WOODLAND — The man accused of causing a fatal crash in Davis last month won’t be sentenced for a prior domestic violence conviction while his current case is pending — at least for now.
Steven Hendrix, 32, is charged with murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and other counts in connection with the Feb. 24 high-speed collision on Second Street that killed 71-year-old Cynthia Jonasen of Davis.
Steven Hendrix. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo
Five days earlier, a Yolo County jury had convicted Hendrix of two counts of felony domestic violence for choking his girlfriend, a verdict that exposed him to more than 13 years in state prison. He remained free on bail pending an April 7 sentencing hearing.
The prosecutor in that case, Deputy District Attorney Crystal Chau, sought to proceed with sentencing, while defense attorney Teal Dixon argued Tuesday that the court should hold off until the new allegations are resolved or at least further developed, in order to avoid prejudicing her client.
“I don’t know how the court can make a meaningful sentence with so much unknown at this point,” Dixon told Judge Samuel McAdam, who presided over the domestic violence trial.
Dixon said one aspect McAdam likely would consider at sentencing is Hendrix’s future plans, and “that is something that is very difficult for this court to consider” with the new case at such an early stage.
Chau, meanwhile, cited Marsy’s Law, the state’s victims’ rights act that calls for timely conclusions to court proceedings, though McAdam noted that the victim in the domestic violence case had recanted her allegations in court and was living with Hendrix at the time of the trial. She also was a passenger in Hendrix’s vehicle during the fatal crash, along with her sister and the women’s four children.
Delaying the sentencing would be in the community’s interest, McAdam added.
“I think you have a right to present evidence regarding what happened in that other case” as an aggravating factor, the judge told Chau. “If we do that too early, we may not be able to develop those facts. … How am I going to determine what happened there so I can apply that in this case?”
With that, McAdam granted Dixon’s motion to postpone the sentencing hearing, but without prejudice, meaning Chau can raise the issue again at a later date.
The matter is due back in McAdam’s courtroom on May 20 for setting of a sentencing date. Meanwhile, a preliminary hearing in the fatal collision case is set for April 12 before Judge Paul Richardson.
Hendrix remains on a no-bail hold at the Yolo County Jail.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene