Eagle driver is appealing jury verdict in vehicular manslaughter case that drew ire of MADD
Last fall, an Ada County jury found Adam Paulson guilty of vehicular manslaughter in the death of 24-year-old Maddie Duskey — who was struck as she walked across Eagle Road in 2017 — and in January, a judge sentenced him to time served, plus 15 years of probation.
Last week, Paulson, who was driving drunk when he struck Duskey, appealed to the Idaho Supreme Court, according to court records obtained by the Statesman.
Five things were listed as the basis for the appeal:
- Did the magistrate court err in finding probable cause?
- Did the district court err in not granting defendant’s pretrial motion to dismiss?
- Was there sufficient evidence at trial to convict the defendant?
- Did the district court err in instructing the jury?
- Did the district court err in not granting the defendant’s Rule 29 motion (motion for judgment of acquittal)?
The court conditionally dismissed the appeal because Paulson had not paid required fees for the preparation of the reporter transcript and the clerk’s record, or obtained a court waiver of those fees. He has three weeks to pay the fees or get the waiver before the Idaho Supreme Court dismisses it.
His trial attorneys were David Leroy and Gabriel McCarthy, but his appeal filing indicates that he is now indigent; once that’s confirmed by the court, an appellate public defender will be assigned. Paulson, who was arrested and charged several days after the crash, spent 14 months in the Ada County Jail before his January sentencing.
McCarthy told the Statesman Tuesday that the collision was a tragic accident that should not have gone to trial. He said it should have been dismissed at the probable cause hearing.
“Under Idaho law, for DUI vehicular manslaughter, the state must prove impairment ‘was the cause of the collision,’ ” he said via e-mail, citing State v. Gardner, 1994.
He said the state’s one witness at the probable cause hearing was asked if Paulson violated any non-DUI law, and the officer responded “no.” Additionally, he said, the state’s crash reconstructionist said in his report that it was unlikely that a sober driver traveling at 40 mph could have avoided the collision.
He said the collision was “unavoidable and unforeseeable” due to several factors: it was dark, Duskey was wearing black, the streetlights weren’t operating, and there was little or no ambient light from the moon.
Paulson’s sentencing drew national attention.
Helen Witty, national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, felt that the 15-year suspended sentence imposed by Judge Deborah Bail was too lenient. In a letter she wrote to the Idaho Judicial Council, she told them it illustrated a failure in the Idaho judicial system and asked for the case to be reviewed.
“The typical sentence for killing someone in an impaired driving crash is three to five years in prison,” she 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 percent preventable crime.”
The terms of Paulson’s probation say he must: pay child support for Duskey’s two children; wear an alcohol monitor until further notice of court; reside in a sober living facility; not purchase, possess or consume alcohol; perform 500 hours of community service; not drive a vehicle “for any reason whatsoever” (his license is suspended); attend 90 days of daily AA meetings and provide proof to probation officer; submit to searches of his person, property and residence; maintain full employment; and complete training/counseling programs required by the probation officer. His probation officer and the court have the authority to impose up to 180 days in jail.
McCarthy said he’s been surprised by the backlash that Bail has received from this case, as she has a “well-deserved reputation as a very strict judge in DUI and victim cases.”
“This case is an example of Judge Bail holding a defendant accountable to a very strict interpretation of the law,” he said.
Duskey, a mother of two young children, died at the scene of the crash at South Eagle Road and East Riverside Drive.
At the time of the crash, Paulson was on probation for a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction, and his blood alcohol level was about double the legal limit. His attorneys argued that because Duskey also was impaired at the time of the crash, she had no statutory right of way in the street — and that she was the “significant cause” of the collision. They filed a motion for acquittal after a jury found him guilty, arguing that no driver, even a sober one, could have avoided killing Duskey that night.
This story was originally published March 4, 2019 at 5:40 PM.
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