Councilwoman arrested on DUI charge

PONDERAY — Sandpoint City Councilwoman Jamie Brunner was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of drunken driving.

Brunner posted $1,000 bail following her arrest on the misdemeanor offense and made an initial appearance on Friday in Bonner County Magistrate Court.

“I hope for a fair trial unbiased by preconceived notions an article or subsequent comments to the article might generate,” Brunner said in a written statement to The Daily Bee.

Brunner, 38, was elected to the council in 2009. She did not run for re-election and her term in office expires at the end of this year.

Brunner was arrested on U.S. Highway 95 at Bonner Mall Way at about 10:30 p.m., roughly a half an hour after another motorist reported her driving erratically in the Careywood area, a Ponderay Police affidavit states.

Brunner allegedly failed field sobriety tests and she was charged with excessive driving under the influence because a breath-alcohol test showed her to be more than twice over the legal limit of 0.08, according to court documents.

Brunner’s breath-alcohol test listed her level of impairment at 0.20, which is nearly three times the legal limit to drive, court records indicate.

Brunner told police that she consumed one drink in Coeur d’Alene three hours prior to her being stopped, according to the affidavit.

If convicted as charged, Brunner faces up to a year in jail, a $2,000 fine and a one-year suspension of her driving privileges.

Judge Debra Heise imposed a pretrial condition of release on Friday which forbids Brunner from consuming alcohol and ordered her to undergo ethyl glucuronide testing to verify compliance with the court order.

A trial date is pending.