DUII driver gets 30 days after killing pedestrian dashing across U.S. 26

By Aimee Green | Oregon Live | May 8, 2017

A 68-year-old driver who authorities say was drunk when he killed a pedestrian crossing U.S. 26 near the Vista Ridge Tunnel was sentenced Monday to 30 days in jail.

Brent McCune kept driving but called police from his Beaverton home on the night of the crash last Aug. 8.

McCune pleaded guilty Monday to hit-and-run driving and driving while under the influence of intoxicants. His blood alcohol was .22 percent; the legal limit for driving is .08 percent.

McCune wasn't charged with manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide because there wasn't evidence that a sober driver could have avoided hitting 31-year-old Savannah Munden, said Deputy District Attorney Elisabeth Waner.

A second car struck Munden's body and investigators couldn't tell if Munden was killed by the impact of McCune's car or the second car, the prosecutor said. The second driver stopped and stayed at the scene, Waner said.

McCune also hit Munden's fiance, Timothy Berg, in the head with a side view mirror of his Volkswagen Jetta, Waner said. Berg also was crossing the highway.

McCune called 911 from home to turn himself in. Police arrived to find McCune's badly damaged Jetta in his garage: The windshield was broken with cracks leading up to the driver's field of vision, the hood was dented and blood was found inside a broken headlight, according to a probable cause affidavit.

McCune told police he might have hit somebody. He said he had been at the Broadmoor Golf Course in Northeast Portland for a tournament, then had three to four gin-and-tonics afterward.

He is retired and had no prior criminal history.

McCune was represented by father-son attorneys Steve and Jacob Houze. He declined to make a statement during the hearing.

Berg and Munden's mother made tearful statements about their loss of Munden, describing her as loved and "a sunshine" for many people.

"She did not to deserve to die like that," Berg said. "She was my light, and she was my love. ...I just want it to be known what was taken from me and what was taken from this world."

After the hearing, Munden's mother said she didn't think 30 days in jail was justice.

"Somebody takes a life, he does 30 days -- that's wrong," Kim Munden said. "He should have at least got bloody manslaughter. ... I'm without a daughter and he's inconvenienced."

Kim Munden also said she was upset that McCune didn't stand up in court and apologize.

"He wouldn't even look at me," she said. "Not even a sorry."

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Thomas Ryan followed the terms of a plea agreement in sentencing McCune to the 30 days in jail, three years of probation, 200 hours of community service, an evaluation to learn if he has drug and alcohol problems and treatment if necessary. McCune's driver's license also will be suspended for five years.

"Don't forget what has been said here in this courtroom, especially by the victims," the judge said. "Carry forward the memory of today in a positive way."