A Yakima woman accused of killing a man in a suspected drunken driving crash has been released pending trial.
During a Friday hearing, Yakima County Superior Court Judge Jeffery Swan placed Katherine Lynne Morris on pretrial release, requiring her to regularly meet with court staff and to abstain from alcohol and other intoxicants.
“No matter which way we look at it, we have a tragedy that has occurred, and nothing is going to fix that today,” Swan said.
Morris, 50, was arrested on Christmas Eve after she hit a pedestrian at the intersection of South First and South Sixth streets.
Yakima police responding to a pedestrian-vehicle crash around 6:30 p.m. found a man lying in the street by the curb on South First Street at the intersection, according to a YPD probable cause affidavit. A Yakima County sheriff’s deputy was first on the scene and began rendering aid.
Around him was debris from a headlight and bumper, as well as items the man was apparently carrying at the time he was hit.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Yakima County Coroner Marshall Slight said he is scheduling an autopsy for next week and is still trying to identify the man.
A witness told police she saw the man hit by a car as he darted from west to east across the road.
Police said the 2022 Subaru Crosstrek that Morris was driving had significant damage to the front driver’s side , including a broken headlight and bumper. Morris, who was standing next to the SUV, had an odor of intoxicants on her and she failed voluntary standard field sobriety tests, the affidavit said.
Officers stopped one of the field tests because Morris’ sense of balance was so poor they feared she would fall over. A preliminary breath test administered at the scene showed her blood alcohol level was 0.182, more than twice the legal definition of intoxication, 0.08, the affidavit said.
Police obtained a search warrant and took samples of her blood to be analyzed at the Washington State Patrol’s crime lab.
Morris was booked into the Yakima County jail on suspicion of vehicular homicide while under the influence.
At Friday’s preliminary appearance hearing, Deputy Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Nicholas Barrett said a pretrial assessment showed Morris was at a low risk for failing to appear at court hearings or committing new crimes, recommending that she be released with text reminders about court dates.
However, Barrett asked that Morris be released on the next higher level of court supervision, which includes weekly phone check-in with court staff and visits to the court’s Pretrial Services office every two weeks. He also asked for “reasonable” alcohol-related restrictions on her release.
“I don’t see this as a case where it requires the posting of money (for bail). Specifically, I expect that this is a case could take a lot of diligent work by all sides and it’s going to be a case that could take a long time,” Barrett said. “I don’t know if there’s any reason to think that posting cash or bonds would change that fact.”
Konrad Beattie, a public defender representing Morris at the hearing, agreed with Barrett. While Morris’ driver’s license was from Wyoming, she has been living in Yakima for a year taking care of her father and attending Yakima Valley College, he said.
Swan said the question was the risk that Morris would either not show up for future hearings or pose a threat to the public if released.
In addition to the supervision level Barrett requested, Swan ordered her to not have any intoxicants and not to drive without a license or insurance. He reminded her that should she violate those terms, the court could modify her release conditions.
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