Driver in Sjodin crash gets probation

Trinity Oakland wasn't the focus at the horrific crash scene. She was among the walking wounded. The 21-year-old had just driven her Ford Edge at least 55 mph through a stop sign at Carlton County Road 1 and Military Road, striking a Subaru Forester in its front axle. The Ford spun, and smacked the driver's side of the Subaru again as the vehicles sailed into a snow-filled ditch, southwest of the intersection south of Wrenshall.

Janae Sjodin, a senior at Wrenshall High School, and her 11-year-old sister, Jaela, had been coming home from softball practice on March 24, 2023. There is no stop sign at the intersection for vehicles traveling north and south on County Road 1.

In the driver's seat of the Subaru, Janae took the brunt of the impact, and first responders were frantically trying to deal with what a police officer would later describe as her "catastrophic" injuries.

Jaela had minor injuries, and was also able to walk away from the scene.

Among the first people at the intersection before 7 p.m. were parents Erick and Angela Sjodin. Erick is a Minnesota State Patrol trooper, a colleague to those trying desperately to deal with Janae.

Oakland, from Saginaw, spoke to officers at the scene. She said she was unfamiliar with the area and had been dealing with sun glare while traveling west on Military Road, also known as Carlton County Road 4. She said she simply didn't know there was a stop sign.

And then she was taken to a hospital.

Mitigating factors

What Oakland hadn't told officers that day is that she had been drinking at a friend's house and was on Adderall, a prescription drug stimulant. Those details came in an interview with police the next day.

For drivers approaching the County Road 1 intersection, there are two sets of rumble strips and a yellow sign warning of a stop ahead. Oakland ignored all of those, a crash reconstruction investigation showed.

While blood was drawn at the hospital, it wouldn't be admissible in any future criminal case against Oakland. She would have to allow for its release.

A year and nearly nine months later, on Dec. 11, using the only option available to prosecutors, Oakland agreed to a plea deal. She was convicted of careless driving and given a stayed 90 days in jail. It means she will be on a year of probation under several conditions. Should she fail to uphold those obligations, she would go to jail.

Healing

Janae remains at home, dealing with the traumatic brain injury and mobility after so much was broken in her body. Angela Sjodin described this past fall some of the day-to-day life after the crash.

"Even though she continues to make gains, we all miss our before-injury Janae. And she misses her before-injury self," Angela wrote on the Caring Bridge website where she keeps people updated. "She likes watching videos of herself and looking at pictures of herself before injury. She does well with this and loves to send me old pictures and videos throughout the day. I love the quote, 'Memories sneak out of my eyes and roll down my cheeks.'"

"I wish I could go back to that day and change what happened," Oakland told the court in the December remote hearing online. "I feel terrible regret for my selfish decisions every day. Sorry."

Erick and Angela Sjodin worked with the prosecutor in setting the probation conditions. The case was given to the Pine County Attorney's Office. Carlton County Attorney Lauri Ketola said it was to avoid any conflict of interest, since Erick Sjodin is a trooper in the county.

Pine County Attorney Reese Frederickson said the Sjodins were helpful, and the condition for 40 hours of community work service was their idea.

Other conditions are typical of what you'd see in an impaired driving case: testing for substance abuse, attending classes on driving while impaired, a Mothers Against Drunk Driving impact panel, and assessments for mental health and substance abuse.

"Since that day, I have been in therapy," Oakland told the court in December. "I have not been driving."

"I promise I will do everything the court recommends me to do and continue beyond that to hopefully prove with my actions that I am deeply regretful and how sorry I am."

Faith, forgiveness

The Sjodins are a forgiving couple. In the excruciating weeks after the crash, Angela wrote often on the Caring Bridge site about what the family was going through. It revealed a family foundation based on a deep faith in God.

"It's our faith," Erick said this week about moving through the past few years. "If there's one thing we'd like to share all the time, it's that."

Angela still writes occasionally. After watching the Oakland sentencing on her phone, in her car, she checked in on her feelings. "I forgave her long before," Angela said this week. She has written that she allowed herself "one day of anger" toward Oakland and the damage she caused.

When Erick first started his job as a state trooper 16 years ago, he was struck in his squad car by a drunk driver. Angela made an eloquent plea of forgiveness for the driver in that case.

She said it may have been easier back then, because one might expect that Erick would come across all kinds of incidents given his job.

"This is different," Angela said of the Oakland case. "It's my daughter. She's forever changed."

She did not speak at the December hearing. She said she was "emotionally spent." The prosecutor read a statement the couple submitted.

Impact

It told the story of Janae, the class valedictorian, homecoming queen, star athlete, and how their lives were "forever changed" on that early evening in March.

"This last year and seven months have been the longest year of our lives yet so full of blessings. We have seen God work. We have seen Janae come back to life. Her memory is poor, but she continues to persevere like I have never seen anyone persevere in my life. She has brought so much joy, hope and love to all she meets. There is not a day that she doesn't have a smile on her face. She is truly a walking miracle and a gift to all. Janae wants all the things a 19-year-old would want, she wants to go to college, to have a boyfriend and to one day get married and have children."

"She used to have eyes that were bright and clear with her whole future ahead of her. She used to have a body that did whatever she willed it to and now she struggles everyday with simple movements. However, she has hope and we have hope because we have no idea what tomorrow will bring, we just know that God is already there."

Angela said she was glad to hear Oakland express her remorse and vow to do better. "I need to hear that," she said. "That someone's life is being moved and changed."

But they certainly want people to know how the crash came about. Angela said she can finally not be bombarded with the question of "Whatever happened to the girl that hit the girls?"

"Janae deserves that," Erick said. "For everyone to know the truth."

He said he doesn't know why his family has been impacted twice now with crashes involving impaired drivers.

"It's important for people to know that these aren't random things," Erick said. "Alcohol affects lives. It destroys lives. If our story gets that message to one person, that's enough."

Erick said he's known for a long time about Oakland. He's heard all the details. He said it's easy for people to think justice wasn't served. "The bad people get away with something. They recover and heal."

As a trooper, whose daughter was in such peril at the scene, he knows why the focus wasn't on Oakland. He said he's missed things too while on the job. It's frustrating, but "things happen," he said.

And in the wake is Janae, he said. She needs to know the truth as well, that she and her sister did nothing wrong that day.

Still, the couple hopes Oakland can become a better person.

"We forgive her. We mean that," Erick said.