Woman hit with second DUI charge

December 31, 2006

By MARY AMES/Frontiersman

PALMER -A woman sentenced for driving under the influence in July bailed out of jail for the same offense Friday afternoon, with her two young children watching court proceedings.

Nadine Willis, 46, had no attorney at her bail hearing in Palmer District Court. Willis had made the request for a bail hearing at her arraignment the day before, according to statements made in court.

Willis was charged with DUI, driving with a canceled, suspended or revoked license and two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, according to a police report. On Dec. 27, the Alaska State Trooper DUI team found Willis' car in a ditch near East Cottle Loop and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway shortly after 10 p.m. Willis had two children under the age of 16 in the car with her, the report said, and she was taken to Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility where she was held on a no-bail status, the report said.

At Friday's bail hearing, Willis offered her neighbor Kimberlyanne Hughes, of Palmer, as a third-party custodian. Hughes told the court she lives with her husband, his mother and three children, ages 9, 8 and 5. Her children and Willis' children play together, Hughes said, and Willis and her children would live with her family. Hughes said she was caring for Willis' children since their mother's arrest, and there was no alcohol available in her house.

The family had two cars and only one set of keys to the cars, she said.

District Court Judge John Wolfe approved Willis' release to Hughes, with the conditions she not drive, not speak about the case with her two children and not be around any alcohol. Wolfe also set Willis' bail at a $3,000 bond.

On July 7, troopers stopped Willis at Mile 1.5 Palmer-Wasilla Hwy. for crossing over the fog line several times, according to the police report. Troopers stopped Willis about 12:45 a.m., arrested her for DUI and took her to Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility, where she was placed on $3,000 bail, the report said.

Court records show Willis pleaded no contest and was sentenced at her arraignment the same day. Willis was sentenced to 90 days in jail, with 87 days suspended; fined $1,500, all suspended, and placed on five years probation, records show. On July 14, Willis reported to Cordova Center to serve her jail sentence, records show.

Wolfe scheduled Willis' next court hearing for

Jan. 25.

Contact Mary Ames at 352-2284 or mary.ames@ frontiersman.com.