conflicting testimony about how much Schauf had to drink that night, whether Schauf's combative behavior after the crash was due to drunkenness or a head injury, and whether the pickup truck put on its brakes before she rammed into it.

According to testimony, Schauf was driving southbound on U.S. 93 in her blue Mazda Miata at about 1:30 a.m. on July 1, 2006. As she neared the Happy Valley area, her car slammed into the back of a Dodge pickup driven by Christopher Gray.

The impact sent the truck rolling down an embankment, ejecting 24-year-old Brett Adams, who later died from severe brain injuries. Gray and a second passenger, Savannah Hill, were treated for serious injuries.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com