Weird day in court for hit-and-run case

The sentencing of a convicted hit-and-run driver took a strange turn Tuesday, when the judge hearing the case appeared to question the charges filed by prosecutors against a man accused of helping the driver cover up the fatal accident.

District Attorney Mike Ramsey said he was befuddled by the actions Tuesday of Butte County Superior Court Judge Gerald Hermansen, who at one point asked a bailiff to prepare to remove Ramsey from the courtroom when the D.A. stepped forward to, in his words, “correct the record.”

“I don’t know if he was having a bad day or what,” Ramsey said. “It’s very disturbing that he would do this.”

The drama took place during a sentencing hearing for Heather Marie Bush, the Chico woman who admitted last May to driving the vehicle that fatally struck would-be Chico State University student Matthew Messina as he was riding his bicycle to his Chico home the night of June 17, 2003.

It took almost a year for police to arrest Bush, who initially denied the crime but later broke down and confessed to investigators that she had been drinking and driving on a suspended license when she struck Messina with her car, then panicked and drove home. Once at her nearby residence, her apparent boyfriend and his half-brother, who were living in a trailer on the property, allegedly helped her cover up the crime by fixing the damage to Bush’s minivan.

Police had almost run out of leads when one of those men, Don Knight, came forward to tell investigators that his half-brother, Robert Owen, was the hit-and-run driver. But, upon further investigation, it was determined that Knight was lying because for some unknown but probably methamphetamine-related reason he thought Owens was out to kill him, Ramsey said. The two alleged accomplices were charged with aiding and abetting a felony and were to undergo a preliminary hearing on the same day Bush was to be sentenced.

At Tuesday’s hearing, the victim’s father, who along with his family had flown in from New York for the occasion, gave an impact statement detailing the pain his family has endured after the loss of his son. After that statement was given, however, Judge Hermansen asked him if he was aware that Don Knight, who in his words had “broken the case,” was being charged with a third strike and facing 25 years to life.

“It was clear by his statement that he was trying to get Mr. Messina to agree that we should go easy on Mr. Knight,” Ramsey said.

It was at this point that Ramsey felt compelled to object, telling the judge that Knight had only one strike—for child abuse in Glenn County—and that the aiding-and-abetting charge was consistent with the crimes Knight and Owen are accused of. Hermansen apparently did not appreciate Ramsey’s outburst and told a bailiff to remove the D.A. if necessary. After Ramsey had his say, he voluntarily left the courtroom.

In the end, both the sentencing and preliminary hearings were rescheduled for Aug. 17 to allow defense attorneys to examine Bush’s prior mental-health history.