Article: Family Seeks Leniency

Mom seeks leniency for driver in DUI crash that killed son

DAWN HOBBS, NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
December 18, 2006 — In an unusual show of compassion, the mother of Alex Baer has asked that themotorist charged with drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter inconnection with her son’s death in August receive leniency from the court.

Jessica Binkerd, 22, who is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday, faces amaximum punishment of seven years in state prison. But the victim’s motherhas requested Ms. Binkerd, who had worked with her son at Devereaux SantaBarbara, instead be sentenced to probation and community service.

In a moving letter Susan Arcady Barich sent to probation authorities, shestated: “We ask that the Court allow us to express compassion, forgiveness,understanding and love toward her and her family. We ask that she be able totell us she is sorry and that we can have the grace to offer herforgiveness.

“We ask that she be allowed to create something as powerful and beautifulwith her life as this tragedy has been bleak and horrific. We ask that thisaccident not be allowed to cause more loss. Our society, our culture, ourcommunity need Jessica Binkerd to build her life’s work around helping andpreserving other young people, around saving lives.”

Mr. Baer’s family and friends are emphatic when they say it won’t do anygood to put Ms. Binkerd behind bars.

“I’ve talked extensively with his mom and friends and we’re all in agreementon this,” said Paige Reid, the late Mr. Baer’s girlfriend. “This has been ahorrible tragedy. There is nothing that is going to correct this — andthere’s no type of sentence that will bring him back. She has to live with this the rest of her life. And that’s probably worsethan any sentence the courts could impose. What’s important is that thisgets prevented from ever happening again, which it seems she is committed toand that’s the most important thing out of all of this.”

Ms. Binkerd and Mr. Baer, 25, were returning from a party for current andformer Devereaux employees shortly before 2 a.m. on Aug. 6 when her FordFocus crashed head-on into a Lexus driven by Sara Maynez, 19, at theintersection of Highway 154 and Calle Real.

Mr. Baer, a psychology major at UCSB who loved his work with autisticchildren, was pronounced dead at the scene.Ms. Maynez escaped serious injury, but her English bulldog, Corona, died inthe crash.

Ms. Binkerd, who wants to become a psychologist and work with autisticchildren, suffered broken bones. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.20 percent.The legal driving limit is 0.08 percent.Ms. Binkerd and her defense lawyer, Steve Balash, want to resolve the matterwithout going to trial.

Prosecutor Kimberly Smith, who could not be reached for comment Friday, hasalready taken a tough stance in the case by adding the enhancement ofcausing great bodily injury, enabling her to file the charges as “strikes”under the state’s “Three Strikes” law.

How this case all shakes out depends on Superior Court Judge Joseph Lodge.On Tuesday, he’ll take into consideration the recommendations from probationofficials and the attorneys, as well as the dozens of letters submitted onbehalf of Ms. Binkerd — including the one from the victim’s mother.

Mr. Balash said he was “overwhelmed” by Ms. Barich’s compassion.”That doesn’t usually happen,” the defense lawyer said. “Usually people wantthe defendant to get as much time as possible.”

Mr. Balash said his client is a prime candidate for probation: “She has noprior criminal background, no DMV record, she’s worked as a rape-crisiscounselor and works as a nanny with autistic children.”

Ms. Binkerd’s explanation has been consistent since she was pulled out ofthe vehicle that morning, Mr. Balash said.

“She said she was coming down Highway 154 and the car in front of her brakedfor no reason. She swerved to avoid hitting that car and hit the other onehead-on. This could have happened without the alcohol, but there was alcoholinvolved. . . . She’s so upset by what happened. She just hasn’t been thesame. It’s a truly tragic case all around.”

In an interview with the News-Press, Ms. Barich explained why she is askingfor leniency rather than demand the harshest sentence possible be imposedagainst the defendant, as most families do who have lost loved ones in sucha way.”
I don’t want this accident to cause any more pain because the more pain itcauses, the more hurt I feel,” Ms. Barich said. “I feel very strongly thatthere but for fortune, this could happen to any of us. It’s not my place tojudge. . . . This was truly an accident. . . . An accident by definition iswhen someone makes a mistake. So who am I to say I am never going to make amistake?”

Ms. Barich has suffered loss before at the hands of an intoxicated driver –her own cousin. Both her cousin and Ms. Barich’s sister were killed in 1966;Ms. Barich, then 16, was a passenger in the vehicle. She said it took her 30years to forgive her cousin, but she finally realized it was an accident. That realization is what allows her to have compassion for the young adultresponsible for her son’s death.

“She will carry that around with her for the rest of her life,” said Ms.Barich, who sometimes wears her son’s sweatshirt because it still smellslike him. “I cannot bear the thought of adding to that burden.”

Just last month, on Thanksgiving morning, Ms. Barich called Ms. Binkerd andleft a message that she wanted to speak with her. The next day, she calledback. The mother and the former co-worker and friend of Mr. Baer, who hadnever spoken before, talked and shed tears together.

“She wanted to contact us from the first day and say she was sorry, but shewasn’t allowed to do that because the court frowns upon it,” Ms. Barichsaid. “I said, ‘Jessica, I know it was an accident.’ She said it really wasand cried and said how sorry she was. I said, ‘I understand. It’ll be OK.’ “

Ms. Binkerd has contacted numerous programs about helping young people ande-mailed Ms. Barich about them working together.

“She’s a very evolved and valuable human being,” Ms. Barich said. “If we puther in prison for any length of time, it’s going to have a negative effect.”Ms. Barich and her husband also feel that as elders in a society they havean obligation to take care of the younger people and lead them in the rightdirection.

“We don’t in any way support or condone drinking and driving, but I think weas a society need to come up with better solutions than don’t drink anddrive — and we need to put money and effort into better solutions,” Ms.Barich said.

She suggests an on-call group whose members can drive home those who havebeen drinking. Perhaps they could hang out and play video games or watchtelevision, getting paid $10 to do so, until calls come in for rides home,she said.

“I hope this article will teach people the other side of vengeance,” Ms.Barich said. “Especially during this time of year, let’s look with love andcompassion. We don’t always have to get our piece of flesh because someonemade a mistake. If we could learn to be more compassionate, even how muchmore comfortable our society and families would be for us to live in.”e-mail: dhobbs@newspress.com