Vanessa Reichert, Vehicular Homicide and Competency to Stand Trial

Vanessa Reichert was the daughter of a close friend of my mother's. She used to baby sit me when I was little, and she was one of the best people I knew. About two years ago she was killed by a drunk driver. Now, the man who killed her may be able to walk away. The following is an email that Vanessa's mother sent those who were close to her.

Vanessa’s Community,
To all of you who made Vanessa’s life the life she truly loved to live,
I am asking you to take time to help protect others from the tragedy we
all faced as a result of her loss.

John Hoff , the man who crashed into Vanessa’s vehicle while he was
driving drunk on the wrong side of the road, has been living at the
Pueblo State Mental Hospital since he was found incompetent to stand
trial. It is believed that he will continue to digress and he will more
than likely never stand trial. There has been a motion’s hearing set in
July by his defense attorney to ask the judge to rule that the case be a
civil rather than criminal offense. If that happens it is very probable
that he will not only leave the mental hospital, but be in a half way
house or possibly just monitored on a probationary type schedule.

To me this is very disturbing because he potentially could drive a car
and be yet again the cause of another tragedy. When John Hoff was
questioned at the hospital after he ran his car into Vanessa going the
wrong way down the highway, he did not even remember being in an
accident or vehicle. Why did he even have a driver’s license? He also
had been stopped for a hit and run before he hit Vanessa that he hadn’t
been to court for yet. He was carrying a gun in his car. He is dangerous
and should not be free in Weld County to hurt someone again.

Although death is an inevitable and natural part of life, we should
still try to protect citizens of Weld County from people we know are
incompetent and dangerous. The question we are asking Judge Hartmann is,
what exactly stands between an unsuspecting citizenry and a drunk,
armed, demented moron at large in the county?

Please consider taking the time to write a letter and send it via email
to Judge Hartrmann, Weld District Court, demanding that the citizens of
Weld County be protected from this dangerous person by keeping the
charge that of a criminal offense, not civil, so he is monitored 24/7.

I am sending this to as many people as I can who knew how Vanessa
touched our lives. Please forward to others who may want to help with
this call to justice.

Thanks for being in my daughter’s life.
Debra Reichert

Please send your letter to;

Judge James Hartmann
Reichert/Hoff Case
Nineteenth Judicial District
PO Box 2038
Greeley, CO 80632

I can't see how this man could be considered unfit to stand trial if he was competent enough to have a driver's license. An article I read said that John Hoff suffers from multiple sclerosis, which causes him memory loss and forces him to use a walker. I don't know much about the subject but something here doesn't seem to click. If anyone who reads this has any information about competency to stand trial that would help me write a letter to the judge, I would greatly appreciate it. If anyone out there also feels compelled to write a letter themselves, please do. We need all the help we can get here to make sure this man does not hurt anyone ever again.

My email address: street.soccer4@gmail.com

Here's an article regarding Hoff's competency to stand trial (sorry, I can't post URLs right now, I'm at the airport and the wireless service is all screwy).

COPYRIGHT 2007 Greeley Tribune

Byline: Vanessa Delgado

May 4--A man facing charges of vehicular homicide in the death of a 19-year-old Evans woman asked a Weld County Judge Thursday for a state evaluation to determine whether he is competent to stand trial.

John Hoff, of La Salle, was allegedly drunk and driving home from a bar Sept. 28 when his vehicle crashed head-on into a car driven by Vanessa Reichert-Fitzpatrick. She died the following day at North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley.

Robert Ray, Hoff's attorney, said Hoff suffers from multiple sclerosis, which in Hoff's case causes him memory loss and forces him to use a walker. Ray said his client is not capable of standing trial, which had been set for the first week of July.

Weld District Judge James Hartmann ordered Hoff be evaluated by the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo and scheduled another court date for July 12. Based on the findings from Hoff's mental evaluation, which are due by July 6th, Hartmann said he will determine what's next in the case.

Deb Reichert, Vanessa's mother, said she has been shocked by how long the court process has taken.

