Judge rules Rochester driver who killed 18-year-old in drunk driving crash could face harsher sentence

Emily Cutts, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·2 min read

Mar. 23—ROCHESTER — An Olmsted County District Court judge ruled this week that the Rochester man who pleaded guilty to killing an 18-year-old girl in February 2021 while drunk behind the wheel of a truck could face a harsher prison sentence.

Sterling Haukom, 35, pleaded guilty in December 2021 to a charge of criminal vehicular homicide-operating a motor vehicle in a negligent manner while under the influence of alcohol in the death of 18-year-old Erika Cruz.

Cruz was on her way home from work about 10:20 p.m. Feb. 24, 2021, when her vehicle was hit at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and 12th Street Southeast, just blocks from her home. She died as a result of her injuries.

In the five-page ruling issued Monday, March 21, 2022, Allen ruled that an "aggravated durational departure" was legally permitted as Haukom was highly intoxicated at the time of the crash, his driving behavior including excessive speed was egregious, and that his state of mind while operating his vehicle went beyond simple negligence.

An aggravated duration departure is when a court hands down a prison sentence that is more than 20% higher than outlined in sentencing guidelines for a person charged with a similar offense with a similar criminal history score.

In the month after the crash, Chief Deputy Olmsted County Attorney Eric Woodford filed a notice to seek an aggravated sentence for Haukom. In February 2022, Judge Jacob Allen heard arguments from Woodford and Haukom's attorney Lauri Traub on whether Haukom's conduct was more serious than those typically involved in the commission of the charge.

In arguing for an aggravated sentence, Woodford presented evidence that showed Haukom's blood alcohol content was approximately 0.25 — more than three times the legal limit. A video of Haukom's in-custody interview, taken in the hours after the crash, was shown as part of the February hearing.

In the video, Haukom told an officer he had "way too much" and that it was as much as he drank when he wanted to get "toasted." Woodford also presented evidence that showed Haukom was traveling between 50 and 66 mph in the moments prior to the crash.

Traub argued that the evidence presented failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Haukom acted in a manner that was significantly more serious than what is typical. During the February hearing, Traub also argued that the officer testifying on crash data removed from Haukom's vehicle was not properly qualified to interpret the data. The officer himself acknowledged that the crash data retrieval data that was recorded by the vehicle may not be indicative of what actually happened.

A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.