Law&Crime Sidebar - ‘Glamorous’ Trooper Slapped with Lawsuit in Alleged DUI Crash

Episode Date: May 15, 2025

A criminal case against a Washington state patrol officer accused of driving while impaired is in limbo as a special prosecutor decides how to proceed. In the meantime, victim Jhoser Sanchez���s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber spoke with criminal defense attorney Andrea Burkhart about the impact a civil complaint could have on a criminal case.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/SIDEBARHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. We could see him here and then her car, she was trying to get out of the way. Whatever bike he is on is trapped under that car. Okay. A Washington State Trooper has been hit with a wrongful death lawsuit and could still face a vehicular homicide charge after she allegedly hit and killed a young motorcyclist at the beginning of March. We are taking a look at what the lawsuit alleges, as well as new details revealed in video and document updates that we've gotten from police. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. So it's been a couple of

weeks since we first told you about Sarah Clayson, the Washington State Patrol Public Information officer detained on suspicion of DUI. According to police reports, Clayson told officers she was on her way home from Domino's with a pizza when she made a left-hand turn and a motorcycle, quote, came out of nowhere and collided with her SUV. Now, the motorcyclist, 20-year-old Joseer Sanchez, was barely alive when paramedics got to the scene. He was rushed to the hospital.

Sadly, he did not survive. State troopers, who had originally responded because it was their jurisdiction, and turn the scene over to Richland PD, and one of their officers interviewed Clayson, who told him she didn't want to perform any field sobriety tests. But the officer noted several things in his report that indicated to him she may be impaired. So he put her in handcuffs,

and she sat at the police station while he wrote up a search warrant for a blood draw. Clason was booked on what's known as a 72-hour felony hold, namely that there was probable cause that she had committed a crime, and she appeared in front of a judge and was released on her own. recognizance. A prosecutor had asked for $150,000 bail, but the judge noted that Clayson had significant ties to the community and she was cooperative on scene, so there wasn't a concern

about Clayson fleeing. But her release does come with conditions. Clayson has to have an ignition interlock device on any car that she's going to be driving. It's like a breathalizer that doesn't let the driver get moving until they can prove they're sober. And right now, Clayson is on administrative leave from the Washington State Patrol where she's worked for more than a decade. But in the meantime, a special prosecutor is reportedly being brought in to determine whether Clayson should be charged with vehicular homicide. Now, Clayson's defense attorney told reporters that there's not enough evidence to charge her with anything. And for now, Benton County Court records still list Clayson's cases pre-file. But going back to the victim here, Josea Sanchez,

born in Venezuela, recently graduated from high school here in the United States. His family says he had been working as a forklift operator at Lamb Weston, a food processing plant. And now a law firm has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Clayson and her husband in the same county. And this is on behalf of Jose's mother. And we're going to get into the details of that lawsuit in just a minute. But first, I want to talk about some new details that we learn from newly released police reports and how those reports line up with body cam video from the scene. So to do that, I want to bring in Washington defense attorney, Andrew. Andrea Burckhard. Andrew, thanks so much for coming on. Appreciate you taking the time.

My pleasure, Jesse. Thanks so much for having me back. What was your reaction to this case? And what has the response been in the community? Are people talking about it? Oh, very much. So this is my neighborhood. This incident happened within not very far from where I live, easy 20-minute drive. And so it certainly caught a lot of people's attention. Obviously, anytime you have a law enforcement officer that's involved in allegedly illegal activity, it's something that catches people's attention, and it's been a big story here. By the way, I know we cover some pretty heavy topics on this channel, but it's just a reminder of how important it is to take care of your mental health. But finding a therapist shouldn't really

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Please support our show. Tell them Sidebar sent you. Go to RULA.com. sidebar take the first step towards better mental health today you deserve quality care from somebody who cares you think she's gonna be charged with vehicular homicide I think it's gonna depend on the blood test results and by the way just everybody knows I read the statute my understanding is says when the death of any person ensues within three years as a proximate result of injury proxomely caused by the driving of any vehicle by any person the driver is guilty of vehicular homicide if the driver was operating a motor vehicle

while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug is defined by RCW. This is a specific section. Or in a reckless manner or with disregard for the safety of others. And it does become a question there. A couple of things that, as I read the statute, does it all become about whether or not she was intoxicated? Does it become about how she was driving, how Jose was driving? And also, I think it's interesting that they have that time limit, that even if they die within three years, because you might have people who are in the hospital or a coma as a result of a car accident.

