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Is there a deal in the works for the shooter of a West Wendover businesswoman to cop a plea bargain?
Fred Lee the attorney for Angela Hill said Wednesday that there were negotiations going on with the Elko County District Attorney’s office and that by Friday there may be a break through.
Hill along Logan McFarland of San Pete, Utah are accused of a multi state crime spree a year ago that claimed the lives of an elderly Utah couple, critically injured Rattana Keomanivong in Wendover and a bevy of other crimes a year ago.
While found competent to stand trial last summer, Hill entered her “not guilty by reason of insanity” plea in September. She changed it in December to a simply “not guilty”.
“It could show her attorney has given up on a battered woman’s syndrome defense,” said an attorney not connected with the case. “Or that they are going with her as an unwilling hostage to McFarland.”
In interviews with various media outlets shortly after her arrest, Hill and some of her family members, asserted the she too was a victim in the week long rampage that ended January 3, 2012 when the couple surrendered to Nevada lawmen after two days hiding in the Pequop mountains.
Despite her claims of being forced to go with McFarland it was Hill who took Keomanivong in her car while McFarland followed closely behind in the couples stolen vehicle.
According to police reports it was also Hill who held Keomanivong at bay while Hill drove with a gun pointed at the Wendover woman’s head. And it was also Hill who shot Keomanivong after Keomanivong counterattacked biting, scratching pummeling and kicking Hill out of the car.
Hill’s already tenuous claims of being a victim were further weakened when new charges were leveled against her from Sanpete County after her arrest in Nevada.
Sanpete County prosecutors charged Hill with two counts of second-degree felony burglary and one count of third-degree felony burglary.
Lee’s comment that by Friday a break could happen could very well indicate a plea deal may be struck.
Plea bargains necessitate a change of plea motion which is usually heard during Monday’s Law and Motion. Those motions must be filed by the preceding Friday.
However according to a source close to the case no plea bargain is in the offing and the Friday date could mean that Lee is expecting a ruling on a previous motion he filed to suppress an interview Hill gave police shortly after she surrendered.
“The video of the interview clearly shows Ms. Hill as being in an exhausted and worn down condition,” Lee wrote in his motion. “Her lack of sleep and drug use was known to her inquisitors.” The motion also indicated that Hill tested positive for multiple drugs, including methamphetamine, THC and opiates, after her arrest.
According to officers who were present at the time of her arrest, Hill blamed the crime spree on McFarland even then.
“As soon as the car door shut she was crying and blaming him,” said one officer who spoke only ne the condition of anonymity. “She also complained that she had kidney stones but she seemed to move around okay.”
In a related development Hill’s accomplice McFarland was found competent to stand trial last week by District Judge Nancy Porter.
And while Hill faces trial in February, McFarland will only be arraigned that month.
The different rate at which the couple moved through the pretrial phase or phases of the case puts McFarland at a distinct disadvantage said an attorney close to the case.
Despite facing the most serious crime in the spree Hill being first to go to trial can at least partially set the tone of the prosecution especially if Hill cops a plea where she would almost certainly have to agree to testify against McFarland.
Hill also has the advantage of being a pretty young woman who is said to be very well practiced at garnering the sympathy of male authority figures.
While justice is blind, jurors are not and studies have shown that beauty, gender and youth do have play a factor in the severity of sentence imposed and sometimes on guilt or innocence.
According to neighbors who lived near Hill as she grew up the girl and later teen perfected the art of appearing remorseful and getting a second chance time and time again.
Hill’s attempts to win sympathy however have met with very little success in Nevada.
In spite of sobbing and pleading with the Elko Justice of the Peace she was bound over for trial with no reduction in either charges or bail and so far she has received no breaks at the district court level.
Apart from the severity of the crimes she is accused of a reason why Hill has found it a much tougher go in the Silver State as opposed to Utah may also be one of gender. This time the gender on the bench.
Both Judge Barbara Nethering and Judge Nancy Porter are women.