13 years after DUI charge, woman has her day in court

A jury convicted Arrington this week on a felony driving under the influence charge that dated back to an arrest on Sept. 22, 1995.

For 12 years, prosecutors say, Arrington held out in Florida and Georgia, with police here in Alaska waiting with a warrant in hand.

Then on Dec. 4, 2007, police broke the case during another traffic stop. Officer James Conley saw a 1988 GMC Jimmy make an illegal turn at East Fifth Avenue and Orca Street, stopped the vehicle and found Arrington back in Alaska -- and still wanted on the warrant.

"Somebody was on the run for 12 years is finally brought to justice," assistant district attorney Rob Corbisier said. "It was the most unusual trial I've had."

The case began back when Corbisier was still a sophomore at MIT, when police officer Bob Glen stopped Arrington, 39 at the time, as she pulled out of a driveway and arrested her for misdemeanor driving under the influence.

It wasn't until later the city found out she had two previous DUI convictions in Georgia -- elevating the case to a felony, Corbisier said.

She had tickets to fly to Florida, which were in the impounded car, Corbisier said, and, once she made bail, she used them. Arrington hired a lawyer and appeared at court hearings telephonically until 1996, when a judge ruled against a motion to dismiss the case, according to police.

"She had already been indicted; she had already lost her motion," Corbisier said. "At that point, we were ready to proceed to trial and she stopped calling in."

When she didn't show up for court, police got a warrant for her arrest and Arrington was indicted for felony failure to appear.

At trial this week, Arrington didn't contest that she was intoxicated when she was first pulled over in Alaska, only whether the DUIs attributed to her in Georgia actually belonged to her, Corbisier said.

Following a short trial, a jury decided they did and convicted Arrington of felony DUI. She pleaded guilty to the failure to appear charge, he said.

Her sentencing is set for May 18.

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.