But talk to me about whether or not you think it all comes down to her alleged or possible alleged intoxication, or does it also matter about her level of driving? Well, so there are, as you pointed out, multiple ways to establish vehicular homicide in the state of Washington. I think the challenge that you have here is really that recklessness prong. If they're not going to rely on alcohol consumption, then it becomes a question of what was the driving. And so undoubtedly, law enforcement is going through the process of trying to reconstruct the events that led up to this incident. But what we do know just from the admissions that were made at the scene by Ms. Clayson was that she saw the vehicle, made a left-hand turn. basically failed to yield to the oncoming vehicle in the in the opposite lane of traffic.

And so if that is substantiated and that turns out to be the case, probably not going to be enough to reach the standard of recklessness in the state of Washington. It certainly establishes negligence and potentially even criminal negligence, which might be enough to substantiate an involuntary manslaughter charge. That's manslaughter in the second degree in the state of Washington. But in and of itself, just violating a traffic law is not likely to reach the level of recklessness. You typically need to have some conduct like extreme speed veering, putting other people, other drivers on the road or pedestrians in serious danger as a result of your conduct. The other part of the statute that, at least in theory, is feasible, is under the influence prong.

Washington does allow DUI to be established either by per se limit, meaning the blood alcohol measures at 0.08 or higher. We also have a THC for marijuana consumption, a DUI as well that has per se limits. But that's not the only way you can do it. In Washington, you can charge DUI on evidence that somebody has been affected by alcohol. Their driving has been affected. And so that at least is possible here. I would just doubt as a practical matter whether they would likely proceed on that prong because we have the body cam video.

The jurors are going to be able to see and evaluate for themselves. How does this person present? Does this person present like they're severely intoxicated? My review of the body cam footage, it seemed like she might have slurred her words at a couple points. So let's go through it. Let's actually go through some of it.

I want to get into the video because there's this video. It shows just how violent the crash was. Let's start there because you see, Jose, appears to have been thrown from the motorcycle, which then got stuck almost all the way underneath Clayson's SUV, fluids, debris from both vehicles. They're spread out across the road. And as one of the officers pulls up at the scene, a passer-by explains what she saw. We could see him here, and then her car, she was trying to get out of the way. whatever bike he is on is trapped under that car okay all right he has a fanny pack i think they just

removed it from his chest she was a first responder we could tell like he didn't have a pulse and that's when she started chest compressions okay all right thank you do you need us that we did not see anything no that's fine okay i'm retired law enforcement oh awesome yeah yeah just head through the neighborhood we're gonna have the highway shut down so okay so i can turn this way yeah okay now according to paramedics Clayson had been performing CPR when they arrived and took over, and Richland Police questioned her about the crash. They reportedly picked up some odd behavior. Take a look. Hey. Hello. How's going?

Do you want to talk over here real quick? Yeah. Okay. So I'm Steve and with the traffic unit, so just, I don't know this is probably uncomfortable, but we're just going to treat this like as if it was anything else. and we want to figure out what was going on, just, you know, just in order to rule anything out. Yeah. Like, obviously, you know, it just is important to rule everything out as it is to confirm everything. So, I'm just getting here, so I know you already answered some questions from the other guys, but generally what happened?

So I went and picked up a Domino's Pizza. Okay. I was turning left in here. I live right over there on Wild Canyon Way. Okay. I saw what I thought was a car with one headlight out. Okay. Right just passed where the reflective sign is that white one was like.

