Attorneys agree to hold trial in Hunt hit-andrun case
A Columbia woman could face an additional year behind bars for the hit-and-run death of 17- year- old Molly Burgess in February 2021 if she’s found guilty of “illegally interfering with the judicial process” when she allegedly replaced the headlight of her vehicle after the incident.
Lisa Hunt, 68, appeared in Tuolumne County Superior Court on Friday to be sentenced when county Assistant District Attorney Eric Hovatter and her Modesto-based defense attorney Robert Anaya came to an agreement to hold a trial on the additional allegation.
Hunt had previously pleaded no contest to felony fatal hit-and-run last month as part of a deal with Presiding Tuolumne County Superior Court Judge Kevin Seibert. The deal allowed Hunt to be charged with a maximum of three years for the crime under California hit-andrun laws.
The trial, which Anaya and Hovatter had not yet scheduled, will give the prosecution the opportunity to make the case that Hunt interfered with the judicial process in attempting to repair her car after striking Burgess, which would allow Seibert the choice to levy the full penalty of four years in prison due to the aggravating circumstance.
Seibert could also choose to keep the same sentence for Hunt even if she’s found guilty of the interference allegation.
Anaya and Hovatter approached the bench for a period of about five minutes during the hearing to speak with Seibert. In that time, Hovatter made it clear that he had been under the impression Hunt would have to admit to the aggravating circumstances which were alleged by the prosecution.
In lobbying for the court to consider taking into account an aggravating circumstance in Hunt’s actions allegedly trying to cover up the crime by replacing parts of her vehicle after striking Burgess, Ho
vatter said that the people were effectively “taken out of” negotiations and that the negotiation had only been between Judge Seibert and Hunt.
“The court can only sentence based on the evidence it had before it,” Seibert said. “What we do know is that Ms. Hunt hit Molly and then callously left the scene. She could have at least provided some measure of comfort to Molly. She chose not to do that, which is clearly a crime. It’s also a violation of anyone’s sense of moral duty.”
After a lengthy discussion, Anaya and Hovatter strode back into the court at 4:10 p.m. and agreed to hold a court trial without a jury to determine whether Hunt was guilty of an aggravating circumstance in the case.
Seibert made clear that even if the court finds Hunt guilty of the aggravating circumstance, he might not change her sentence.
“We have no commitment from the court that an aggravated result will result from that,” Seibert said.
Anaya said Hunt agreed to the trial, “against my advice, but with my consent.”
More than 10 close family and friends of Molly Burgess spoke at Hunt’s sentencing on Friday, including the girl’s mother, father and siblings, who described how the loss of Burgess had affected their lives.
Burgess’ mother, Tammy Snell, pleaded with Seibert to give Hunt the maximum possible sentence of four years, a sentence which the court says usually requires at least one aggravating circumstance on top of the initial crime.
One of Molly’s brother’s James Burgess, noted that he has been afflicted with horrible nightmares and dissociation and had been diagnosed with a psychological disorder in the wake of his sister’s death.
James Burgess said he often relived the moment in his head when he and his family got the news of his sister’s death.
“Never in my life had I been so terrified as I saw my mother collapse to the floor, screaming,” James Burgess told the court.
Morgan Burgess, the youngest boy in the Burgess family, said he was constantly anxious, recalling a moment he saw a friend playing in the street — terrified they would be killed, too.
Seibert wore a pained expression on his face throughout the victim statements delivered by Burgess’ family. Sobs were heard throughout the courtroom during proceedings. Both prosecutors and the court reporter were in tears as they listened to the victim impact statements.
Hunt looked ahead for most of the hearing and throughout the victim impact statements. She wore a blue dress and silver earrings.
Many of those who delivered victim statements to the court criticized California law for hit-and-run incidents, which some say incentivize those who may be driving impaired to leave the scene of an accident in order to be charged with a lesser crime of fleeing an accident as opposed to a fatal DUI.
Assemblyman Jim Patterson, of Fresno, has led the charge in recent years to reform California’s hitand-run laws, including the designation of a new alert system in California known as a ‘Yellow Alert’ which aims to give drivers and law enforcement the ability to better track down drivers who flee the scene of an accident. His bill to increase the maximum sentencing guidelines for hit-and-run drivers is still in limbo.
After the hearing, Tammy Snell said that Seibert was bound by California law to obey sentencing guidelines in the case, but wished the law could be harsher.
“(Judge) Seibert is bound by the constraints of what the law currently states,” Snell said. “Between a rock and a hard place.”
Snell said she felt good about the result of the hearing, in that Hunt may still only face three years in prison, but that it opened the door to the possibility of a maximum sentence.
“The truth is, we at least have hope that there is at least a possibility that she will get four years,” Snell said.