It was foggy and rainy that night on June 18, 2004. Sherri Budge was in bed when she heard the voice of one of Michael’s friends come on the answering machine about 10:30.
“He was frantic,” she said. “He said he couldn’t find Michael. There had been a terrible accident, and some of the kids were at Littleton Hospital.”
Budge called the hospital, the Douglas County sheriff, the Parker police. Nobody would tell her what had happened.
Finally, she and her 20-year-old son, Nathan, went to the police station, where a victim’s advocate told her that two boys were in the hospital and the bodies of two others were burned beyond recognition. Budge called the hospital again. Michael wasn’t there.
“It was absolutely awful,” she said.
You don’t get over something like that. Not ever.
But along with the shock and the unfathomable grief, in the months since Michael’s death, there’s been disillusionment with the criminal justice system. “I don’t want to become cynical,” she said, “but they haven’t been honest with us.”
Among the facts on which everyone agrees are that Todd Stansfield, 16, was driving a 1990 Lexus. Sean Student, 17, Tony Majestic, 16, and Michael Budge, 17, were passengers. About 8 p.m., the Lexus collided with a Chrysler Sebring driven by 77-year-old Marvin “Mike” Gilchrist in Parker. Stansfield was critically injured but recovered.
He was the only survivor.
Budge said that when the toxicology reports were completed, the investigators told her that alcohol was not involved.
“We later found out that alcohol was involved,” she said. “They knew that at the time and didn’t tell us.”
Mike Knight, spokesman for the 18th Judicial District attorney, confirmed that no trace of alcohol was found in any of the teens. Gilchrist, however, tested at just below the legal level for intoxication.
The initial investigation by the Sheriff’s Office said Stansfield lost control and swerved into the oncoming car at a speed of 90 to 95 mph.
A second investigation contradicted the first. Among other things, it estimated the teenagers were traveling at 68 to 71 mph, which still would have been speeding in the 35 mph zone, but that raised concerns about the overall accuracy of the original investigation.
Knight declined to comment.
He did say, however, that the DA has decided to try Stansfield as an adult on four charges of vehicular homicide, reckless driving and careless driving causing death. If convicted, he could spend up to 24 years in prison.
“I told them from the start that I didn’t want Todd to be tried as an adult,” Budge said. “I wanted only community service and probation for him, no jail time.”
The prosecutors “kept saying, ‘Are you sure? You’re the only one who doesn’t want him charged as an adult,”‘ she said.
But she knew better.
Tony’s parents had told her that they agreed that Stansfield should not be tried as an adult. “Jail time was never an option from our family’s perspective,” Ivan and Mary Majestic said in an e-mail.
Knight said the DA’s decision was based on the fact that “four deaths were attributed directly to the actions of this man.” Budge doesn’t believe it.
She theorizes that it’s equally likely that Gilchrist’s car crossed the center line and Stansfield swerved to avoid him.
“What really strikes me is that you have four teenagers and an elderly gentleman involved, and right away they assume it was just another case of reckless teenagers,” Budge said.
Stansfield, who was in a coma for several days after the crash, has no memory of that night. “I hope he never does remember it,” Budge said. “He is so sorry.”
Budge has offered to accompany him to high schools to talk to kids about the tragedy and help them understand the risks they face on the road.
“I just don’t understand why the DA wants to do this to him. How does any good come from putting him in jail? What could possibly be gained?” she said. “Do they think of nothing but revenge?”
Stansfield’s trial is set for mid-August.
Diane Carman’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at dcarman@denverpost.com or 303-820-1489.
