Woman convicted of felony murder in crash
Cleburne Times
Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008
Jurors
found a Keene woman guilty of felony murder and injury to a child
Monday in Judge William C. Bosworth’s 413th District Court in Cleburne.
Aimee
Andrea Fisher-Riza, 37, led police on a high-speed chase April 6 that
ended in a crash on U.S. 67 in Alvarado. The 40-minute chase, through
Johnson and Somervell counties, ended when Fisher-Riza crashed her
sport-utility vehicle into a concrete embankment. Her 9-month-old
daughter, Alexxus, who had been sitting unrestrained in the front
passenger seat, was ejected from the car and killed.
Fisher-Riza’s
attorney, Bill Mason, said he could not ethically comment on the case
until the punishment portion of the trial was completed.
Prosecutors were pleased, Assistant District Attorney Martin Strahan said.
“They
came back with the charges we thought they would, of felony murder and
injury to a child,” Strahan said. “The jury didn’t fall for the
insanity defense, and that’s how we felt about this case all along.”
Fisher-Riza also received a guilty verdict for criminal negligence with a deadly weapon.
The punishment portion of the trial was to begin at 9 a.m. today.
Sentencing
possibilities for Fisher-Riza range from two years probation to life in
prison. For the felony murder charge, the sentence is five to 99 years.
The other charges carry punishment of two to 20 years in prison each.
Defense
attorneys argued the woman ran from police because she was in a manic
state of her bipolar disorder, and she thought the police were trying
to kill her.
Prosecutors said she ran from police because she
possessed stolen money in the car with her. They said she stole almost
$40,000 from the Goody’s department store in Brownwood, where she
worked.
“There is no mental disorder that caused her behavior,” Strahan said. “She knew the difference between right and wrong.
“This
is not a case of insanity. She uses bipolar as an excuse, when it meets
her needs, because she is narcissistic and manipulative.”
District
Attorney Dale Hanna said Fisher-Riza asked a coworker before the chase
if she would get in trouble for not making a deposit, which proves she
knew the difference between right and wrong.
“Why would she run? She had $40,000 worth of reasons,” Hanna said.
But defense attorneys argued Fisher-Riza’s erratic behavior in the weeks before the chase prove she was in a manic state.
“Don’t guess her into prison,” Mason said to the jury in his closing argument.
“There
is no dispute that on April 6, 2007, there was a long police chase,
bad, reckless driving at high speed, and that Alexxus was killed. But
[Fisher-Riza] didn’t know it was wrong,” Mason said. “She was sick, and
she was out of control in the manic part of her bipolar disorder.”
Fisher-Riza
has been on trial in Judge William C. Bosworth’s 413th District Court
in Cleburne since Jan. 28. After six days, 30 witnesses and 57 exhibits
of evidence, the jury began deliberating around 1 p.m. Monday.
