TEARFUL END TO DRUNKEN DRIVING CASE
DRIVER WHO KILLED BICYCLIST GETS SIX YEARS

By ARTHUR C. GORLICK P-I Reporter

Saturday, July 8, 1995

Section: News, Page: B1

Trembling and choking back tears, Barbara Jean Morris yesterday faced the family and friends of a bicyclist whom prosecutors said she had killed while driving drunkenly.

``I am truly sorry," she gulped in a voice barely audible in a silent, emotionally charged courtroom. Most of those in the audience wore colorful bicycle jerseys and red ribbons signifying Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Moments later, Judge Robert Alsdorf of King County Superior Court ordered the 40-year-old Boeing quality-control inspector to serve six years in prison for plowing into a group of 14 bicycle-club members Oct. 13, killing one and injuring three others.

She could be released after serving a third of her sentence, or two years, for good behavior in prison.

Deputy Prosecutor Brian McDonald had asked that Morris be sentenced to four years. Alsdorf said he imposed the stiffer term in part to deter others.

David Juarez, 41, of Bellevue was killed when the car driven by Morris struck him at a Renton intersection at an estimated speed of 50 mph, 15 mph over the limit.

Morris' car then hit the other riders and continued for more than two miles before being stopped by witnesses who chased her.

Prosecutors said Morris had a blood-alcohol level of 0.14 percent when tested after the incident. The legal limit is 0.10 percent.

But they dropped a drunken-driving allegation in exchange for Morris' guilty plea to vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and felony hit-and-run.

Morris has no record of previous incidents of drinking and driving. She said she had no memory of what occurred when her car struck the cyclists on East Valley Road at Southwest 41st Street.

At the sentencing, Juarez's widow, Maria, wore a blue, yellow and white bicycle jersey and a button that read, ``Someone I love was killed by a drunk driver." She had urged the judge to sentence Morris to the maximum allowed under law, seven years.

She sat on the front bench of the courtroom facing Morris. She hugged her son, Alex, 5, stroking his hair as he sprawled on her lap sucking a thumb, and held her daughter, Katarina, 2.

``I miss my husband, my best friend, my confidant," she told Alsdorf. ``I am a survivor, but I do not like this kind of survival. . . . Since David died, my life has been filled with more pain . . . than I thought I would ever know."

Morris, of Tacoma, stood trembling as Juarez spoke, her head bowed, her eyes closed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her attorney, Jan Olson, urged the judge to sentence Morris to a minimum of three years.

On the day of the collision, Morris had learned she had a possibly life-threatening illness and has since undergone a hysterectomy, he said. She faced other emotional problems that day, including some involving her son, Jason, 16, and uncharacteristically drank and drove, he said.

McDonald and Olson had asked that sentences for the three convictions be served simultaneously, but Alsdorf ordered that they be served in sequence. Olson indicated he would consider an appeal of the exceptional sentence, which is outside the standard range for the crimes.

Outside the courtroom, Morris' sister, Cheryl Rempel, said she is disappointed at the long sentence and expressed concern that Morris may be suicidal.

Maria Juarez said she is pleased at the long sentence, but added she was too emotional to know how she feels about Morris' apology. Juarez said she would like to be able to forgive because of her Christian beliefs, but was unable to sort out her emotions.

This article contained at least one photo or illustration as described below:

Type: Color Photos

Description: ROBIN LAYTON/P-I PHOTOS: (1) Maria Juarez daubs her eyes after describing the grief of losing her husband in an October accident in which motorist Barbara Morris ran into a group of 14 bicycle-club members, killing David Juarez and injuring three others. ``I miss my husband, my best friend, my confidant," Juarez said. ``. . . Since David died, my life has been filled with more pain . . . than I thought I would ever know.":
(2) Barbara Morris takes a deep breath before apologizing to Maria Juarez. ``I am truly sorry," she said in a voice hardly audible in a silent, emotionally charged courtroom.

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