DUI suspect to remain in jail

A Woodinville woman accused of having the highest blood-alcohol reading ever recorded in a state breath test will probably remain in jail for at least another week because of a judge's ruling Monday.

Deana F. Jarrett, 53, is charged with two counts of driving under the influence stemming from two separate arrests in Redmond on April 10 and 11. She was arrested again last week because state troopers considered her such a high risk to drive drunk.

She was also cited in Redmond in February for hit-and-run driving and reckless driving.

Jarrett pleaded not guilty Monday to the February charges and to a DUI charge stemming from the April 10 arrest. She pleaded not guilty last week to a DUI charge from the April 11 arrest.

On April 11, state troopers recorded her blood-alcohol level as 0.47 percent, nearly six times the legal limit of 0.08, according to the State Patrol.

She remains in the King County Jail on $300,000 bail, an amount designed to keep her in jail and off the roads, said King County District Judge David Steiner. The judge retained the $250,000 bail from the April 11 charge and set $25,000 bail each on the February and April 10 charges.

Jarrett's attorney, Raymond Ejarque, asked Steiner to lower the April 11 bail, saying she should instead be in an in-patient treatment facility to treat her drinking problem.

Steiner refused, saying if the charges against Jarrett are true, then she could be "not only out of control and driving but also out of control in her alcoholism."

Ejarque said the 0.47 percent blood-alcohol reading is not reliable and won't be admissible at trial because it was conducted by a portable breath-test machine rather than one at a police station.

Jarrett is due back in court May 1 for a hearing on a separate case: a deferred prosecution for a DUI arrest in August 2001.

Steiner said he would use the hearing to reconsider the request for Jarrett to be released from jail and into treatment.

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567

or abach@seattletimes.com