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Mitch Carlson, left, makes his way into juvenile court with family members. KENT PORTER/PD
By PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A Cloverdale teenager who killed an elderly pedestrian in a hit-and-run crash was sentenced Wednesday to the equivalent of probation and temporary electronic home confinement after an emotional hearing in which the victim’s family demanded jail.
Mitch Carlson, 17, sobbed during his first public apology to the family of Miguel Sanchez, 83, the Cloverdale man he hit with his pickup as Sanchez crossed a street on Dec. 27. Carlson was arrested the same day after fleeing to his nearby high school for basketball practice.
“I know I should have stayed at the scene,” the sniffling Carlson told Sanchez’s relatives gathered for the sentencing in juvenile court. “I made a terrible mistake.”
Earlier in the hearing, Sanchez’s adult grandson, Jon-Michael Sanchez, lashed out at Carlson, calling him a coward and urging Judge Raima Ballinger to lock him away so the family never has to “run into him in the grocery store, see him driving on a local street or read about his accomplishments” in the newspaper.
“We are not seeking an eye for an eye,” Sanchez said. “We are seeking punishment. We believe strongly there is one place he needs to go — behind bars to serve time.”
The dramatic appeals came in a juvenile court hearing opened to the public after an additional misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter was added against Carlson. He also faced a felony hit-and-run charge, amended to include “causing death.”
Ballinger said those charges and factors that include Carlson’s lack of a criminal record prevented her from sentencing him to juvenile hall or the state Department of Juvenile Justice.
Instead, Carlson was given a maximum three years’ probation, during which he would perform community service or participate in a restorative justice-type program, working to repay the family for their losses, Ballinger said.
“The goals of what we do here are different,” Ballinger said before handing down the sentence. “This is a rehabilitation court because we’re dealing with young people. We’re dealing with minors.”
Carlson’s restorative justice assignment could include taking up the victim’s routine of helping his neighbors by picking up their newspapers, tending gardens and mowing lawns, Ballinger said.
“He could literally walk in the footsteps of Mr. Sanchez,” Ballinger said.
She asked both sides to return to court April 13 with a detailed plan. She imposed other conditions on the teen, including a ban on driving and a 9 p.m. curfew, restrictions to last for the duration of probation. He’ll also have to pay still undetermined financial restitution to the victim’s family to cover expenses related to Sanchez’s care and ultimate death.
If Carlson completes probation successfully, his record will be wiped clean of the charges, she said, typical in juvenile cases resolved through the restorative justice program.
Carlson admitted the charges in court, crimes that special prosecutor Murat Ozgur said could have brought Carlson up to four years in state prison and a year in county jail if he had been 18 at the time of the collision. He turns 18 in September.
The prosecutor expressed frustration at being unable to answer key questions, such as whether Carlson was using a cell phone at the time of the crash. Carlson’s phone was seized from the pickup and analyzed by a high-tech task force but it failed to turn up evidence, in part because of the amount of time that had passed, Ozgur said.
Carlson denied using it, he said.
“We just didn’t have enough information to say,” Ozgur said outside court.
The Marin County deputy district attorney, who was appointed to the case after allegations of mishandling surfaced against Sonoma County prosecutors, concluded the system failed the Sanchez family, in part because they were not notified about early court hearings.
But he made no allegations of wrongdoing against anyone involved in the case.
“I do not think you will necessarily get any closure from this,” he told the family in open court.
The case became a lightning rod for criticism, in part because of its initial speedy resolution.
Two days after the collision, as Sanchez lay dying from his injuries in a hospital bed, Sonoma County prosecutors charged Carlson with a single count of hit-and-run causing great bodily injury and apparently halted the police investigation.
The accident happened on a quiet Monday morning as Carlson, a senior at Cloverdale High School and a forward on the varsity basketball team, was driving north on North Main Street at about 9:40 a.m., apparently headed to a 10 a.m. practice scheduled at the high school, according to Cloverdale police.
Sanchez was walking in an unmarked crossing on North Main Street, heading home after gardening in a friend’s yard, when he was struck by the pickup as it traveled as fast as 25 mph, the posted speed limit. The impact threw Sanchez onto the pickup’s hood, and he then landed on the pavement about 20 feet away from where officers believe he was initially hit, police said.
Ozgur, citing the police report, said in court that a witness described Carlson stopping, opening his door briefly and then driving away.
Carlson’s attorney, Joe Passalacqua, said he did not know why the teenager left the scene and went to the school, but cited police reports saying he was scared.
