Marcia Kitchen Argumentative Essay

A Humboldt County judge ruled today there was enough evidence for Marcia Kitchen to stand trial for her alleged role in a 2016 fatal hit-and-run that left her daughter and daughter’s friend dead.

Judge John Feeney said there was sufficient cause to believe Marcia Kitchen might have been drunk when she allegedly struck the 14-year-old girls on Eel River Drive near the Fortuna city limits. Feeney held her to on one count of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence and driving under the influence causing death. She also was held to answer for special allegations that included fleeing the scene and causing injury or death.

The ruling came at the end of the third day of a preliminary hearing regarding the July 12, 2016, fatal hit-and-run

that left Kiya Kitchen and Faith Tsarnas dead. Kitchen is expected to return to the Humboldt County courthouse on May 25 for an arraignment on information.
Family of both victims had been in attendance throughout the hearing.
Earlier on Monday a defense attorney for Marcia Kitchen cross-examined her son Jevin Kitchen after he said his mom confessed to killing his sister and daughter’s friend along Eel River Drive near the Fortuna city limits.

Defense attorney Benjamin Okin questioned Jevin Kitchen’s memory, noting portions of the incident the 18-year-old had recounted to investigators but could not recall during testimony. Jevin Kitchen conceded his memory of details was better about the time of the event and statements made early on were likely more accurate.

Jevin Kitchen had told investigators around the time of the incident that when his mom got home with her damaged Jeep she said she wasn’t immediately sure what she had hit.

“ ‘It was something big,’ ” Jevin Kitchen recalled his mom saying when shown a copy of his transcribed interview with law enforcement. “...The whole front bumper was messed up.”

The son’s description of William Stewart, a long-time friend of Marcia Kitchen who was in the Jeep with her at the time of the crash, seemed to misidentify the man. He had told police that the man looked like some kind of “San Diego gangster” and was “all tatted up.” Stewart testified Tuesday to having a single tattoo one of his biceps, according to a transcribed interview read by

Okin.
Jevin Kitchen also said he may have at first tried to shield his mom when initially questioned by investigators. She had allegedly told him not to give his accounts of the incident.
“I believe a little bit of me was still trying to protect my mom because I didn’t want to see her go,” Jevin Kitchen said. “...What is done is done. What is right needs to be done. This is right. This is why I’m doing this.”
Investigation and Analysis
California Highway Patrol officer Paul craft said he found Marcia Kitchen’s jeep at her home in Fortuna. After law enforcement began to suspect she may have been the driver, he said he went to her home and found the vehicle in a side yard on her property.
He described damage to the Jeep that appeared to have a “large area of impact.”
Kristina Rosenfeld a forensic scientist with the California Department of justice said she analyzed material found on the front of the jeep and believed it may be flesh or skin. She said a photo of the back of Tsarnas’ legs and further testing led her to believe the Jeep’s license plate may have left an imprint on the teen.
Rosenfeld described the Jeep having “major front end damage”.
“The grill was wrecked and folded around,” she said.