Okay, sure. And so I was already slung in the turn lane and saw him there and I was like, I got enough time. Okay. I turned and as soon as I turned, just felt boom. Okay, okay. So as you're turning, you thought he was further away? No, he was definitely past that reflective sign.

when I saw him. And then I think I just, like I say, I thought it was a car with a headlight out. Okay. You realize it was a motorcycle and you realize the rate of speed they were going at? So you think he was going pretty quick? Yes, because from that reflected sign, it's kind of, I turn, I live here. So that's always my, like, general rule if they're passed that sign, then you've got plenty of time. Okay.

Okay. Okay. So you know, based on making this turn, and, you know, based on making this turn, and, you know, numerous times yeah that you know how to judge that distance yeah like okay good to go okay all right so you're probably aware we're just gonna like run this like like normal so I'm just gonna run you through some voluntary field supply test if you're willing to okay yeah I don't think you don't want to do any okay all right what about the PBT you're willing to do

voluntary PVT I don't want to any test base on the okay okay understood what about obviously you just gave me a verbal statement you're willing to write down a statement on paper yeah okay all right let me go grab a statement form and I'll let you fill that out and then I know you want to get out of here so we'll do that that way we just kind of lock everything in okay for today so sounds good all right yeah just give me a few minutes yeah no worries yep all right Andrew so talk to me about what you make of her interaction with the officer and particularly her decision not to take the tests yeah well Well, so putting my defense attorney hat on, it's a smart decision not to take the tests.

That's typically what you advise people in this situation. In Washington, they are voluntary, and it's rare that those tests are going to work to your benefit. Having said that, putting myself in the position of a prosecutor or somebody evaluating criminal liability here or even a potential juror, it seems problematic that a state trooper, somebody who we entrust to perform these types, types of tests who presumably relies on these types of tests to make these same kinds of determinations about ruling out potential causes of an accident like this would not be willing to submit to them. So I also notice what appears to me, again, just from my experience of having seen so many DUI and related types of arrests and body cam footage like this. The treatment of her, the interaction with law enforcement, appears to me to just be far more deferential than you would normally expect to see

with any non-law enforcement person who is under suspicion of driving under the influence. That's fair. That's fair. And I want to actually take a look now at the police report that was filed by the officer who questioned Ms. Clayson. And he often notes that Clayson's answers seemed in direct contradiction to her experience as a law enforcement officer. because it states, Sarah mentioned multiple times that she believed it was a vehicle with one headlight instead of a motorcycle. I found this statement to be odd, considering that whether it was a motorcycle or a four-wheeled vehicle, nothing would change regarding her responsibility to yield to the right of way or in determining if there was enough time to safely turn in front of it.

I obtained a blank statement from my vehicle, then I re-contacted her, and I provided her with a pen in addition to the statement. I acknowledged her out loud that I probably should have also grabbed a clipboard for her to ride on. Sarah told me that she could just write on the hood of her vehicle, which had just been involved with a collision. I told her that I did not want her touching her vehicle at this time, and I found her suggestion to be odd, considering I would expect an experienced law enforcement officer to be aware that the involved vehicles in a major collision should not be disturbed during the investigation. I returned to my patrol vehicle and retrieved a clipboard. I had provided Sarah with two pages for the statement form, not knowing how much she

wish to write. And the police report continues. Sarah sat in WSP Sergeant Munder's patrol vehicle while she completed the written statement. She went to Sergeant Munder's vehicle to complete the statement at the timestamp of approximately 757 into my body camera recording. Sarah exited Sergeant Munder's patrol vehicle at the timestamp of approximately 2352, which was a total time of approximately 17 minutes and 53 seconds. Sarah provided me with the written statement, which consisted of six sentences. I was surprised by how short, and lacking of detail the statement was considering how long she was in Sergeant Munder's vehicle writing this statement. That is fascinating, Andrea.

