April 1, 2004
Judge Justin Julian on Monday found probable cause exists to bind William John Webster, 58, Bonners Ferry, over on charges of aggravated DUI and vehicular manslaughter for a collision on Farm to Market Road February 23 that claimed the life of Virgia Maye Brooks, 53, Porthill.
If convicted, he could face 10 years in prison on each charge and fines of up to $15,000.
According to the Idaho State Police, Brooks had parked her 1996 Ford pickup, leaving the headlights on, and got out to check her mail at about 7:14 p.m. She was standing at her mailbox when Webster, traveling southbound on County Road 46, entered a curve and saw her vehicle in his lane. He allegedly swerved to the right shoulder and drove off the road, hitting Brooks and the mailbox before slamming into her truck. The impact, trooper Taj Wilkerson said, threw Brooks off the roadway and knocked her pickup into the northbound lane, where it overturned.
Webster allegedly told an investigator at the crash site that he’d been working at a mill down the road, and had two beers after work. He failed two field sobriety tests, including a blood-alcohol test that registered .102 and .098. He was taken into custody and ordered held on $50,000 bond.
In preparing for the preliminary hearing, Boundary County Prosecutor Jack Douglas spent nearly 100 hours, including several evenings and weekends, studying the crash site and the evidence of the case, and he extends his appreciation to the Idaho State Police troopers who made trips to Boundary County to meet with him and review the scene and for their professional cooperation in preparing the case.
“This case was well-investigated and people went the extra mile,” Douglas said. “ISP officers came up from Coeur d’Alene several times to work on the case and to reconstruct the accident. Last Friday, I met the investigating officer in my office until late in the evening. The extra work showed at the preliminary hearing.”
In his testimony, Wilkerson said that had Brooks survived, she’d have been charged with reckless driving in that she committed six or seven infractions, including improper parking and improperly standing in the roadway. It was his testimony that the only thing Webster did wrong was to drive under the influence. Even sober, he testified, the accident may have been unavoidable.
Brook’s fiancé, Dan Dunning, a former patrol deputy, also testified, saying that he’d let Brooks use his pickup earlier to go into town and get groceries, and that she always parked as she did to check the mail because she was too short to reach the mailbox from the pickup. He stated that he saw Webster, whom he knew, and said he appeared intoxicated.
In presenting the state’s case, Douglas contended that it was DUI that caused the wreck, not the victim; that the potential driving infractions didn’t apply because the victim wasn’t in her vehicle, and that it is common for people to park on the left side of the road to hop out and check their mail.
“The evidence shows that the defendant, William Webster, drove or was in actual physical control of a motor vehicle, a 1996 black Ford pickup truck, on County Road 46, while under the influence of alcohol, and did thereby cause the death of Virgia Maye Brooks,” he said.
Julian concurred that the evidence presented proved that the defendant had more likely than not committed the crimes with which he was charged, and ordered Webster held over for arraignment at 9 a.m. April 6.