[NOTE: Please scroll to end of story for an important note.]
“We made the best we could out of this situation.”
–Multnomah County DA Jim Hayden
The two women involved in the fatal hit-and-run that killed Jerry Hinatsu earlier this year will receive a fine, probation and two-months in jail.
After Hinatsu collided with their vehicle, both women then lied to authorities about what happened, did not attend to the victim, then one of them fled the scene in an unlicensed and uninsured car. However, neither of them were found guilty of hit-and-run.
That fact has some people wondering whether or not justice was served.
To try and understand how this could happen, I spoke with Multnomah County District Attorney Jim Hayden.
But first, some background on the case:
On May 4th, Sara Lance and Cynthia Amaya were leaving the Franz bakery on SE Foster Road. When their car (no one can determine who was driving) approached the exit to the parking lot, they claim that Hinatsu, who was riding the wrong way in the bike lane down a slight hill, collided with the vehicle. (According to Jim Hayden, this claim is backed up by other witnesses).
Immediately after the collision, Lance got out of the car and stayed at the scene, while Amaya fled. Lance then led police on what the Oregonian (in an article on the case published Friday) referred to as a “wild-goose chase”. Later, both women lied about what happened and neither of them admitted to being the driver.
Lance was the registered owner of the car and she did not have a valid license or insurance at the time of the collision.
will both get jail time, a fine, and
probation for being in the car that
ran over Jerry Hinatsu on May 4, 2006.
Hayden and the DA’s office believed Sara Lance was the driver. The car was registered in her name and witness testimony seemed to point in that direction. But in order to find her guilty of felony hit-and-run, a serious charge that would have brought up to 16-18 months in prison, the DA first had to convince the jury “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Lance was the driver.
To do that, Hayden planned to have Cynthia Amaya — who he believed was the passenger — to plead guilty to hit-and-run and hindering prosecution (both are felonies). If she did that, and if she testified that her friend Sara Lance was the driver, the DA would drop the hit-and-run charge on Amaya.
When it came time for the trial, Hayden says it was clear to him that the jury had doubts about Amaya’s testimony. “They [the jury] kept asking questions and I could tell they didn’t believe her.”
The fate of justice for the death of Jerry Hinatsu hinged on the DA being able prove to a jury that Sara Lance was the driver.
As the jury deliberated, Hayden was very concerned that they would come back with a “not guilty” verdict for Sara Lance. If they did, Lance would have walked out of the courtroom without any charges against her at all.
“I couldn’t accept that”, said Hayden, “To me, I found it untenable that Lance could be found not guilty of everything, so rather than let the jury come back with a “not guilty” verdict and watch her walk out of the courtroom, I negotiated a formal probation and a two-month jail sentence.”
During our conversation last night, Hayden was clearly disturbed at how this case played out. As a cyclist, daily commuter, and racer himself, he said he took this case “very seriously”.
“I can’t change the laws or any of the facts in the case,” he said, “…but without negotiating these charges, she would have walked, without being held accountable for anything. We made the best we could out of this situation.”
For more on this case, read my original story back in May and the Oregonian article by Aimee Green that was published Friday (11/2).
[UPDATE: 12:07pm. I’ve edited the story to clarify the nature of the collision. My initial report made it seem like the drivers were negligent in the collision but I have since learned that the bicyclist was at fault and that he collided with the car.
According to testimony of the passenger, driver, and witnesses, the car was either at a complete stop or barely rolling when the collision occurred. I apologize for this error.]