Pasma sentenced to 9 months in jail

COLFAX - Kristen Grindley said she now remembers getting into the cab of Richard Pasma's truck shortly before she was left for dead in the middle of Pullman-Albion Road last fall.

Speaking at the sentencing hearing where her ex-boyfriend Pasma was sentenced to nine months in jail, Grindley said the memories taken away by her traumatic brain injuries are slowly starting to trickle back.

Whitman County Superior Court Judge David Frazier said because of the severity of those injuries, he sentenced Pasma to the high end of the standard range of three to nine months for felony hit-and-run.

"He left his girlfriend lying there in a pool of blood, near death," Frazier said before imposing the maximum sentence available to him. "You bet nine months. To do otherwise would be an additional slap in the face of Ms. Grindley."

And Frazier said that while Pasma technically qualified for a first-offender waiver that could have spared him any jail time, he would not grant it.

Pasma entered an Alford plea on Nov. 5, admitting no guilt but conceding a jury would likely find him guilty. The law treats an Alford plea as if it were a guilty plea.

A passerby found Grindley early on the morning of Nov. 11, 2009. A lengthy investigation by the Whitman County Sheriff's Office was unable to conclude how Grindley came to be in the truck, or how she came out.

The revelation at Monday's sentencing hearing was the first memory of that night Grindley has mentioned. But because of Pasma's plea, it will have no bearing in the case.

Most of the facts were not in contention. According to court testimony, Pasma and Grindley had a fight about house guests the day before the incident. Grindley confronted Pasma when he arrived at their Pullman home around 1:30 a.m., and Pasma left to go drive in the country near Albion.

The case hinged on whether Pasma knew Grindley fell from the truck. Defense attorney Tim Esser said its darkly tinted windows and loud exhaust could have concealed someone climbing into the bed, possibly to spy on where Pasma was going.

But Grindley's father, Rick Grindley, of Woodinville, cited a sheriff's office simulation, saying every single person sitting in the truck detected someone climbing into the back.

Rick Grindley also said he was "shocked and disgusted" Pasma showed no remorse at his plea hearing, and that he tried to blame the incident on Grindley's own alcohol and anger management problems.

With that in mind, Rick Grindley said he would have rather gone to trial to seek the maximum sentence of five years for felony hit-and-run.

He said Grindley was involved in a mentally and physically abusive relationship. As evidence, he read one of Grindley's letters to Pasma.

"I am so sick and tired of you putting me down," Rick Grindley quoted from his daughter's letter. "I had never thought I was dumb until I met you."

He also said that some detectives told him Grindley's injuries were consistent with a low-speed accident. That suggested Pasma and Grindley had stopped and gotten out of the truck to possibly argue, and Pasma drove away while Grindley unsuccessfully tried to jump back in.

Esser countered the injuries were more consistent with a high-speed fall, and no evidence had been presented to the court to show otherwise.

Addressing the court, Grindley cataloged the potentially permanent damage the accident caused: loss of hearing in her right ear, loss of her sense of smell, and the loss of much of her memory.

She also lamented remaining with Pasma.

"I realize now that I was in an abusive relationship," she said. "I thought that we were in love and we could work out our differences."

Pasma's parents, Rick Pasma and Carol Ingles, also addressed the court. Rick Pasma called Pasma a "great son with a great future," and Ingles acknowledged the Grindley family's pain.

"It's been a horrible year," she said directly to the Grindleys.

Pasma also spoke to the family.

"I'm sorry for all your troubles in the past year," he said. "I wish this never would have happened, obviously."

He then expressed hope everyone could move on and "have it all go away."

Pasma was immediately taken into custody following the hearing to begin serving his sentence.

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Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or (208) 883-0564.