Opinion ID: 769716
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Witness Intimidation Charge

Text: 4 The victim, Ms. Hummer, a 79-year-old widow, gave Musa permission to take her car to get an oil change. According to Musa, he had a relationship with Ms. Hummer, and the car was registered (by Musa) in both their names. According to the USPO, Ms. Hummer called the police after Musa failed to return the car. Musa called Ms. Hummer while the police were still at her house investigating the call. The police advised Musa that he was in possession of a vehicle that did not belong to him and that the victim was requesting that he return the vehicle. Musa refused to bring the vehicle back and told the officer that he was going to call his attorney. 5 The next day, Ms. Hummer reported to the police that Musa had called her three times. During these calls, Musa told her that he wanted her to drop the stolen vehicle charge against him. When Ms. Hummer refused, Musa became angry and stated, I am going to die, and you are going to die too. Musa then claimed he was going to put Ms. Hummer in a vehicle with him and drive over a cliff. According to the USPO, Ms. Hummer feared that Musa would carry out the threats, and she feared for her life. In addition, Ms. Hummer subsequently obtained a restraining order against Musa. 6 Musa offers a different version of the underlying events. He portrays the whole situation as a misunderstanding and denies ever threatening to kill Ms. Hummer. Nonetheless, he eventually pled no contest to misdemeanor witness intimidation and was sentenced to time served. The USPO's final letter to the court noted Musa's belief that he was forced to accept a no contest plea to the witness intimidation charge:He reported that he was in a life threatening situation while in custody [pending the resolution of the charge ] and he had to plead guilty in order to get out of jail. The USPO candidly reported that Musa strongly feels that he has been falsely accused. 7 The USPO advised the district court that Musa has a history of major depression, for which he takes medication. It also noted that Musa had two prior arrests involving violent acts, but that those arrests did not lead to convictions. The USPO concluded that, [g]iven Mr. Musa's unstable mental state and his apparent propensity to make rash decisions, it is felt that he poses a threat to the community. In its final letter to the court, the USPO cited the restraining order obtained by Ms. Hummer against Musa to support its belief that Musa also continued to pose a significant threat to the victim. 8