McKenzie County State’s Attorney Skarda comments on homicide charges

(Fargo, ND) -- By Steve Hallstrom - Special to The Farmer

Editor’s Note:

Below is the text of an interview I did following the charges filed in the homicide case against Watford City resident Hugo Hernandez, Jr.

The 13-month investigation culminated in two charges: a Class C Felony of Negligent Homicide and a Class B Misdemeanor of Discharge of a weapon within the city. 

The shooting claimed the life of 32-year-old Brianne Anderson, of Dickinson.  She was an employee of the McKenzie County Farmer.  This case has shaken us personally and professionally, still we’ve tried very hard to remain professional and objective.

Ty Skarda is the McKenzie County State’s Attorney.  He has led the prosecution, was the decision maker on the charges brought against Hernandez, Jr., and will be the lead prosecutor in the trial.  Skarda told me during the interview that his background also includes time as a defense attorney.  So he knows both sides of this game.

This case has resulted in an uncommon level of public concern and curiosity, and over the last 13 months, we’ve worked hard to ask questions, understand why the case took this long to develop, and bring those answers and perspective to you.  

During our interview, Skarda was cordial while understandably choosing his words carefully.  He could have declined the request for an interview but chose to speak with us anyway.

The Farmer wishes to thank Skarda for his time and comments, so that we can bring you important information that may help us all understand this case better.

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Farmer:  What are the next steps in the court process?

Skarda:  As you know he (Hernandez, Jr.) was arrested and taken into custody a couple weeks ago and he’s set for a preliminary hearing on June 20th.  If you are charged with a felony, the next stage is that you have a preliminary hearing.

Farmer:  Will he be entering a plea at that time, or is this just to put the case on the court schedule?

Skarda: He will enter a not guilty plea.  And that appearance might not actually happen because his attorney can file a piece of paper.  On June 20th, he can either have his preliminary hearing, which is essentially ‘we call the officer to the stand and we have kind of a mini-trial,’ he can waive the hearing, or his attorney can just file a letter with the court saying he’s waiving the hearing and just plead not guilty.

Farmer:  Is it common for you to have communication with the defense attorney and find out ahead of time what is going to happen during these next steps?

Skarda:  No, the defense attorney will typically do what they want.

Farmer:  But you’re expecting there will be a not guilty plea.  Why is that?

Skarda:  That’s just what happens.  If they want to change their plea to guilty at a later date, they can but nobody pleads guilty at a preliminary hearing.  99% of the people plead not guilty.  Just for background, and not related to this case at all, the only time they plead guilty would be, say they’ve been revoked on their probation or they plead guilty to other charges and they just want to get to Bismarck and do their time and be done with it.

Farmer:  Is that where the defendant in this case would go, if found guilty?

Skarda:  That’s up to the judge to determine sentencing.  Just for background information, if the sentence is anything over a year, they are sentenced to the state department of corrections so that’s Bismarck.  If it’s less than a year they would do their time locally here in McKenzie County.

Farmer:  What have these last 13 months been like as you’ve worked this case?

Skarda:  The investigative process is slow, but it’s deliberately slow, so that everyone can get all the information they can and make the best charging decision possible.  It’s taken a while for other agencies to review the information and make their findings, so there are a lot of things that go into it.  But we are where we are now.

Farmer:  You told the Farmer early in the investigation that the defendant was not willing to be interviewed or give any account of what happened on the night of the shooting.  Has anything new transpired in that area since we asked you about it last?

Skarda:  I’m not going to comment on that, due to the case being open.

Farmer:  Do you have any idea what the motive might be or any sense of what the defendant’s explanation is for what happened that night last March?

Skarda:  Again, I’m not going to comment on that, due to the case being open.

Farmer:  Alcohol and drugs were part of the police report.  Is there any way to know, now that we’re further down the line on this, if those things played a role in the shooting at all?

Skarda:  Again, I’m not going to comment on that.

Farmer:  Now that the charges have been filed, what emotion do you feel the most?  Is it pride that you worked hard for a long time and got this charged, is it disappointment about something that maybe could have gone better or gotten done earlier, is it nervousness because you still have to get a verdict?  What overriding sense do you feel about what’s happened to get to this point?

Skarda:  There’s still a long way to go in this case.  Just because charges are filed doesn’t mean that there aren’t still a lot of things that have to happen to move the case forward.  I’ll just leave it at that.

Farmer:  What was the most difficult part of putting this case together for you and your law enforcement colleagues?

Skarda:  Just working with all the other agencies and getting them to cooperate.  It can be difficult but it’s also rewarding, and it just takes some time.

Farmer:  You’ve charged the felony as a Class C, can you tell us why you felt like that was the appropriate level of charge to bring in this case?  Is there a matrix that gives you a frame of reference for what charges to bring?

Skarda:  That was the most appropriate charge.

Farmer:  Has the defense approached you about a plea deal at all?

Skarda:  No.

Farmer:  Do you expect that to happen at some point?

Skarda:  That would be a question for Kevin Chapman.  I don’t want to speak for another lawyer.

Farmer:  What prevented you from saying let’s try this as a Class B felony?

Skarda:  After reviewing all the facts and information, I think the charge that was charged out was the most appropriate.

Farmer: What range of sentences are there for a Class C felony as to what jail time he might have to serve. 

Skarda:  Per North Dakota Century Code, the maximum jail time is five years.  The minimum is no time, and they can let him out.  They don’t have to do any jail time.

Farmer:  Is probation on the table?  Is that another area where the judge has a lot of discretion?

Skarda.  The judge can do whatever they want on that too, up to a certain amount of time.

Farmer:  Based on the police report and the investigating officer’s statement, the defendant loaded the gun, pointed it at the deceased and fired it, was heartless toward the dying victim, tampered with the scene and was uncooperative toward law enforcement.  In light of those statements, five years seems light.  How do you respond?

Skarda:  I’m not going to comment on that.

Farmer:  How confident are you that you’ll get a conviction in this case?

Skarda:  I’m not going to comment on an open case.

Farmer:  Will there be a jury as part of this trial?

Skarda:  The defendant has a right to a bench trial or a jury trial, but the norm is to have a jury trial.  The defense has that choice. 

Farmer:  A bench trial is where it is just the judge determining the verdict?

Skarda:  Yes.

Farmer:  Thank you for your time.