Trial date set for manslaughter, DUI case
Published Tuesday, November 25, 2008
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Stumble It!FAIRBANKS — A woman who authorities say was under the influence of alcohol when she hit a boy on a Big Wheel with a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am is schedule to go to trial Jan. 26.
The boy, 4-year-old Phillip Lara, later died.
Jessica Paul faces charges of manslaughter, first-degree assault, driving under the influence of alcohol, minor operating a vehicle after consuming and habitual minor consuming alcohol.
She appeared Monday before Superior Court Judge Paul Lyle for a trial-setting hearing at the Rabinowitz Courthouse. Paul has been at the Fairbanks Correctional Center since Aug. 21, the day of the incident. Her bail is set at $20,000.
The incident happened about 8 p.m. in an east Fairbanks neighborhood about three months before Paul turned 21.
Lara was riding his Big Wheel on Slater Drive beside the curb when he was struck from behind, according to his relatives. He suffered a fractured skull, broken back, bruised lung and bruised heart.
His heart gave out in a Seattle hospital about a month after he was hit.
Paul told authorities that the sun had blinded her as she came around a corner. She was coming from a nearby park, where she had reportedly been drinking with friends.
Paul registered 0.105 on a chemical breath test, according to court records. The legal limit to operate a motor vehicle is 0.08.
Contact staff writer Amanda Bohman at 459-7544.