“He runs off to a place of comfort and safety for him,” Passalacqua told the judge. “Is that the right thing to do? I can’t judge him on that.”
Carlson admitted the charge on Dec. 29 and returned home with an ankle monitoring device. He returned a day later to court, pleaded to the charge and a sentencing date was set. The entire matter was completed before Sanchez succumbed to his injuries a day later.
Meanwhile, the victim’s family had no contact from prosecutors until receiving a letter postmarked Jan. 3 informing them the matter had been resolved. They said no one called the hospital to check on Sanchez’s condition.
Under Marsy’s Law, created by a 2008 state voter initiative, crime victims have a legal right to be notified of and attend all public criminal proceedings. Victims’ families also have the right to participate in other aspects of the criminal process, such as conferring with prosecutors on charges filed.
Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch, who took office a week after the crash, admitted a miscommunication. She called for the independent prosecutor overseen by the state Attorney General and vowed to investigate the handling of the case at its conclusion.
However, Ravitch has not identified the prosecutor who handled the case in the days after the crash nor explained the delay in notifying the family.
Former District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua, who is the brother of the Carlson family attorney and who was in his last week as district attorney during the time of the juvenile court proceedings, has said he had no involvement in the case.
Outside of court after the sentence was handed down, the lawyer for the Sanchez family, Melinda Guzman, called for independent reviews by the attorney general, grand jury and federal civil rights officials. She said Sanchez may have been mistreated because of his ethnic background.
Also, she said the family plans to sue for compensatory and punitive damages in civil court.
“Nobody leaves very happy today,” Guzman said. “There are too many unanswered questions.”
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I hope that whatever sentence is given Mitch will maximize his usefulness in preventing other teenagers from repeating whatever attitudes or mistakes that Mitch made and caused Mr. Sanchez’ death.
Restorative justice is the best way to prevent more of this from happening. Punishment alone has not worked to reduce either violence or the mistakes which cause accidents. That Mitch fled afterward really galls me. Though I am sickened to think of this accident happening, using my anger to stoke hatred won’t help anybody. My heart goes out to the Sanchez family. I cannot imagine how they feel.
“picking up their newspapers, tending gardens and mowing lawns”….
In 1975 that was called chores. In 2011 that’s what you get for a Felony? Times have changed, and not for the better.
So whats in store for Kody Quinn Williams killer? Washing windows? Raking leaves? Oh hell make it really bad on him and make him trim bushes.
Absolutely sickening.
The cell phone records should be confirmed.
It is a matter of record, unless it was a prepaid phone.
Where is the full disclosure here?
Where is the transparency here?
Melinda Guzman is correct to go further on this…. Ozgur from Marin has not delivered… I wonder why he even bothered to show up ?
I don’t want the young driver hung, or tarred and feathered. How is it the Rohnert park student, Kaitlin, is getting a sterner punishment?????? I want to know whose names are being left out of this.
Good luck to Melinda Guzman
I was hoping Ravitch would not tolerate this kind of white-washing.
DA Ravitch is proving to be a big disappointment. She ran on justice not politics and all she has done so far is get back at her political enemies and pay back her political friends.
It now comes out exda passalacqua and his brother did NOTHING wrong yet she let the implications lie for weeks. The person she paid back for his political support bud McMahon was promoted over chief tashawn sanders who was well loved in the das office and demoted to make room for McMahon. Why did he tell the police in clover dale to stop wasting their time in continuing to investigate. Apparently the marin da would have loved for the investigation to have continued. Yet he is still the chief deputy da.
Rumor has it she has again gotten rid of someone to hire her good friend and political supporter. Something is rotten in the da’s office. It’s too bad it’s the new da and her political supporters those supporters are now getting jobs in the da’s office while people are being laid off left and right in the county.
“He could literally walk in the footsteps of Mr. Sanchez,” Ballinger said.
What a slap in the face to not only the Sanchez family but to the friends and neighbors of Mr. Sanchez. This young man could never and will never come close to filling those shoes. Mitch Carlson should be made to serve his community by picking up roadside trash ( like other convicted criminals do), removing or painting over graffiti, and working with the homeless or less fortunate in our community.This young man needs to learn to appreciate the seriousness of his crime. As far as this 9 o’clock curfew, who is planning on enforcing that? Does this mean that he will not be going away to college? Will he miss his Senior Prom? What about Grad Night? One can only hope that the usually inept Cloverdale Police can get it together and make sure all the guidelines for his probation are followed 24/7. I think Mitch needs more than three years of inconvenience to really grasp what he has done and the pain he has caused.
they always pull the race card. and here, for no apparent reason. They are gonna sue for what exactly? The guy wasn’t a wage earner. His retirement or the city paid for the funeral. How the heck are they gonna guesstamate their “grief” compensation? you’ll have every couzin coming out of the family woodwork wanting some “grief money”. Give me a break. It happened, and it’s over with. Move on. Get over it. Things happen, and so apparently will a frivolous lawsuit. Mercy. small towns blow.
