Sentencing hearing for Sunny White postponed until Feb. 7

The sentencing hearing for a Butte woman convicted of striking and killing pedestrian Mika Westwolf with her vehicle was pushed back a week.

The hearing for Sunny Katherinne White, 29, was initially set for Jan. 31, but after a contested hearing in District Court in Polson Jan. 15, Judge Molly Owen continued the sentencing to Feb. 7. White was asking that sentencing be pushed back even further, perhaps to the end of February or early March.

White argued that she needed time to secure guardianship for her children, as the children’s father is incarcerated. The state was represented by Thorin Geist of the Montana Attorney General’s Office. Geist argued that the Westwolf family has waited long enough to receive justice in the matter.

White entered a plea of guilty to vehicular homicide while under the influence and accidents involving another person or deceased person. This occurred during a change of plea hearing Oct. 30. The charges carry a combined maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.

In exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss two counts of criminal child endangerment and criminal possession of dangerous drugs at sentencing.

The plea was entered as part of an agreement in which the state reserves the right to argue for no more than 25 years prison. The state will argue for 15 years suspended, with a 10-year parole restriction for vehicular homicide while under the influence.

The defense reserves the right to argue for no less than a 20-year prison sentence, 15 years suspended and no parole restriction. The parties agreed to a five-year term, all suspended, on the second charge with the sentences to run consecutively.

The judge is not bound by the agreement.

Westwolf was struck by a vehicle driven by White and killed as she walked along U. S. Highway 93 in the Arlee area March 31, 2023. White was later apprehended in Polson.