Jury Makes Quick Work of a Hay-and-Necessity DUI Defense

A 60-year-old Redwood Valley woman, who was found trespassing on one of her neighbor's properties, tried to fight subsequent DUI charges by raising a necessity defense — saying she fled from the scene to escape immediate harm.

A Mendocino County Superior Court jury deliberated for only a few minutes before finding Jodine Rene Burkhart guilty of two counts: driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or greater, both as misdemeanors, according to a Facebook post by the Mendocino County District Attorney.

The post said the property owner confronted Burkhart, who was trying to load hay into her truck. "She repeatedly insisted she had paid a 'homeless man' for the hay, but then fled in her pickup truck when she overheard the property owner talking to the 9-1-1 dispatcher," the post stated.

According to the district attorney, Burkhart was discovered on the night of Sept. 26, 2025, trespassing and attempting to load hay at a private property in Redwood Valley. She was confronted by the armed property owner before driving off.

Law enforcement located Burkhart and her vehicle a short time later in Calpella, the post said. Officers evaluated her at the scene of the stop and, based on their overall observations, field sobriety tests, and the results of the California Highway Patrol's evidential portable alcohol system, or EPAS, she was arrested by the CHP for DUI. Her blood alcohol concentration, tested by breath, registered at .13/.12, according to the district attorney.

At trial, the defense argued necessity. Under California law, a driver arrested for DUI may attempt to defeat the charge by claiming necessity if the driver got behind the wheel to prevent severe and immediate harm arising from a sudden and unexpected emergency. But a driver claiming necessity cannot be the cause of the crisis.

The district attorney said the prosecutor successfully argued that Burkhart had provoked the confrontation with a property owner who was "merely seeking to protect that which was his," and that a person cannot claim necessity to escape a dangerous situation he or she set in motion through criminal behavior. The office characterized the necessity defense as one "obviously found not to be credible given the verdicts that were returned."

Court records show Burkhart was sentenced to 10 days in jail, with a turn-in date of Oct. 2, 2026, and work release or furlough authorized. She was also placed on summary probation and referred to an out-of-county DUI program. Judge Charlotte Scott presided over the trial.