Idaho News

Drunken driver who killed Eagle woman and avoided prison is charged with violating probation

Adam Paulson
Adam Paulson Ada County Jail

The Eagle driver who was convicted of vehicular manslaughter in the 2017 death of 24-year-old Maddie Duskey is accused of violating probation less than two months after he received a sentence that stirred controversy.

Adam Paulson, 43, was sentenced in mid-January to 15 years of probation and no prison time. He was held at the Ada County Jail for about 14 months after the Nov. 18, 2017, crash, until his sentencing.

Paulson was arrested and booked into the Ada County Jail on Friday afternoon, according to the jail log. KTVB-Channel 7, first to report the arrest, obtained court documents that show Paulson is accused of tampering with the ankle monitor that measures his blood alcohol content and is “suspected of drinking.”

Paulson will be arraigned on the felony probation violation charge Monday, according to the jail roster.

His sentence was viewed by Duskey’s family and others as extremely lenient, and the national director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving asked the Idaho Judicial Council to review the case.

Paulson, whose blood alcohol level was nearly triple the legal limit the night of the crash, is appealing his conviction. His attorneys claim that an investigation into the crash shows that no one could have avoided hitting Duskey that night, even a sober driver going the speed limit.

This story was originally published March 8, 2019 at 6:52 PM.

Katy Moeller
Idaho Statesman
Katy Moeller has worked at The Idaho Statesman for 13 years. She’s a generalist, an investigative reporter and a feature writer who has been on the breaking news team for a decade. She was Idaho Press Club’s 2016 Print Reporter of the Year.If you like seeing stories like this, please consider supporting our work with a digital subscription to the Idaho Statesman.
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