I mean, this idea of, I wonder if this report could ultimately hurt her. And obviously, you couple that with the body cam, you wonder, is this all due allegedly to intoxication? It's certainly one explanation that it's all due to intoxication. But the other part of it, too, is she's simply being extremely cautious. What I noticed from some of the statements that she made and her behavior is noted by the police officer is an apparent attempt to really minimize and or blame shift responsibility for the accident. Acknowledging, again with my defense attorney hat on, acknowledging having seen the oncoming vehicle at all is problematic from a liability standpoint, but then the effort to identify that as a vehicle with one headlight out as if, you know, there's a problem with that vehicle on the road that vehicle shouldn't be on the road kind of effort to shift a little bit of responsibility there likewise

with the suggestion to go ahead and write the statement on the hood of her car as though this is not something necessarily very serious not something that we need to worry about like the officer mentioned preserving the evidence or taking care to make sure that that everything is in the same state because because, you know, why would we need to be doing reconstruction or things along those lines? So that's kind of the inference I would get from the very short statement over the 17 or 10-minute period, the extended period of time, is that she's being extremely careful and thinking over exactly what it is she's going to put in that statement. And as this investigation continues, the officer asked Clayson about performing those field sobriety tests to get the question of impairment out of the way.

Take a look. Well, I'll be honest with you. I would love to rule out impairment, but without the fields, it is hard to rule that out. Obviously, it's voluntary. I won't ask you again, but there may always be that question down the road. I just rather not. Okay. Yeah. I understand, but I know how it goes to. So. Yeah. What do you mean you know how it goes? Even if there's like a little, if I had something, I had a glass one earlier or something like that, I just don't want, I just don't wanna do it. Okay. Yeah. But no, I definitely don't feel impaired.

I don't feel like there was an issue. And I, I. Did you have a glass wine earlier? Not gonna answer it. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Hmm.

Now the officer confers with the colleagues and decides it's appropriate to arrest Ms. Clayson. All right. So like I said, we were really trying to rule alcohol out. I'm not convinced that alcohol was my factor. So right now you are under arrest. Okay. Let's go ahead and put your hand behind your back. So we will be doing a search warrant for blood, okay? That way there will be no questions. Now at one point, as she realizes she's really in handcuffs and being put in the back of a patrol car, Clayson asks if she can blow into a breathalyzer to prove her sobriety.

But the officer says it's too late. She's already given her answer on field tests. So they can get a warrant for blood instead. A little too little too late, Andrea? Yeah, I mean, I think that the law enforcement was really under pressure here to treat this like any other type of investigation. And even though, like I said, from my perspective, they do seem to be showing her a little bit more deference than they would show to any non-law enforcement officer that they're investigating under these circumstances. They can't be changing the way that they normally would conduct this type of investigation just because of who she is.

So I think they are under pressure to follow their protocol very strictly. And so haven't had that opportunity and refused it, that's what they're going to go with. Now, while the investigation into Clayson is underway, you have another officer who has the unfortunate task of notifying Jose's family about what happened. I talked to him, Mom. They're at the Calick now. I know he's passed away. I talked to Mom and the mom's boyfriend, so they understand he passed away. He died in a crash, and he's at the hospital. Okay, thank you. Yeah.

Really, really difficult conversation. And that officer's conversation with the victim's mother's boyfriend is also documented in the police reports from that night. It reads, according to family, the victim arrived home from work around 1,600 hours on March 1st, 2025. Joseer held employment at Lamb Weston and Richland, according to family. Ruben advised that Joseer was new to riding motorcycles and mentioned that he typically asked for permission to ride the motorcycle before driving it. According to Rubin, Joseer had only driven the motorcycle approximately three to four times since he got it. Rubin stated that Joseer asked him around 1,800 hours if he was able to take the motorcycle for a ride. According to Ruben, Joseer was only supposed to ride the motorcycle within the neighborhood,

and he not discussed the plan to drive to a specific location. Rubin mentioned that it was beginning to get dark outside of the time. Joseer went for a ride and believes it was sometime after 1,800 hours that Joseer left the residence on the motorcycle. I should also tell you that police confirmed during a news conference, that Joseer didn't have the special endorsement on his license needed in Washington to ride a motorcycle. And reporters also questioned the police spokesperson about when we could know the results of Clayson's blood work. The question was about how long the blood sample will take to get back. Quite frequently, those take several months in order to get results from a blood test.

