A Dallas judge sentenced a 30-year-old Texas woman to seven years in prison on Wednesday for a drunken-driving crash that killed a college student and seriously injured her friend, then ordered her to spend 15 days in jail every year during a decade of probation after her release.
Lynlee Pollis was convicted of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault in the September 2023 collision that killed 19-year-old Southern Methodist University student Honor Wallace and left Catherine «CeCe» Solberg with lasting injuries. State District Judge Jennifer Balido imposed the prison term along with 10 years of probation, according to the Dallas Morning News.
The unusual probation condition requires Pollis to report to jail for 15 days annually, with some of those dates deliberately set to coincide with the victims' birthdays, Pollis' own birthday and the anniversary of the crash. The sentence followed roughly three hours of jury deliberations after a trial that lasted about two and a half weeks.
The crash occurred on Sept. 24, 2023, when Wallace was driving her Volkswagen Jetta through a green light in Dallas and Pollis' Lexus SUV slammed into her vehicle. Wallace was pronounced dead at a hospital. Solberg, a passenger in the Jetta, suffered a shoulder injury and a concussion and was later diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.
Prosecution experts testified that Pollis was driving approximately 67 mph in a 35-mph zone and went through a traffic light that had been red for at least five seconds. Testing showed her blood alcohol concentration was 0.294%, nearly four times Texas' legal limit of 0.08%. According to an initial arrest affidavit, officers who interviewed Pollis at the hospital noticed glassy eyes, slurred speech and the odor of alcohol. A husky named Tequila riding in Pollis' vehicle was not hurt.
During the trial, family members of both victims confronted Pollis in victim impact statements. Bobby Solberg, Catherine's father, criticized her for putting the families through the lengthy proceedings. «You were so drunk and you wouldn't admit it. You made us sit through this for three weeks,» he said. «We've seen no personal accountability from you.»
David Wallace, Honor's father, also addressed Pollis directly. «You took the most precious gift from us through your selfishness,» he said. «Own it. Own what you did.»
Defense attorneys had sought probation instead of prison, pointing to Pollis' lack of prior felony convictions. Defense attorney Scott Palmer argued during his closing statement that Pollis was a «good person who made a terrible decision.» The judge's sentence nonetheless combined prison time with an extended period of supervision and recurring jail stays.
The case adds to a broader pattern of courts imposing creative probation terms in fatal drunken-driving prosecutions, aiming to keep the consequences of the offense present for defendants long after their release. For the victims' families, the annual jail dates tied to birthdays and the crash anniversary serve as a formal acknowledgment of the loss that reshaped their lives.
Pollis will begin serving her seven-year prison term before the probation period starts. Once released, she must comply with the annual jail requirement for the full 10 years of supervision or face further penalties.