A Hanover motorist who accidentally killed a pedestrian on Telegraph Road pleaded guilty yesterday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court to drunken driving. Prosecutors dropped a more serious charge of automobile manslaughter, saying they doubted they could prove it.

Prosecutors said they will seek the maximum sentence of one year in jail and a fine of $1,000 when Judge Pamela L. North sentences James Q. Walker, 22, of the 7600 block of Ridge Chapel Road on May 18.

Walker's pickup truck struck Michael A. Kinstler, 29, of the 7700 block of Twin Oaks Road in Severn about 1: 30 a.m. July 28. Assistant State's Attorney Warren Davis said the victim apparently was drunk and had bent over in a traffic lane on a dark bend on Telegraph Road in Severn.

After the accident, Walker went to his girlfriend's home and asked her to call police because he had hit something in the road. She dialed but hung up when she realized she did not know what to tell police. The two drove back to Telegraph Road, just north of Norcross Lane, but saw nothing, Davis said.

"It's not that he ignored it; he did try to go back there," said defense lawyer James V. Hitaffer.

Police were waiting at the girlfriend's home when the couple returned. Walker told them he had hit something in the road. Officers went to Telegraph Road and found Kinstler's body.

The victim's blood alcohol level was 0.18. When arrested about 3: 30 a.m., Walker had a blood alcohol level of 0.22, more than twice the threshold for drunken driving.

He told police he had drunk several large beers early in the evening and "like a fifth of Jack Daniels to calm my nerves" after the accident, Davis said. Physicians told prosecutors that the beers would have produced an alcohol level of 0.12 and that consuming a fifth of whiskey would have left Walker comatose or dead, Davis said.

Accident reconstruction experts said the victim, who was wearing dark clothes, probably had bent down to pick up a pack of cigarettes, Davis said.

Pub Date: 3/24/99