Attorneys argue bail in fatal Tri-Cities DUI wreck, pointing to off-duty WSP trooper

A 19-year-old Kennewick woman was allegedly going 75 mph when she hit and killed a motorcycle rider.

Investigators also estimate that Valeria Benitez-Hernandez had a blood-alcohol level of 0.1, which is above the 0.02 allowed for drivers under the age of 21.

The information came as Benitez-Hernandez pleaded innocent to vehicular homicide in Benton County Superior Court Thursday. Attorneys pointed to recent fatal DUI cases, one involving an off-duty WSP trooper, as part of their arguments over whether she should get bail.

The hearing was packed with members of Donald “Garth” Rettinghouse’s family and friends and Benitez-Hernandez’s family members. Many of them crying.

Benitez-Hernandez is accused of speeding at 75 mph as she headed west on Columbia Drive. She told officers that she was heading to Pasco from Clover Island.

Rettinghouse was hit by the Nissan Pathfinder after pulling out from Jean Street about 8 p.m. and died at the scene. Police pointed out that she went another 600 feet — the distance of two football fields — before she pulled off at Kent street.

The section of Columbia Drive is near the on ramps for Highways 395 and 240. The speed limit is 35 mph.

Benitez-Hernandez doesn’t have any prior criminal history, and faces a prison sentence of 6 1/2 to 8 1/2 years if she is convicted as charged, prosecutors said.

Bail for vehicular homicides

While Benitez-Heranandez will remain in Benton County jail on $200,000 bail, defense attorney Josh Cuevas argued that should be released. His argument revolved around two defendants who were allowed to leave jail on their own recognizance.

While he didn’t name them in court, one of those cases involved off-duty Trooper Sarah Clasen who is accused of killing motorcyclist Jhoser Vega Sanchez as she was turning into the Horn Rapids neighborhood on March 1, 2025.

She was arrested the same night on suspicion of vehicular homicide while driving drunk.

When she appeared in court on the following Monday, Judge Diana Ruff agreed to release Clasen on her own recognizance. Another driver, Matthew D. Mason, who had killed a man in a Benton City crash, was also released that day.

When Clasen was charged six months later, the case was being handled by the Spokane Prosecutor’s Office. The deputy prosecutor didn’t ask for any bail or any alcohol monitoring, and Judge Joe Burrowes signed off on the request.

Clasen is expected to face trial in September, though the case has been delayed multiple times.

Cuevas noted that Benitez-Hernandez doesn’t have any felony history, and should be treated the same as the other two defendants. She’s lived in the Tri-Cities for her entire life, has a 2-year-old son, and works on the weekends at her family’s stand at the Pasco Flea Market.

“I don’t see how the crimes of her case are any more egregious than the others. ... Ms. Benitez-Hernandez is asking to be treated the same,” Cuevas said. “This court has found (electronic alcohol use monitoring) as sufficient safeguards with similarly situated individuals.”

Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Clark argued for the $200,000 bail. He pointed out there have been other cases where people without criminal histories have been held on a similar bail.

He noted that her apparent alcohol level and speed made her a danger to the community.

Rettinghouse’s daughter also spoke in favor of keeping the bail at $200,000.

“It’s not that the Rettinghouse family do not have compassion and sympathy. However, we are suffering a great loss because of her decision,” she said while crying. “I feel, and we all feel, that the bail that was previously set is fair and appropriate.”

Judge’s decision on bail

Judge David Petersen didn’t comment on the decisions of the other judges. But he did note that Burrowes spent some time questioning the Spokane deputy prosecutor about the lack of conditions in Clasen’s case.

“Judge Burrowes was visibly taken aback. He maintained his composure of course, but he quizzed the prosecutor, ‘Are you sure?’” Petersen said. “Honestly, the prosecutor from Spokane, I see with all due respect, didn’t act like he personally wanted to be here.”

Petersen pointed out that Benitez-Hernandez was too young to legally drink, which he said was a key difference between Clasen and Mason.

“Does that make what they’ve done less? No. It doesn’t, but it does distinguish them,” he said.