Jefferson County jury finds La Pine man guilty in fatal drunken driving crash

Published 12:33 pm Monday, January 30, 2023

A Jefferson County jury on Monday found Brandon Kern guilty of manslaughter stemming from a 2020 drunken driving crash that killed one woman and seriously injured two people.

The jury of six men and six women returned the unanimous verdict after less than two hours of deliberation. The 31-year-old La Pine man was found guilty of all charges against him after a weeklong trial, including first- and- second-degree manslaughter, second-degree assault and driving under the influence of intoxicants.

Under Oregon’s mandatory minimum sentencing law, Measure 11, Kern faces 10 years in state prison.

Kern was found guilty in the death of Alisa Miller, 19, who was heading south on U.S. Highway 97 toward Terrebonne with her friend, Noelle Saunders, the 17-year-old driver, when the head-on collision occurred on Nov. 6, 2020.

“We are clearly quite happy with the jury’s verdict,” said Saunders’ mother, Veronica Williams, 47.

“It’ll never be enough, but it’s better than nothing,” she added.

Saunders testified that she was driving to Redmond when she saw headlights coming directly toward her.

She thought it was a semitruck, someone possibly playing chicken. She slowed down, honked her horn, flashed her lights and swerved into the opposite lane to get out of the way. She said Kern also corrected at the last minute. The collision crushed Saunders’ car and flipped Kern’s.

In closing arguments Friday, Brentley Foster, Jefferson County chief deputy district attorney, emphasized that Kern had been drinking heavily — Jack Daniels, stout, a screwball — and speeding in his full-size Chevrolet pickup truck on the night of the crash, despite his prior history of drunken and reckless driving.

Foster used this evidence to argue that Kern had displayed extreme indifference to human life when he caused the crash.

“There’s no way he wasn’t aware of that risk,” Foster told the jury. She added that Kern chose to drive drunk not out of necessity, but “because it was convenient.”

In his closing argument, Kern’s attorney Tim Gassner said the prosecution’s evidence was “insufficient” in proving Kern’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt for any charges besides driving under the influence of intoxicants. Instead, he said, the state’s case that Kern had driven into the wrong lane relied on “speculation” and “guesswork.”

Gassner did not respond to a phone call and email seeking comment prior to press time. Foster and Jefferson County District Attorney Steve Leriche also did not return calls for comment.

Following Monday’s verdict, Williams expressed relief that the trial was nearing its end, with only the sentencing to go. For her family, the case “has shrouded us in a cloud for two years,” she said.

After the crash, her daughter was hospitalized for 67 days. She underwent more than 20 surgeries for various broken bones. Because of permanent and disfiguring injuries to her right hand sustained in the crash, she has struggled to find work. Now, she must seek out jobs where she won’t have to be on her feet too much or use two hands to type.

But in spite of the hardship, she said her daughter has shown resolve, making jokes, comparing her injured hand to that of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

“She’s young and she would like to be able to get back to some semblance of normal,” Williams said, adding:

“That child has been unbelievably resilient.”

Now Williams said she plans to advocate for other victims of drunken driving crashes. She described the amount of drunken driving fatalities in Central Oregon as “astounding,” and she wants to see change.

Kern’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 3.