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Chico hazer pleads 'no contest', will testify against others
Frat member pleads no contest in hazing case
By TERRY VAU DELL - Staff Writer
OROVILLE — In a surprise move, one of the Chico fraternity members accused of hazing in connection with the death of a pledge decided not to contest the charge.
Michael Fernandes, 19, pleaded "no contest" Monday in Butte County Superior Court to a misdemeanor hazing count and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.
District Attorney Mike Ramsey said one of the conditions of his two-year probation is that Fernandes must "testify truthfully" at the Nov. 2 trial of six other Chi Tau fraternity members accused in connection with the alleged Feb. 2 water torture death of Matthew Carrington.
The 21-year-old Chico State University student collapsed and died allegedly after being forced to drink copious amounts of water while performing strenuous exercises in a dank, freezing basement at the Chi Tau house in Chico during a so-called "Hell Night" initiation into the rogue fraternity.
The surprise plea comes just a week after a judge denied a defense motion seeking to sever the misdemeanor hazing trials of Fernandes, Trent Stiefvater, 20, and Richard Joseph Hirth, 22, from those of four Chi Tau members charged with involuntary manslaughter and hazing: Gabriel John Maestretti, 22, Jerry Ming Lim, 25, Carlos James Devilla Abrille, 22, and John Paul Fickes, 19.
Fernandes' attorney, Thomas Clute, said he was "surprised" when his client entered the plea Monday.
"He is very remorseful ... this plea I think was based on his conscience; he wanted to get this behind him and didn't want to put either his family or Matt Carrington's family through any more of this," said Clute.
Debbie Carrington, the deceased student's mother, also reacted with shock to the unexpected development.
"If I had known this would happen, we would have been there," she said.
She was hoping Fernandes "would be the one to come forward" because he had been taken to the hospital following a similar hazing incident last year, but chose not to press charges against the fraternity.
"I really believe that had he done so, this wouldn't have happened again and Matt
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would probably still be alive," Carrington's mother said.
In court Monday, Fernandes indicated he has been involved in "anti-hazing" activities in the wake of Carrington's death.
Fernandes had initially gone to court Monday to try to get the judge to appoint his attorney at public expense, claiming he is now indigent.
Ramsey said he had planned to oppose such an appointment when Fernandes entered the surprise plea.
Clute acknowledged that his client had previously been reluctant to take such action because a hazing conviction on his record will likely mean the loss of his student financial aid.
According to Clute, Fernandes has applied to other colleges, but the hazing charge hanging over his head had frustrated those efforts.
Judge Stephen Benson accepted Fernandes' change of plea to the single misdemeanor count.
Hazing is defined in the state Education Code as "any method of initiation likely to cause bodily injury or personal degradation or disgrace ... which results in physical or mental harm."
In addition to the 30-day jail term, which the judge agreed could be served through the sheriff's "work alternative program," Fernandes must pay a minimum $100 fine.
A decision as to how much restitution should be awarded to the victim's family has been postponed until the entire fraternity hazing case is concluded.
Prior to Monday's surprise plea, the only prosecution eyewitness was a fellow Chi Tau pledge, Michael Quintana, whose testimony had to be videotaped because he is now studying abroad and unavailable for the upcoming jury trial.
Asked whether Fernandes' testimony strengthened the prosecution's case against the remaining six fraternity defendants, Ramsey said: "The case is strong and it just got stronger."
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