The charge is a one-year misdemeanor. A jury in May convicted Downing of the same charge, but Janer in July vacated that verdict and ordered a new trial on the grounds that he erred in previously preventing defence counsel from arguing Downing was not necessarily intoxicated when she was driving her vehicle. Defene attorney Jeffrey Martin said his client decided to plead guilty because the prosecution was recommending she not serve jail time on the initial sentence.
Martin added that his client is suffering from some health issues, making it undesirable to go to trial and risk conviction and incarceration. Downing's trial was to begin the day she pleaded. During Downing's trial, Bay County Sheriff's Deputy Ben Latocki testified he noticed a Chevrolet Impala parked askew in the jail's lot in the wee hours of Jan. 10. After some time, Latocki approached the vehicle and found an unconscious Downing behind the steering wheel, the engine still running. Latocki and other deputies awoke Downing and removed her from the Impala.
Downing appeared intoxicated and smelled of booze, Latocki testified. Questioned by Latocki, Downing said she'd had "enough" to drink and didn't feel it was safe for her to drive. The Impala contained an unopened 18-pack of Busch Light and a bottle of rum that was about three-quarters empty, Latocki testified. Downing performed poorly on field sobriety tests and submitted to two breath tests administered three minutes apart, Latocki testified. The first yielded a result indicating her blood alcohol level was 0.17 and the second that it was 0.16. In Michigan, a person is legally intoxicated when their blood alcohol level is 0.08. Janer is to sentence Downing on October 29.
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