Grieving mother hopes motion for mercy will prevail

"I knew it was an accident," she said. "There was no room for rancor."

Barich, 56, a Monterey County businesswoman, has extended extraordinary compassion toward the 22-year-old woman who was drunk at the wheel the night her son, Alex Baer, hopped a ride with her.

Barich has written and made public a letter to court officials urging probation for Jessica Binkerd, whom she has never met. Binkerd was a casual work acquaintance of her son.

"I feel angry and helpless when I think that Jessica Binkerd, who must shoulder for the rest of her life the responsibility for Alex's death, may suffer further at the hands of our justice system," Barich wrote. "As a parent and as a human being, my heart breaks for Jessica."

Binkerd, a recent graduate of UC Santa Barbara, has pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving and is to be sentenced Friday in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, where she faces a prison term of up to seven years and eight months. Her blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit on the night of the crash.

Barich plans to tell the judge that, instead of being incarcerated, Binkerd should be ordered to campaign against drunk driving.

Her proposal has its critics, including some of her late son's close friends, who believe that only a stiff sentence will serve to deter Binkerd and other drunk drivers.

"All of Alex's friends are watching this case," said Caleb Day, 25. "The whole community is watching. If people see her getting away with a little slap on the wrist, it won't keep them from continuing to drive home wasted. And it will lessen the significance of Alex's life."

Baer was a psychology student at UC Santa Barbara. He and Binkerd had worked with autistic children at the Devereux Center, a private institution in Goleta. On Aug. 6, after they left a co-worker's party, Binkerd veered into a lane of oncoming traffic and smashed into a car driven by Sara Maynez, 19.

Maynez was unhurt, though her dog was killed. Binkerd suffered broken ankles and other injuries. Baer died in the wreckage.

Binkerd has contended that she swerved because the driver in front of her suddenly braked. For the grieving mother, though, the mechanics of the crash don't make much difference.