Idaho court vacates conviction of drunken driver in 24-year-old Boise woman’s death
An Eagle man’s felony vehicular manslaughter conviction in the death of a 24-year-old Boise woman has been vacated by the Idaho Supreme Court.
In late 2018, Adam Paulson, 46, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with five years fixed, by 4th District Judge Deborah Bail after his jury trial, but she suspended that sentence and placed him on supervised probation for 15 years. She also ordered him to spend 14 months in jail but gave him credit for the 14 months he had served.
However, in June 2019, Bail revoked Paulson’s probation and imposed his underlying prison sentence after discovering that he had intentionally tampered with a SCRAM alcohol-monitoring device that he was required to wear as a part of his probation.
Now, in an opinion published Tuesday, the state’s highest court set aside the vehicular manslaughter conviction, prompting Bail to rescind her decision. Justices said the jury was not informed of key details involving the death of Madeline “Maddie” Duskey, who Paulson fatally struck while she crossed Eagle Road near Riverside Drive in November 2017.
The opinion will not be finalized until Jan. 26, according to Idaho Appellate Rule 38. During that period the state can ask the Idaho Supreme Court to bring the case for reconsideration or rehear the case. The attorney general’s office could also appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
If no one files a petition, the case will go back to the Ada County District Court for a retrial. The Ada County Prosecutor’s Office declined to answer specific questions about the case, citing pending litigation.
Paulson was driving drunk on the night of Nov. 18, 2017, and was on his way home when his Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck struck and killed Duskey, prosecutors said at his trial, which lasted a week and ended with a jury conviction. Evidence presented during the trial showed that his blood alcohol content was .213% when a blood draw was done by a paramedic, after various breathalyzer tests showed it to be between .164 and .197, according to the Supreme Court ruling. The legal limit is 0.08.
Duskey’s autopsy found that she had a blood alcohol content of .238 and also had marijuana in her system. The forensic pathologist characterized her level of intoxication as “acute alcohol intoxication.” Blood alcohol content is generally considered fatal if it’s above .40.
Part of the Supreme Court’s decision, it said, was based on the argument the district court should have instructed the jury on “intervening” and “superseding” causes because the pedestrian, who was intoxicated, crossed the road in an unlit area with no marked crosswalk, and was wearing dark clothing.
The case and Paulson’s initial sentence garnered national attention and a 2019 statement from Mothers Against Drunk Driving National President Helen Witty, who said it “illustrates a failure in the Idaho judicial system.”
“The typical sentence for killing someone in an impaired driving crash is three to five years in prison,” Witty wrote. “Paulson’s extraordinary sentence is an injustice to the victim in the case and to the nearly 11,000 people a year killed by this violent, 100% preventable crime.”
The maximum penalties for felony vehicular manslaughter are 15 years in prison, a $15,000 fine, or both. Prosecutors had asked for 15 years for Paulson, including five before he was eligible for parole.
A status conference has been scheduled for 9 a.m. on Jan. 18, when prosecutors expect a new trial date to be set, said Emily Lowe, spokesperson for the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office.
This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 7:58 PM.
CORRECTION: The story has been updated to remove an incorrect citation for appealing a case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
