<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Arraignment delayed in motorcylist’s death

Woman facing charges of vehicular homicide hadn't retained attorney

By
Published:

The arraignment of an Amboy woman accused of killing a motorcyclist while driving under the influence of drugs was delayed Thursday because the woman hadn’t retained an attorney.

Tanya M. Leffler, 34, was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on a charge of vehicular homicide in connection with the death of James Luden, 54, of Vancouver. Luden was killed while stopped at a traffic light on Vancouver’s Padden Parkway on April 14. Leffler was arrested earlier this month after investigators received the results of toxicology tests.

Although the court determined that Leffler is indigent and eligible for a court-appointed attorney, Leffler said she plans to hire her own attorney. She hadn’t done so by Thursday’s hearing.

“I’ve talked to a few attorneys,” Leffler said Thursday. She said she needed time to get money together to pay for the attorney.

Clark County Superior Court Judge Scott Collier rescheduled the arraignment for Aug. 5. Leffler was released from jail July 10 after posting $75,000 in bail.

About 30 of Luden’s friends and family attended Thursday’s hearing. They expressed frustration over the delay.

“She knows she’s guilty,” said Jimmy Luden Jr., the victim’s son.

Leffler was behind the wheel of a 2010 Mitsubishi Galant driving west when she struck Luden’s 2010 Harley-Davidson stopped in a left-turn lane at the intersection of Northeast 94th Avenue, according to a court affidavit. His motorcycle was among multiple vehicles stopped in three lanes of traffic at a red signal.

Leffler failed to slow for the stopped traffic and was traveling at a speed of 50 to 55 mph when she struck the rear of Luden’s motorcycle, court records say.

Luden was pronounced dead at the scene.

Clark County sheriff’s traffic Sgt. Dennis Pritchard said investigators waited three months for the results of toxicology tests, which are handled by the Washington State Patrol crime laboratory. The results show Leffler was under the influence of methamphetamine when she struck Luden, according to court records.

At the time of the crash, Leffler’s driver’s license was suspended for failure to appear on an unpaid ticket, court records say. It had been suspended since December 2001. Her vehicle also lacked insurance at the time of the crash, court records say.

Deputy Prosector Kasey Vu said while the investigation was pending, Leffler was again caught driving with a suspended license.

“My husband, Jim, for the last eight years of his life fought very hard to live,” his wife, Julie Luden, said Thursday. “He had three massive heart attacks and was in a 30-day coma due to pneumonia. He had such a strong will to live. It is so unfair someone could take him out in 10 seconds.”

Loading...