So two things here, Andrew, why does it take so long for the blood test to come back? And B, anything that I just talked to you about, about the driver, about the victim in this case, that might help Clayson? Sure. So if you're not from Washington, you probably wouldn't be aware of the enormous backlog that we have in the Washington State Patrol

toxicology lab. By law in Washington, the state laboratory is the only entity that is allowed to test blood samples for alcohol for use in prosecution. So they are currently almost a year behind.

This has been something that has been brought up to the attention to the legislature, trying to get some type of change happening so that these cases can move forward a little bit more quickly. But yes, as of right now, the lab can be expected to be testing cases from early 2024. So that's the primary reason why this is taking so long. That's just part of the systemic issue that we are dealing with with how our law enforcement services are funded in the state of Washington. With respect to what you mentioned about the motorcycle certification and so forth, that's not going to play any difference in terms of criminal liability.

What's really going to matter in that context is simply what they're able to determine about the manner of driving of both parties. And so if they were able to determine that the accident was not caused by Ms. Clayson's failure to yield, but was caused, but was caused by some driving activity on the motorcyclist's part, then that could be an issue for potential criminal liability. Where it's really likely to play in is in the context of the civil suit. In Washington, we follow, it's called a comparative negligence doctrine, and so basically the jury would be asked to assign percentages of fault to each party. And so if they determined that because he didn't have that motorcycle endorsement, he was to some degree at fault for the resulting accident, the jury would be able to determine that, set a number to it, and then any award that they gave the family would be reduced by that percentage of fault that they attributed to him.

And that's the point, because despite not having official confirmation that Clayson was impaired that night, lawyers for Mr. Sanchez's, mother, Yolomar, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Sarah Clayson and her husband, Trent. Quote, defendant Sarah Clayson, while driving intoxicator or otherwise impaired, made a left turn in front of Joseer Sanchez without yielding the right of way, causing his motorcycle to collide with Clayson's vehicle in the right side front bumper and became wedged partially underneath the engine compartment. The force of the impact caused plaintiff Joseer Sanchez's death. Defendant Sarah Clayson had a duty to exercise ordinary care while operating a moment. vehicle on public roadways, including the duty to observe all common law statutory and

regulatory law with regard to safe operation of vehicles. Defendant Sarah Clayson breached this duty when she operated her vehicle while intoxicated and crashed into plaintiff Jose Sanchez's vehicle. Defendant Sarah Clayson's failure to exercise ordinary care and to obey Washington law approximately caused injuries, damages, harms, and losses to the plaintiffs and amount to be determined at trial. Defendant Sarah Clayson was therefore negligent and is liable, along with her marital community, for all damages proxomely caused to the plaintiffs. Real quick, Andrew, why sue the husband, too? Washington is a community property state, and so that means that both spouses have liability

joint and several for any type of liability incurred by the other spouse during the course of the marriage. So it's pretty routine to name the spouse in this type of situation in case they have their own separate assets or something like that. that you would want to try to enforce a judgment against. Got it. That makes sense. One final point. Jose Sanchez's family started a GoFundMe to raise money for funeral expenses and other costs. His mother wrote on the GoFundMe. He was a bright and loving soul who brought joy to everyone around him.

And his absence has left a void that we cannot begin to describe. Really, really sad situation. Andrew Burkhart, thank you so much for taking the time and love having you on getting your perspective. Really appreciate it. Thanks, Jesse. Always a pleasure. All right. everybody, that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Thank you so much for joining us.

And as always, please check us out. Please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.