‘Miscarriage of justice.’ Hwy 240 vehicular homicide charge dropped after new crash report
Two years ago, a fatal collision changed a Kennewick woman’s life. She was accused of driving the wrong way on Highway 240, leaving her severely injured and a Pasco man dead.
After a long recovery and court battle, vehicular homicide charges have been dropped against Katie Torguson.
Benton County prosecutors acknowledged in court filings that a new crash analysis showed that it was possible she was not driving the wrong way and was not at fault.
Washington State Patrol investigators initially said Torguson was driving the wrong direction on Highway 240 near Richland on Oct. 15, 2022, when the crash happened, killing 26-year-old Marshall Tapani.
Torguson, now 35, lost a leg as a result of her injuries.
Her attorney, Scott Johnson of Johnson and Orr, described the case as a miscarriage of justice and said they are pursuing every legal option.
“This case serves as a stark reminder that every person charged with a crime must be presumed innocent,” Johnson said in a news release. “Law enforcement investigations can be wrong. Prosecutors can file false charges.”
Prosecutors attempted to pursue a lesser DUI charge against Torguson, but she ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of first degree negligent driving on March 6. Her attorneys advised her to make this plea, despite believing there was no factual basis for it, in order to avoid a trial and put the case behind her, according to a news release.
Court documents show Torguson’s blood alcohol content was a 0.097, which is above the legal limit of 0.08, while Tapani’s blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit at 0.187.
At the time WSP investigators believed Torguson was driving the wrong way based on witnesses who said they saw a similar vehicle to Torguson’s white Buick Rendezvous enter the Steptoe Street roundabout going the wrong way.
Tapani was driving a gray Toyota Camry.
WSP also noted how the vehicles came to rest after the collision.
While in the hospital, Torguson’s family contacted the law firm which sought an independent crash analysis. That investigation by Accredited Collision Examination Specialists of Edmonds found Torguson was not the wrong-way driver and did not cause the wreck, according to a news release from the law firm.
The prosecutor’s office acknowledged in court that the report cast doubt on whether Torguson was driving the wrong direction and WSP’s initial assessment of the crash.
Witness accounts also were conflicting. One witness said they saw either a white or silver vehicle driving the wrong way, while another said they saw a gray car suddenly swerve and hit the white SUV. That witness later changed their statement because they did not recall the vehicles spinning, and said that the SUV must have been going the wrong way, according to court documents.
The analysis by ACES suggests that based on evidence from the crash, it was actually Tapani who was driving in the wrong direction.
“Detectives at WSP concur this casts doubt that Ms. Torguson was the wrong way driver, and thus reasonable doubts that she was the proximate cause of the collision,” prosecutors wrote in court documents to drop the felony charge.
Johnson said that Torguson suffered not only devastating physical injuries, but years of debilitating mental anguish.
“Without the courage of Ms. Torguson to maintain her innocence, the tenacity of Johnson and Orr to make sure a proper investigation was conducted, and the expertise of the ACES, an innocent woman could have easily been thrown in prison for a crime she did not commit and left with the blame for Mr. Tapani’s death,” said the firm’s news release.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated.
This story was originally published January 19, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
