High-profile Seattle attorney Bremner pleads guilty to DUI
SEATTLE -- High-profile Seattle attorney Anne Bremner has pleaded guilty to driving drunk.
Bremner, 52, entered the plea in court on Wednesday when she acknowledged she'd made a mistake and apologized for her actions.
"I was wrong," Bremner said, adding she will never drink and drive again.
A judge sentenced Bremner to 365 days in jail with all but two days suspended. She was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, have an interlock device installed on the ignition of her car and attend a drunk-driving victims' panel.
Before the proceedings began, Bremner appeared relaxed as she smiled and chatted with her attorneys. However, as she addressed the court, her voice wavered and she became quite emotional at one point.
Bremner's admission of guilt contradicts her previous claims of having suffered a head injury in a hit-and-run accident and being mistakenly arrested.
She was stopped in Kenmore on June 4 after driving on three flat tires. She was returning from a dinner party at a judge's home in Seattle.
Bremner claimed police failed to respond to two 911 calls some time before her midnight arrest in Kenmore and, in a statement submitted to the court on her behalf by her doctor, alleged that she was manhandled by the sheriff's deputy.
To support their contention that Bremner suffered a head injury, her attorneys in the filed a statement by local psychiatrist Dr. Philip Lindsay.
Lindsay wrote in court documents that Bremner had been the "victim of a hit and run driver at 50 mph and had suffered a concussion," and argued that the deputy who stopped her in Kenmore "rushed to judgment."
"She was mistakenly arrested for DUI based solely upon the symptoms of traumatic brain injury," Lindsay wrote the court.
Attorneys for King County called the doctor's statements "grossly misleading" and contended Bremner never reported a hit-and-run crash or head injury until well after her arrest.
Bremner's defense investigator interviewed the dinner party host, Rosselle Pekelis, a former state Supreme Court justice and former King County Superior Court judge. Pekelis, her husband, and others reported no issues with Bremner regarding her balance, coordination or thought process and speech, before she left, according to summaries of their statements.
During the proceedings, Bremner attempted to keep her court documents sealed. In a complaint filed under the name "Jane Doe," her lawyer argued she would suffer "substantial and irreparable harm to her personal and professional reputation if the unsubstantiated DUI allegations" were made public.
The judge, however, immediately stayed that decision as Bremner's attorney announced an appeal of the decision.
After the sentencing Wednesday, Bremner's attorney addressed the reason why they tried to block the police reports from coming
"As we all know, fear and anxiety can cause us to do things we wouldn't normally do," attorney Bill Bowman said in a statement. "In this case, Anne's fear of being embarrassed has caused her to try to keep the police reports private. Anne now realizes that this attempt was misguided and she has agreed to release the reports.
"Anne's choice to drink and drive on June 4th was wrong. She sincerely regrets making that decision and the way that she treated the officers involved. By entering this plea Anne is taking full responsibility for her actions and honoring those of the officers. She offers her deepest apologies to all of the officers involved in this incident."
Bremner, 52, entered the plea in court on Wednesday when she acknowledged she'd made a mistake and apologized for her actions.
"I was wrong," Bremner said, adding she will never drink and drive again.
A judge sentenced Bremner to 365 days in jail with all but two days suspended. She was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, have an interlock device installed on the ignition of her car and attend a drunk-driving victims' panel.
Before the proceedings began, Bremner appeared relaxed as she smiled and chatted with her attorneys. However, as she addressed the court, her voice wavered and she became quite emotional at one point.
Bremner's admission of guilt contradicts her previous claims of having suffered a head injury in a hit-and-run accident and being mistakenly arrested.
She was stopped in Kenmore on June 4 after driving on three flat tires. She was returning from a dinner party at a judge's home in Seattle.
Bremner claimed police failed to respond to two 911 calls some time before her midnight arrest in Kenmore and, in a statement submitted to the court on her behalf by her doctor, alleged that she was manhandled by the sheriff's deputy.
To support their contention that Bremner suffered a head injury, her attorneys in the filed a statement by local psychiatrist Dr. Philip Lindsay.
Lindsay wrote in court documents that Bremner had been the "victim of a hit and run driver at 50 mph and had suffered a concussion," and argued that the deputy who stopped her in Kenmore "rushed to judgment."
"She was mistakenly arrested for DUI based solely upon the symptoms of traumatic brain injury," Lindsay wrote the court.
Attorneys for King County called the doctor's statements "grossly misleading" and contended Bremner never reported a hit-and-run crash or head injury until well after her arrest.
Bremner's defense investigator interviewed the dinner party host, Rosselle Pekelis, a former state Supreme Court justice and former King County Superior Court judge. Pekelis, her husband, and others reported no issues with Bremner regarding her balance, coordination or thought process and speech, before she left, according to summaries of their statements.
During the proceedings, Bremner attempted to keep her court documents sealed. In a complaint filed under the name "Jane Doe," her lawyer argued she would suffer "substantial and irreparable harm to her personal and professional reputation if the unsubstantiated DUI allegations" were made public.
The judge, however, immediately stayed that decision as Bremner's attorney announced an appeal of the decision.
After the sentencing Wednesday, Bremner's attorney addressed the reason why they tried to block the police reports from coming
"As we all know, fear and anxiety can cause us to do things we wouldn't normally do," attorney Bill Bowman said in a statement. "In this case, Anne's fear of being embarrassed has caused her to try to keep the police reports private. Anne now realizes that this attempt was misguided and she has agreed to release the reports.
"Anne's choice to drink and drive on June 4th was wrong. She sincerely regrets making that decision and the way that she treated the officers involved. By entering this plea Anne is taking full responsibility for her actions and honoring those of the officers. She offers her deepest apologies to all of the officers involved in this incident."