The State Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Teresa Hedlund, the sole survivor of a one-car crash that killed six young people in 2001 near the Auburn SuperMall, was wrongfully convicted in 2003 as an accomplice to drunken driving.

In its 5-4 decision, the court upheld a state Court of Appeals ruling as well as the original Auburn Municipal Court ruling that state law doesn’t permit the victim of a crime to be charged as an accomplice.

“We resist the urge to rewrite a plainly written statute,” Justice Tom Chambers wrote for the majority. “The legislature has declared, ‘a person is not an accomplice in a crime committed by another person if … he is a victim of that crime.’ Should the legislature intend a more limited definition of victim, it may, in its wisdom, amend the statute.”

Writing for the minority, Justice Barbara A Madsen said the majority’s reading of the state law “leads to absurd and untenable results” that the legislature never intended.

Hedlund, then 28, was the front-seat passenger in the Ford Escort driven by Tom Stewart, 22, on July 16, 2001, when he smashed the car into a concrete support pillar near the SuperMall in South Auburn, killing himself, the car’s owner Jayme Vomenici, 18, April Byrd, 17, Brandon Dupree, 21, Marcus Cooper, 21, and Hedlund’s fiancee, Tim Stewart, the driver’s twin brother.

Hedlund videotaped the events of that day, starting with an earlier party at her apartment where liquor flowed freely. During the fatal drive, Hedlund was in the front passenger seat, on her knees, facing the rear of the car, filming. When Hedlund asked Vomenici if she wanted her, Hedlund, to drive instead of Stewart, Vomenici replied that she wanted Stewart to stop the car. Hedlund replied that Stewart was only being funny, at which point he declared, “I’m going to kill us all right now.’ Seconds later, everyone but Hedlund was dead.

According to the narrative attached to the Supreme Court’s decision, yaw marks on the pavement, together with the video, suggested that Stewart had put the car into a slide to scare his passengers, lost control and hit the concrete pillar. Postmortem blood alcohol tests showed everyone but Vomenici had been drinking, and Stewart’s blood alcohol level, 0.15, was nearly twice the legal limit.

Hedlund spent months in hospitals and rehabilitation as a result of the wreck.

But because she taped part of the ride up until the fatal impact, the city attorney’s office argued that Hedlund’s actions encouraged Stewart to act out. The city charged her in Auburn Municipal Court with being an accomplice to driving under the influence, reckless driving and furnishing alcohol and tobacco to a minor.

At the trial, Municipal Court Judge Patrick Burns reluctantly dismissed the accomplice and reckless driving charges. City Attorney Dan Heid immediately appealed the ruling to King County Superior Court, which reversed Burn’s decision. The jury then found Hedlund guilty.

On Hedlund’s sentencing on April 8, 2003, Burns imposed a $350 fine on her, required her to complete an alcohol evaluation, take parenting classes and write a letter of apology to the family of Byrd, the only minor killed in one of the deadliest single-car accidents in state history.

A second King County Superior Court judge later tossed out all of Hedlund’s convictions, and the city appealed to higher courts.

The Supreme Court on Thursday reversed Hedlund’s conviction for furnishing alcohol and tobacco to a minor.

Heid was unavailable for comment Thursday and Friday.