Driving While Intoxicated 

Washington's Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, has upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that state law prevents a victim of a drunk-driving accident from being charged as an accomplice in the case of a sole survivor in a fatal drunk driving crash, according to the AP. Teresa Hedlund was severely injured in an accident that killed six other people, and was videotaping the driver's reckless behavior immediately prior.

The video depicts a lone sober passenger pleading with the driver to stop driving dangerously, just before the vehicle crashed into an Auburn freeway support pillar in 2001. Because Hedlund is considered a victim of the crime of DUI, the Court held that she could not be prosecuted as an accomplice. Hedlund was convicted in 2003 as an accomplice and for furnishing alcohol and tobacco to minors; charges which were also reversed by the Supreme Court.

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