Kalispell woman pleads not guilty to fourth DUI

by The Daily Inter Lake
| July 25, 2012 7:16 AM

A 51-year-old Kalispell woman pleaded not guilty July 19 in Flathead District Court to what would be her fourth offense of driving under the influence.

According to a court document, Norma Miller was found still in the driver’s seat of her vehicle when a trooper with the Montana Highway Patrol responded to a single-vehicle accident off the South Fork Road on July 2.

Miller allegedly admitted she had been drinking before failing a field sobriety test and a breath test at the scene as well as a breath test at the Flathead County Detention Center.

Her prior convictions for driving under the influence came in December 1992, December 2001 and December 2010.

If convicted on the new charge, she faces 13 months in jail or a residential alcohol treatment program and a consecutive suspended sentence of five years.

If Miller has already been placed in residential alcohol treatment for a past conviction, her potential sentence could grow to five years in jail along with the suspended sentence and a fine of between $1,000 and $10,000.

Her next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 17.