"My biggest concern is that I just want to make sure that John Hoff is not going to be out on streets driving," she said.

Reichert-Fitzpatrick graduated with an International Baccalaureate degree from Greeley West High School and received a full scholarship to Colorado College in Colorado Springs where she was studying to become a doctor. She was in town visiting her mom for the weekend when the crash occurred.

Ray said that Hoff no longer has access to a car and will not be driving because of his physical condition.

What's Next

John Hoff will be back in Division 12 of Weld District Court at 11 a.m. July 12 to review the results of a mental health evaluation.

Copyright (c) 2007, Greeley Tribune, Colo.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.


Article covering Vanessa's accident:

Police are still not confirming or denying whether alcohol was a factor in a crash Sept. 28 that killed a 19-year-old Evans woman. However, a background check shows two prior charges for driving under the influence of alcohol.

John Hoff, 34, of La Salle was driving south in the northbound lane on U.S. 85 near the U.S. 34 overpass Thursday about 7:30 p.m. when he hit Vanessa Reichert-Fitzpatrick, who was on her way to visit her boyfriend.

Hoff was charged for driving under the influence, a misdemeanor offense, in September 1994 and July 2001. Hoff also had several other charges on his record, which included drug possession/use and weapon offenses. He was last charged with a felony in 2003 for having a controlled substance, which was later dismissed in court.

According to Evans police Sgt. Rich Strang, Hoff stands to face charges of vehicular homicide.

Hoff and Reichert-Fitzpatrick were taken to the North Colorado Medical Center. Hoff, who's been in the hospital since the crash, was reported in good condition on Saturday. Reichert-Fitzpatrick, died at 1 p.m. Friday at NCMC from multiple blunt force injuries.

Reichert-Fitzpatrick graduated with an International Baccalaureate degree from Greeley West High School and received a full scholarship to Colorado College in Colorado Springs. She was in town visiting her mom for the weekend.

Family members said Reichert-Fitzpatrick was positive and giving person, who in the end donated her organs to others. Memorial services are at 4 p.m. Tuesday at St. John's United Church of Christ, 3815 20th St., Greeley.

Family members included the following quote from the Dalai Lama in her obituary:

"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."

I HATE DRM!

I'm not what one would call "technologically inclined" but I flatter myself enough to declare that I'm not technology impaired either. Still, my tech friends think it's so cute whenever I try to talk about things involving a slightly advanced understanding of technology. One thing that I do understand, however so slightly, is something called Digital Rights Management (DRM), or, as I like to call it, "the reason for all the suffering in the world."
Wikipedia defines DRM (gasp! Is he actually using Wikipedia as a source?) as: an umbrella term that refers to access control technologies used by publishers and copyright holders to limit usage of digital media or devices. Here's a more simple definition by yours truly: Greedy, rich execs trying to gain even more money than they have, which is already more than they deserve. People who try to share music on iTunes are probably very familiar with DRM and don't even know it. Have you ever tried to share a song with someone, only to find that when they try to play it, a little window pops up asking for the password to your Apple account? This is because, when you bought the song on iTunes, you also bought the DRM, which won't let you play this song on more than five computers, which means that only five people (including yourself) can have this particular song, and all those people need to get your password to play the song. This has been my downfall many a time while trying to share music with friends. Of course, Steve Jobs says that he doesn't want DRM, that it's in the hands of the record companies and there's nothing he can do about it. Should we believe him? It is true that some songs on iTunes are now available DRM-free, of course they cost more. Here's a better idea: go to Amazon.com. They sell mp3s too, often times cheaper than iTunes, and NO DRM!!! Spread the word!
My more recent scuffle with this crime against humanity came on Netflix.com when I tried to utilize the "Watch Instantly" option, that allows you to watch certain movies on Netflix right at your computer, without even having them delivered to you! Sounds like a good deal, except that when I clicked on the button, I found that the function isn't supported by Apple and therefore, I can't do it on my MacBook! When I read a bit more into the problem, imagine my surprise when I found out that DRM was to blame. So there you go, that's DRM, the most annoying thing that I found to bitch about today.

