Driver gets 5 years in prison for fatal Brooklyn Center DWI crash

Melissa Heus, whose actions a judge called "outrageous and reckless," was sentenced to double what the law requires. She pledged to fight addiction in and out of prison.

By ROCHELLE OLSON, Star Tribune

Last update: November 9, 2009 - 9:26 PM

After witnessing a crash at a Brooklyn Center stoplight about 6 p.m. last December, Daniel Goodrich said he tried in vain to free 37-year-old James Wolter from the burning Chrysler LeBaron sedan that was so crushed it resembled a hatchback.

Goodrich said he continues to suffer guilt and anxiety because he was unable to break a window or open a jammed door to free Wolter. "I experienced watching a man burn to death. It was horrific and gruesome. No one should have to experience that," Goodrich said at Monday's sentencing of the Minneapolis woman whose drunken driving caused the crash.

Melissa Heus, 32, will serve more than five years in prison on her sentence of 96 months, which was double what the law requires. She pleaded guilty in September to killing Wolter and severely injuring Beverly Kauth in the Dec. 13 crash at the intersection of Hwy. 252 and 66th Avenue N. Her blood alcohol level was 0.36 percent at the time of the crash -- more than four times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Hennepin County Judge Marilyn Rosenbaum granted Assistant County Attorney John Halla's request for the longer sentence because of the severity of the crime. Halla noted that the black box from Heus' car indicated she sped up to 84 miles per hour as she approached a red light after she had spent the previous six hours drinking at a bar.

Heus had two previous drunken-driving convictions: one in Minnesota in 2004 and one in Wisconsin in 2006. Rosenbaum noted that Heus was combative with police at the scene of the crash. She said Heus' conduct was both "outrageous and reckless."

Many members of Wolter's family spoke at the 90-minute sentencing. His widow, Patricia Wolter, could barely speak as she sobbed and held out the items she received after the crash: a wallet with melted credit cards and pictures, the glasses they had to pry off his burnt face and a money clip he hadn't had time to engrave yet. She called him her best friend, true love and the only father figure her now-grown sons had known.

William and Diane Wolter described the heartache of losing their only son. They wore gold amulet necklaces that say "Jim" and carry some of his ashes inside. Wolter loved to hunt and fish, play video games and watch the Vikings, his family said.

Before being handcuffed and led away, Heus read from a statement, saying that she intends to work to fight drunken driving and will dedicate her life to ensuring that James Wolter is remembered, along with Beverly Kauth, who also was injured in the crash. Kauth, who was already in fragile health, needed brain surgery after the crash. She died in June after months of medical problems. Members of Kauth's family attended the sentencing but didn't speak.

Until last fall, Heus worked for the city of Minneapolis. In August 2008 she received a $15,000 settlement from her claim of sexual harassment against the city and her supervisor in the Empowerment Zone program, Jonathan Palmer.

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747

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