Portland police veteran officer admits responsibility for DUII

TILLAMOOK – Portland Police Officer Sean C. Sothern on Monday entered a plea of no contest to reckless driving stemming from his Aug. 18 drunken driving arrest while off-duty in Tillamook County.

 Sothern, 39, was ordered to spend five days in the Tillamook County jail, starting June 21, and face 18 months of bench probation. Effective Monday, his driver's license was suspended for 90 days, under a plea deal accepted by the court. Reckless driving is a misdemeanor.

As part of the deal, Tillamook County Judge Mari Garric Trevino dismissed four other charges Sothern faced from a September indictment: attempt to elude police, refusal to take a breath test and two counts of recklessly endangering another.

In October, Sothern had pleaded no contest to driving under the influence of intoxicants and entered a one-year diversion program. Sothern's attorney James McIntyre said his client has completed alcohol treatment under the program and is remorseful, and the DUII charge likely will be dismissed Nov. 22.

McIntyre described the August incident as a "single exercise" of bad judgment and an "aberration," noting Sothern has been a law-abiding citizen and "outstanding police officer."

Sothern, wearing a gray suit and accompanied by his wife to court, addressed the judge briefly. "I am responsible for what happened that night," he said. "It was a very long summer leading up to that particular night. It was bad choices."

Sothern had a blood-alcohol content of .137 more than four hours after his arrest. That's well above Oregon's limit of .08.

Early on Aug. 18, Sothern and his wife were stopped after leaving the Sportsman's Bar in Pacific City. They had been camping at Cape Kiwanda RV Park and had left four children between the ages of 6 and 12 in their RV when they went to a bar for two beers, Sothern told authorities.

Tillamook County sheriff's deputy Cody Anderson observed Sothern and his wife, Kari Sothern, having difficulty walking straight and stumbling near the bar in Pacific City about 12:30 a.m., according to sheriff's reports. The deputy watched them get into a 2000 Ford Excursion and activated his emergency lights, attempting to stop the vehicle after it failed to signal a right turn and drifted between lanes.

 According to the report, Sothern pulled into the lot of Cape Kiwanda RV Park, turned off his headlights and "gunned" his engine.

When Deputy Anderson approached, Sothern looked for his license in a card holder, which held an ID card that resembled a law enforcement identification card and a law enforcement patch. Sothern then pulled out his wallet and handed over his license. Anderson detected a strong odor of alcohol on Sothern and described him as acting slow, uncoordinated, eyes red and glassy.

When asked to step out of the vehicle, Sothern first said, "OK," but didn't move, the police report said. Finally, Sothern said, "I don't want to do that."

Anderson called for back up and told Sothern to stay inside his vehicle. While waiting for cover, Kari Sothern got out of the vehicle several times, despite Anderson's request she stay put. When he caught up with her and told her she'd be arrested for interfering, Sothern turned his high beams on and honked his horn, the report said. The park's guard asked Sothern to stop honking and disturbing campers.

Sothern was accused of endangering his wife, a passenger, and a security guard who was on foot at the RV Resort, when he pulled in with his headlights off, an action authorities believed Sothern took to ditch the deputy, according to the sheriff's office.

The plea came a day before his scheduled trial.

If the case had gone to trial, Sothern's lawyer indicated in court papers that he planned to question the deputy who arrested Sothern about his resignation from the Bozeman Police Department following a reprimand for inappropriate and unprofessional comments he posted on his Facebook page, and a questionable arrest, court records show.

 "The defense theory is that as a result of these prior difficulties ...deputy Anderson has a motive to exaggerate or lie about the defendant's actions the night of the incident," judge Trevino wrote in a court memo.

Judge Trevino ruled that Sothern's lawyer could question Anderson about his resignation from Bozeman police and discipline there, without details of the transgressions.

Tillamook County Sheriff Andy Long Monday said his office was aware of Anderson's history with Bozeman police, which came up during a background review at hiring. He said Anderson has been with the sheriff's office for 18 months, and has had a good record. Long said he reviewed Anderson's reports regarding Sothern's arrest, and called  the deputy's arrest of Sothern appropriate.

In court Monday, Sothern's lawyer disputed any suggestion that Sothern had put the children left sleeping in his RV in danger. He gave the court a copy of an American Red Cross babysitting certificate belonging to a 12-year-old girl who was in the RV that night.

The court ordered Sothern, a 17-year Portland police veteran, to consent to random searches and random blood, breath or urine tests; not possess any alcohol or enter any bars, unless as a course of his police work, and pay a $520 fine.

Portland police placed Sothern on paid leave after his September indictment, pending the outcome of the case and an internal affairs investigation.

Bureau spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said Monday that Sothern will remain on paid leave, but be brought back at some point to the bureau's Telephone Report Unit, a desk-duty job, while an internal inquiry proceeds.

Now, according to his attorney, "Mr. Sothern is still hoping to remain employed. That's the next battle."

"All types of people commit DUIIs, and unfortunately police officers too," Judge Trevino told Sothern. "I'm sure you'll be successful and this was an aberration."