(Still not writing anything new)

This is something I did a few months ago when my schedule was really busy (with school and all that) and I wasn't getting much sleep. It was just something fun that I enjoyed writing, so I decided to bring it over here.

MY LIFE (IN STAGE PLAY FORMAT)

AJ: Yes! Tonight's the night I will finally go to bed before three in the morning! I've got a good start on my homework and it's not even midnight yet!

Short Story: A.J.! Write me!!

AJ: Maybe later, Story, I have homework to do

Short Story: Awww...come on!

AJ: Ok, I'll START you, but then I've really got to get my work done.

Three Hours Later...

Story: Wow, you're almost done with me! Say, didn't you say you had to get homework done?

AJ: SHUT UP! *types furiously* There! Finished! And I still have five hours to do my homework, go to bed, get seven hours of sleep, wake up, and go to class!

Story: How can you get seven hours of sleep in five ho-?

AJ: *interrupting* SHUT UP!!!!!

Next Day...

AJ: *Wakes up at 9:00 and promptly cries* I don't wanna do stuff!

Class: AJ, it's your own fault that you stayed up late, now get your ass out of bed and get to Italian

AJ: I hate responsibility!

AJ goes to falls asleep in four classes that day with ten minutes between each, all on opposite sides of campus.

Uphill: Ha! I live to make you miserable!

Wind: As do I!

Freezing Cold: Me too!

Ice: w00t!

That night...

AJ: Ok, tonight's the night! I'm going to do my homework and get enough sleep to function properly tomorrow!

Best Friend: (on AIM) AJ! Ever since we went to rivaling colleges, we don't talk or hang out nearly as much as we used to! I'm picking tonight to be the first time I sign on to AIM in about a year so you should totally talk to me while you have the opportunity!

AJ: I don't know, Best Friend, I haven't been sleeping a lot lately and I have homework to do...

Best Friend: Awww, come on!

AJ: ok, but only for a little while.

Three hours later

Best Friend: Haha, wow, you sure are a fun guy to waste time with. Say, didn't you have homework to do?

AJ: SHUT UP! ...lolz...k, ttyl.

The next day...

AJ: *Waking up at 9:00* ...I hate myself...I hate myself...

Roommate: AJ, I don't have class until noon so would you get your ass out of bed, stop hitting the snooze button, and go to class so I can sleep in like you so badly wish you could?

AJ: *cries*

That day, AJ only has two classes but does not have time to eat breakfast, thanks to Snooze Button.

Sleep: Haha! Don't you wish you could have me?

AJ: Laugh's on you, Sleep, I have an hour between classes today so I'll be able to fit in a quick nap!

Lunch: Hey! What about me?!

AJ: zzzzzzZZZZzzzzZZZZzzzz

That night...

AJ: I'm gonna do it tonight! I'm gonna go to bed on time! I don't have any homework to do, so I'll go tire myself out at the Rec Center

Modern Treadmill: I am ridiculously complicated and hard to figure out how to get started! But once you get me going, I won't stop for 30 minutes, and I know that your pride won't let you stop until you finish the work out!

thirty minutes later...

Strength Training: Hey, this is great! This treadmill automatically inclined itself to make you feel like you were running uphill! Your legs got a real workout!

Cardiovascular Training: Hey, what about me?

AJ: don't worry, Cardiovascular Training, there's still time for you, I don't have any homework remember?

Later, still at the Rec Center...

Loudspeaker: The Rec Center will be closing in ten minutes...

AJ: That's strange, I thought the Rec Center didn't close until midnight...*looks at watch*...awwwww shit!

Next morning...

AJ only goes to three classes, having slept in and missing his first one.

Sentence Written In Italics Above This Line: I do not change the fact that AJ's classes are all on opposite sides of campus with only ten minute in between.

Enter Uphill, Freezing Cold, Wind, and Ice

AJ: Oh well, at least today is Friday...

Church Group Volunteer Work Weekend laughs evilly from offstage.