The woman who drove drunk and killed South Whidbey resident Timothy Kiel on Valentine’s Day 2015 has exhausted her appellate avenues, according to the Island County Prosecutor’s Office.
Michelle D. Nichols was convicted of vehicular homicide following an unusual legal process and sentenced in 2019 to 10 years and six months in prison.
The state Court of Appeals dismissed Nichol’s personal restraint petition in a decision filed Dec. 1. The appellate court previously confirmed her conviction and denied a motion for reconsideration.
The state Supreme Court also denied her petition for review.
Nichols drove a 1988 Ford van head-on into a 1993 Honda Accord driven by Kiel on Highway 525 in 2015. He died at the scene.
Investigators did not have a warrant when her blood was drawn while she was unconscious and being prepped for surgery at the hospital. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.11 percent, more than the state 0.08 limit, nearly four hours after the crash and following a blood transfusion, according to court documents.
In her personal restraint petition, Nichols argued that her appellate attorney was ineffective in not arguing that prosecutors failed to prove the blood draw was reliable and unadulterated.
The decision, however, notes that Nichols stipulated at trial that the blood test was accurate.
In addition, Nichols argued that there was no exigent circumstances to justify a warrantless blood draw. But the order states that she made a virtually identical argument in direct appeal and that she cannot raise the issue again unless she demonstrates it would serve the ends of justice. She made no such showing, the order states.
The order notes that Nichols submitted additional pro se statements of additional ground for review. She argued that her appellate counsel was ineffective in failing to argue that her car needed its steering repaired, she applied the brakes prior to the crash and potholes caused steering difficulty.
But the order notes that Nichols and her attorney negotiated with the prosecution for six months prior to a bench trial and she stipulated to a set of detailed facts about how the accident happened.
None of the new facts she alleged in the statement were part of the record.
