Distress costly in Cass crash

CASSOPOLIS — Having just received word from his wife that she was leaving him and filing for divorce, Michael Wilson was hardly in a state of mind to be behind the wheel of his pickup truck. Yet that’s where he was on Aug. 14, 2009, in what Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz called a "recipe for disaster.’’ Moments later, Wilson’s truck, traveling at 45 miles per hour, ran a stop sign at Dewey Lake and Decatur Road near Marcellus and struck an auto operated by Thomas Hiatt, 41, of Granger. The owner of a Mancino’s Restaurant on North Main Street in Mishawaka and a Wings Etc. in Kalamazoo, Hiatt died in the crash. And, on Friday in Cass Circuit Court, Wilson, 29, of Marcellus, was sentenced to two years probation, with the first 60 days to be served in either the county jail or on work release/tether, based on his Jan. 29 no-contest plea to negligent homicide. Perhaps a key in Wilson’s relatively light sentence was that Hiatt’s family asked that he receive no jail time. Judge Michael Dodge referred to the family’s "attitude of forgiveness’’ before handing down the sentence. Also, Hiatt’s daughter, Alissa, 14, made an emotional address to the court, proclaiming that she didn’t hate Wilson but that she deeply misses her father. "At the funeral, they said he was not Superman, that he was beyond that,’’ she said, fighting back tears. Wilson spoke briefly, offering his "deepest apologies’’ to Hiatt’s family. His attorney, Dale Blunier, said his client has "terrible remorse’’ over the incident and that memories of it continue to haunt him. "He can’t sleep most nights,’’ Blunier said. Dodge pointed out Wilson had a clean record prior to the accident. He’ll receive credit for one day already served and was ordered to make $9,788 restitution in addition to fines and costs. Also Friday, a Cassopolis man was sentenced to 34 months to 10 years in prison, with credit for 145 days served, for his role in the Oct. 19 shooting death of Patrick Carter Jr., 27, of Dowagiac. Dodge handed down the sentence to Andrew Novotny, 24, who earlier entered a guilty plea to six felonies ranging from obstruction of justice to possessing loaded firearms in a vehicle. Novotny’s time behind bars was enhanced because of his status as a habitual offender. The man who allegedly shot Carter in the face, Steven Graham, 22, of Dowagiac, is still awaiting sentencing. Dodge’s sentence was preceded by an address by Mary Carter, the mother of Patrick Carter. "Patrick wasn’t a perfect kid but he had turned his life around. He was in church, and he was getting ready to get married,’’ she said. "They (Novotny and Graham) have their lives. Patrick doesn’t.’’ Fitz said Novotny, on probation on a charge involving weapons and pipe bomb materials, contributed to the evening of "wild West behavior’’ at the Morton Street residence in Dowagiac by transporting guns to the house at Graham’s request. What followed, he said, was a series of "extremely reckless acts’’ involving "loaded weapons, alcohol and false bravado.’’ At one point, Novotny shot a DVD player with a handgun, the prosecutor said. He also chastised Novotny for trying to hide evidence and "running like a coward’’ instead of attempting to assist Carter in the aftermath of the shooting. Novotny’s attorney, Jason Engram, referred to Carter’s death as a "horrible, bad accident’’ and argued that Novotny is deeply remorseful. "My client didn’t set out to have anybody shot,’’ he said. Like Wilson did to Hiatt’s family, Novotny offered his apologies to the Carter family. "I’m not a bad man. I just made a bad decision,’’ he said. "I’m ashamed of my actions that night.’’ Staff writer Lou Mumford: lmumford@sbtinfo.com (269) 687-3551