Hit-and- run case dismissed

By Andy Gates - Argus Observer
Wednesday, August 29, 2007 10:08 AM PDT

ONTARIO - Before Kelly Wolter’s body was even buried, prosecutors dropped the hit and run charges levied against a local Heinz Frozen Food worker in connection to the death.

Wolter was fatally hit by a vehicle Aug. 16 when he was walking along Oregon Highway 201, and Friday all criminal charges connected to his death were put to rest.

Authorities said Marvin Hug, 48, struck Wolter, 41, on Aug. 16, then left the night time scene of the fatal crash along Oregon Highway 201 near Southwest Fourth Avenue and Southwest 30th Street — and proceeded on to his job at Heinz Frozen Food Company.

Now, Hug’s name has been officially cleared of any wrongdoing.

Both men were from Ontario, alcohol and drugs were not believed to be a factor in the incident, and Wolter suffered from a mental disability, authorities said.

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Criminal paperwork was drawn up and filed with the Malheur County District Attorney’s office Aug. 17, charging Hug with felony failure to perform the duties of a driver to injured persons — or hit and run — and misdemeanor reckless endangering of another person.

Those charges, however, did not stick long, after prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss the case Friday.

Prosecutors dropped the case after a Malheur County grand jury decided not to indict Hug on the charges.

“We had originally charged it, but a grand jury found we didn’t have sufficient evidence to go forward,” Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris said.

When the case was brought before a grand jury Thursday for an indictment, the secret panel determined the case was “not a true bill,” according to a prosecutor’s motion to dismiss the case.

Police believe Wolter was in the traffic lane when he was struck, according to a Malheur County Sheriff’s Office incident report.

Despite the fact that Hug’s passenger side mirror was broken from his Ford F-150 — and a passenger side mirror was also found along the roadway near Wolter’s body — the grand jury did not indict Hug on the prosecutor’s charges.

Norris accepts the grand jury’s determination.

“I think the system works. If seven people, who have no relation to the case, review evidence and decide there’s not enough evidence to go forward ... That’s the way the system is supposed to work,” Norris said.

And, prosecutors decided not to move forward without an indictment.

“It’s absolutely improper to circumvent a grand jury,” Norris said.

Norris confirmed the grand jury’s determination in Hug’s case is uncommon.

Grand juries often hand down indictments.

For example, a former chief judge of New York state, Sol Wachtler, was quoted once saying a prosecutor could persuade a grand jury to “indict a ham sandwich.”

Seven-member grand jury deliberations are closed to the public. They include the grand jury, a prosecutor and witnesses. A defendant can also testify, but cannot attend the entire deliberation.

Norris said the issue before the grand jury in Hug’s case was not whether Hug’s vehicle struck Wolter, but rather the question of whether Hug knew he had hit a person.

“The issue was, did Mr. Hug know he hit a human,” Norris said.

And, in the end, the grand jury apparently decided Hug was not reckless in any way.

Police learned about the incident after a driver from Bend called authorities Aug. 16 around 10:31 p.m. Police went to the Oregon Highway 201 scene and found Wolter lying on the east side of the highway near Southwest 30th Street, unconscious and unresponsive, according to a Malheur County Sheriff’s Office incident report.

The scene was apparently littered with Wolter’s belongings. For example, his glasses, a shoe and his bandana were all 10 to 20 feet from where police found his body along the side of the road. A broken vehicle mirror was also found along the highway, the incident report shows.

Almost an hour and a half after police found Wolter’s body, they got a call.

A Heinz employee who works at the security gate of the facility called police because Hug came to work with a broken passenger side mirror. The Heinz security employee had a police scanner in the booth and heard it broadcast information about a hit and run along Oregon Highway 201 involving a broken passenger side mirror, the incident report shows.

Hug came to work and popped into the security gate office — kicking off a “coincidental” and “very suspicious” stream of events for the Heinz security worker, the incident report shows.

“Hug came into the guardhouse and starts talking to me and said don’t worry about the damage to his truck, that he had been stupid today and broken the passenger mirror ... It just didn’t sit right, it was too coincidental and very suspicious,” the incident report shows.

Deputies met up with Hug and thought he might be autistic.

“I don’t think Mr. Hug mentally could comprehend the situation ... I thought Mr. Hug could (possibly) have some form of autism from my experience and training,” a deputy, who acknowledged he was not a doctor, wrote in his report.

Hug could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

But, after the incident, he did tell police that he knew his mirror had been hit, but he did not know why.

“I asked Mr. Hug if he stopped, he stated no. When I asked Mr. Hug why you wouldn’t stop, he stated ‘good question, I didn’t know anybody was there.’ He stated that he was in his lane and wasn’t over the white line, he didn’t see anything and the next thing ‘kuwam, I looked in my mirror and didn’t see anything; I didn’t see a vehicle or anything.’ He said he didn’t think anything of it,” the MCSO incident report shows.

New charges are not likely without additional evidence, Norris said, which is not anticipated.

Was justice served?

“It depends who you talk to,” Norris said. “Deputies took the case and presented all the evidence to the grand jury.”