A year after Kody Quinn Williams was killed in Cloverdale, Ca, I stated that if you wanted to kill someone with a vehicle and get away with it, that Cloverdale, Ca would be that place. 2 years later that seems to still hold true.
Sickening actually. JUSTICE DENIED.
“Carlson’s restorative justice assignment could include taking up the victim’s routine of helping his neighbors by picking up their newspapers, tending gardens and mowing lawns, Ballinger said.”
Sickening actually. Sickening.
The Truth
Justice for Kody Quinn Williams
If this kid was from a ethnic background he would be toast. he would have got 7 years min in prison. I guess there is not “Liberty and Justice for All”. KKK Sonoma County
“I do not think you will necessarily get any closure from this,” he told the family in open court.” – (Special prosecutor Murat Ozgur)
I feel that way too, since the victim’s family didn’t get any justice. Defend the past and current DA all you want, but Mitch Carlson got nothing but a slap on the wrist.
“He could literally walk in the footsteps of Mr. Sanchez,” Ballinger said. – Don’t think so, unless Mitch will be hanging out, every day, at the cemetery. Mitch should have to spend the next three years’ worth of weekends cleaning the grave-sites at the cemetery.
I’m not a big fan of lawsuits, but in this case, I hope the victim’s family prevails.
So, after all of the sensationalized reporting, it comes down to this, Carlson pled to the most serious charge against him within two days of being charged, felony hit and run. The added charge was a less serious one, a misdemeanor. Oh, and the money grubbing attorney plays the race card.
So I guess the Marin DA knows more than Ravitch’s hand picked Chief Deputy Bud McMahon. (Referring to his previous published misstatements of law.)
And when is Ravitch going to share the results of her investigation into the handling of this case?
I for one would like her to set the record straight that Joe and Stephan Passalacqua did absolutely nothing wrong in connection to this case.
It is the right thing to do.
John Hudson,Are you kidding me??? There is a reason for the laws we have in place. It was an accident when it happened. Had the young man stayed at the scene of the crime, lent assistance to the victim or at the very least called 911(he had a cell phone!!!) this would not be the conversation. He left the scene, driving away leaving Mr. Sanchez in the dust. He went to practice. Again, having a cell phone, he should have at the very least at this point called his parents. No, Mitch played ball. Is this a felony? Yes, the law, one that everyone must abide by says it is. Let the punishment fit the crime!
@Julie Villa
As usual, your clear vision sees the imbalance of these similar tragedies.
Mitch has an opportunity now to do the next right thing, as does the Judge.
Accidents or not, people are dead, and no punishment can undo that.
But punishment has two purposes;
to exact a penalty from the perpetrator and to set an example for others who choose to put themselves in that position.
Nothing good can come from this without true repentance and atonement.
With them though, redemption is possible.
I think you’re jumping to conclusions that he was using a cellphone at the time of the accident.
The article states, “cell phone records show some kind of activity at the time of the collision”…that could mean any number of things, such as: his phone was receiving a text message, email, or voicemail. There’s no harm in that and you do not have to be USING a cell phone to receive any of those.
We are not the judge or the jury in this case and as such we should keep our mouths shut and not jump to conclusions.
Sure. It was an inhumane act to leave the 83 year old man in the street. However, the flight was motivated by fear. Possibly the lynch mob mentality in forums such as this helped create the fear. We have to get over the idea that it is always a felony every time somebody is at fault in causing the death of another.
Kaitlyn Dunaway and Mitch Carlson
What do they have in common? They both killed someone with their car while on their cell phone.
Kaitlyn killed a 2 year old, but stopped at the scene of the crime.
Mitch killed a senior and left him there bleeding because he was late for his pratice.
How can Mitch just get probation and Kaitlyn face harsher sentencing?
Is the life of a senior less than a life of a child?
Both are people and are so valuable and can never be replaced.
My condolences to Both Families for their loss and injuries. Both are so heartfelt and you think kids would learn DO NOT DRIVE AND USE A CELL PHONE!
Whatever charges and sentencing Kaitlyn faces should be simliar to what Mitch should face.