A drunken driving charge brought against an assistant attorney with the Vancouver City Attorney’s Office has been reduced to a traffic infraction after he stayed out of trouble for six months and fulfilled court-ordered conditions.
Nicholas Z. Barnabas’ case was resolved Thursday in Skamania County District Court, his defense attorney, Jack Green, said. A judge found that Barnabas, 33, had complied with all of the court’s requirements during a six-month stay of proceeding, Green said, and issued him an infraction for second-degree negligent driving. The DUI charge was dismissed.
The case was handled in Skamania County to avoid any conflicts of interest.
Green said Barnabas underwent an evaluation process, refrained from alcohol consumption and completed community service, among other conditions, to avoid the DUI conviction.
“It is a fair result,” Green said. “There was no doubt he would comply with all of the requirements.”
City Prosecutor Kevin McClure said Barnabas remains employed with the city attorney’s office.
Barnabas was stopped by a Washington State Patrol trooper in the early morning of April 23 on state Highway 14 in Vancouver. He subsequently provided two breath samples of 0.061 and 0.060 breath-alcohol concentration, Green said. In Washington, a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or more is considered evidence of drunken driving.
At about 12:30 a.m., Trooper Jeffrey Wallace said he was traveling east on the highway in the left lane when he saw a silver Mazda sedan, driven by Barnabas, in his rearview mirror. The Mazda appeared to be speeding in the 60 mph zone, and the trooper recorded the car’s speed at 78 mph, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
The Mazda then passed the trooper in the right lane, so Wallace activated his emergency lights and stopped it on the right shoulder. Wallace said that when he contacted Barnabas, he could smell the odor of alcohol coming from the car, the affidavit states.
Barnabas reportedly told Wallace that he drank a couple of beers earlier in the night but was fine to drive, court records said.
However, the trooper said Barnabas’ speech was slow, and his eyes were watery and bloodshot. Barnabas declined voluntary field sobriety tests and a preliminary breath test at the scene, according to court documents. He was subsequently taken to the State Patrol’s Vancouver office, where he provided the two under-the-limit breath samples.
