A Woodland resident, Kristal Sutton, has been held to answer for a single felony hit and run causing death or serious injury charge, after a preliminary hearing on Tuesday in Judge Timothy Fall’s Yolo County courtroom.
According to testimony from three officers, on June 30 around 10 pm in the evening, Ms. Sutton went into the 7-Eleven on East Main in Woodland and purchased a Squirt. As she went toward her car, she was approached by Alisa Horner.
Witnesses and the video surveillance indicated that there was some sort of verbal altercation. Witnesses told the police, and it appeared to be backed up by video evidence, that Ms. Horner had approached the defendant, and asked her to go and meet an individual. Ms. Sutton did not know either Ms. Horner or the individual that she referred to.
As the confrontation grew, Ms. Horner leaned into her car. There is some indication that Ms. Horner slapped the defendant. Ms. Sutton then pushed her out of the car and began to back out of the parking place.
As she backed up, Ms. Horner continued to follow and Ms. Sutton was trying to create space. The officer testified that on the video it looked like she was moving 5 mph or less. At some point Ms. Horner was no longer in view of the video. However, others testified that she had attempted to jump in front of the car as it went into drive.
One witness said Ms. Horner fell backward upon impact. The officer and the other witnesses who spoke to officers indicated that it looked like she was going over a speed bump.
When the officer arrived at the scene, she was unconscious and snoring. There were tire tracks over her abdomen and she was bleeding only slightly from her nostril. She would be rushed to UCD Medical Center, and she died a few days later from her massive internal injuries.
What happened next is somewhat disputed. It seems there were a few witnesses and they yelled at Ms. Sutton to stop. She got out of the vehicle, saw the victim. She yelled to the crowd that the lady had attacked her and then according to one witness said, “F- everyone,” and left the scene.
She would head to her home, which was apparently only a quarter of a mile away. An officer was dispatched based on the license plate, and went to the residence and talked with her until other officers arrived.
She had phoned her husband and told him what had happened. He told her to stay put, that he would be right there and figure out what to do.
By the time he arrived at their home, the officers were already with her and arresting her, charging her with leaving the scene of an accident.
She told officers that she “might have hit her” and that she was afraid to call the police because she had no insurance and did not want her vehicle towed.
She also told officers that she was afraid of the lady who was acting erratically and that she was unsure who was in the crowd of people that had gathered around her following the accident.
Under cross-examination from Public Defender Tracie Olson, the officer testified that it was Ms. Horner who was aggressive and not Ms. Sutton.
Officer Matt Gray testified that he had visited Ms. Sutton in jail. She told him she was being attacked and was scared of Ms. Horner. She also indicated that she was fearful that her vehicle would be towed.
When the officer first arrived, Ms. Sutton asked about the victim’s condition. Offficer Gray said he told her he needed information first. At the end of the interview, she inquired again, and at that point he informed her that Ms. Horner had passed away. Ms. Sutton, he said broke, down sobbing and exclaiming how sorry she was.
As Ms. Olson would argue during her closing arguments, this case comes down to why Ms. Sutton left the scene. She argued that Ms. Horner was twice her size, had inserted her head in the vehicle, was following her and was aggressive.
She made the argument that one thing missing from the testimony was the timeframe, and she argued it was basically a period of 15 minutes from the point of the accident until police arrived at Ms. Sutton’s residences.
She noted that, under the charging scheme, this was a wobbler and noted that leaving the scene did not impact the medical care.
Ms. Sutton, she argued, had a minimal record with only a misdemeanor drug possession charge that was handled in drug court.
Judge Fall would rule that there was enough evidence for a jury to decide on the charge. The more complicated issue was whether it should be a felony or a misdemeanor.
He noted that there was testimony that she had left on the basis of the lack of insurance, and that results in a disputed or mixed motive.
He said that, looking at things in the best possible light for the defendant (which is not the standard for preliminary hearings), a jury could rule that it was reasonable not to stay at the scene and therefore leaving was not a crime.
He said that her call to her husband who told her to stay put could have resulted in an intention to alert authorities at a reasonable time.
However, he said, that is in the light most favorable to the defendant. Therefore, he ruled it was too early for him to reduce to a misdemeanor under Penal Code section 17(b).
Ms. Sutton will be held to answer for the felony hit and run and will be arraigned on September 11 at 9 am.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
“…she had no insurance and did not want her vehicle told.”
“Officer Matt Gray testified that she had visited Ms. Sutton in jail.”
“She also indicated that she was fearful that her vehicle would be told.”
your point is that there are typos? david obviously didn’t get a lot of sleep and highbeam didn’t edit it yet, why bring it up?
i edited shortly before 9 am (other articles took over an hour)…thanks, DP!