PROVO — The woman accused of fatally shooting her boss will go back to jail after the judge ruled she had violated an agreement with the court.
Kerri Fae Brown, accused of embezzling almost $30,000 from and then shooting 54-year-old Mina Pajela, entered no-contest pleas on Aug. 1 to the second-degree felony charge of manslaughter and second-degree felony charge of theft by deception. The no-contest plea carries the legal consequences of a guilty plea but does not admit guilt.
Because of this plea, she was allowed to remain out of custody until sentencing in November in order to make arrangements for her children.
However, when prosecutors checked with the courts in Arizona, no custody hearings had ever been scheduled, said Deputy Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman.
"Our motion is based on the fact that her reasons for staying out of custody we find not to be true," Buhman said.
Judge Lynn Davis said that while Brown had not violated the terms of her contract with prosecutors, she had violated the court's order to provide verification of hearings in connection with the placement of her children.
"That was either done in error or there was a misrepresentation to the court because there were no scheduled hearings regarding placement, visitation, custody, paternity or any other (issues)," Davis said.
Brown spoke for the first time in her four-year legal history Wednesday and told the court she was in the process of working out the paternity issue, which had to be settled before she could arrange other custody hearings. She also broke down as she described her actions to the court.
"It is assumed that I am admitting guilt (with the no-contest plea)," she told the judge. "I assure you I am not. I have never admitted to any involvement. I accepted this plea for several reasons, I am simply tired of not being able to plan for my children's future and my own future. I am tired of putting my family through stress and financial difficulties, and I am so tired of fighting.
"I want this over," she said. "I do not want to drag this on any longer; I simply want what was promised me when I signed that agreement."
Brown's agreement with state prosecutors stipulated that in return for accepting a no-contest plea, she would not be taken into custody until after her sentencing hearing on Nov. 7.
She told the court she had held up her end of the bargain by appearing for all court appearances and that she was not a flight risk.
She closed her statement: "I cannot be remorseful for something I did not do," she said. "But although I cannot be remorseful, I can be and am very sorry and heartbroken as well. Mina was my friend; she was a kind and beautiful woman who did not deserve to die the way she did. I loved her, and I know she loved me."
Sheila Pajela, the daughter of Mina Pajela, sent a letter to the court that was read by her mother's best friend, Kay Wallace. Sheila Pajela, who lives in California, is pregnant and unable to attend. The letter expressed her disappointment with the plea agreement and a belief that it will result in Brown receiving a sentence that is unfair to her mother.
"We have endured the heartbreak of knowing this woman has been living her life while my mother has not been able to live hers, nor has my family been able to live theirs," Wallace read from the letter. "Drug dealers have been given harsher bails than she has been (given). Drunk drivers have spent more time in jail . . . . What right does she have at this point to live her life as a normal citizen? This woman needs to pay for her crime."
Wallace finished the letter tearfully and added a few comments of her own.
"This terrible crime has caused so much hurt," she said. "It is so very hard to believe that the actions of one person can cause so much pain to so many people."
Brown was taken into custody immediately after the hearing.
E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com