CHICO, Calif. – A Chico woman who ran a red light and killed a man crossing in a crosswalk in his wheelchair will face no punishment as a result of a recent appellate court ruling.
The ruling overturned a local judge’s decision and led to the woman being placed on mental health diversion.
The Butte County District Attorney’s Office says that 51-year-old Jennifer Amy Jackson of Chico had been charged with felony vehicular manslaughter for crashing into 69-year-old Frank Moodie of Chico at the intersection of 12th Street and Park Avenue in Chico at approximately 12:45 p.m. on July 24, 2024.
A Chico Police investigation found that Jackson was driving northbound on Park Avenue in the fast lane when she moved into the slow lane.
After changing lanes, Jackson side-swiped a vehicle in the fast lane that was stopping at a red light at the 12th Street intersection.
Authorities say that after hitting that vehicle, Jackson ran the red light at 12th Street, striking 69-year-old Frank Moodie, who was crossing the street in his motorized wheelchair in the crosswalk on a green light and a walk signal.
Traffic investigators collected multiple video surveillance recordings from the area showing the graphic crash.
Moodie was thrown from his wheelchair onto the hood and windshield of Jackson’s car, then launched 57 feet forward onto the street.
He was severely injured and transferred to Enloe Health, where he died 3 weeks later. At the scene, Jackson initially denied using her cell phone while driving.
However, she later admitted she was holding her phone and demonstrated how she held it up to view the device while driving on Park Avenue.
Officers opened her phone immediately after the crash, and the game “Solitaire Dash” was open on the screen.
As a result of Moodie’s death, Jackson was arrested and charged with felony vehicular manslaughter.
The Butte County District Attorney’s Office said that in court last year, Jackson’s defense attorneys sought mental health diversion under a California law that allows those claiming almost any mental health problem to be diverted from the criminal justice system before any trial and instead seek treatment rather than face a criminal conviction and the consequences.
Her attorneys hired a psychologist who diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder and a major depressive disorder, which the doctor claimed impacted her ability to focus and concentrate.
The prosecution opposed Jackson’s request for diversion, arguing that playing video games while driving was not a symptom of either PTSD or a major depressive disorder.
However, under the law at that time, a judge had to presume as a fact that any diagnosis of a mental disorder was a significant factor in the commission of the offense unless there was clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, thereby making Jackson eligible for mental health diversion.
After being found eligible for mental health diversion because of her mental health diagnosis, the next step in Jackson’s application for diversion was to determine whether she was “suitable” for diversion.
In February of this year, Butte County Superior Court Commissioner Leah Sears, acting as a Judge of the Superior Court, determined that Jackson was unsuitable for diversion because she posed an “unreasonable risk to public safety” and denied her diversion.
In her decision, Commissioner Sears noted that Jackson had ignored a prior order not to drive during the pendency of her case and had tested positive for marijuana use during that time, which was prohibited because of her admission of heavy marijuana use prior to the day she killed Mr. Moodie.
Commissioner Sears ruled that the risk to the public that Jackson would continue to drive and possibly kill again was too great. On May 26, 2026, the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento reversed Commissioner Sears’ decision.
The Court of Appeal ruled that, under California’s mental health diversion law, a defendant could be found unsuitable for, and denied, diversion only if they posed “an unreasonable risk to public safety,” as that term was defined by the California legislature.
It found that the legislature’s definition of the term required proof that a proposed divertee would likely commit not just any new future felony, but a new “super strike” felony – defined as a murder or any serious or violent felony punishable by life in prison.
Felony vehicular manslaughter does not qualify as a “super strike.”
Following the Court of Appeal’s ruling, Commissioner Sears was compelled to grant mental health diversion to Jackson.
During her two year Mental Health Diversion grant, Jackson must occasionally meet with a mental health counselor, cannot use drugs or alcohol and cannot drive during the first year.
Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said the case is a troubling example of one that does not belong in mental health diversion.
“This case is a sickening example of one that does not belong in mental health diversion. Significant changes to the law are needed. This is not justice. Mr. Moodie and his widow deserved more,” Ramsey said.
“Judges need more discretion to prevent cases like Jackson’s from being placed in diversion and to avoid making a mockery of a potentially worthwhile diversion program,” Ramsey said.
Ramsey pointed out that Assembly Bill 46, currently pending in the California legislature, would give more discretion to local judges by changing the definition of “an unreasonable risk to public safety” from requiring proof that a defendant will commit a new “super strike” to requiring only that a defendant pose an unreasonable danger to anyone in the public.
According to Ramsey, AB 46 appears to have enough bipartisan support to pass out of the legislature, and it is hoped that Governor Gavin Newsom will sign it.
Jackson will next appear in court on July 7 for a mental health diversion review, during which she must demonstrate she has been engaged in periodic mental health treatment.
After two years, if Jackson substantially completes diversion, current California law requires that her case be dismissed and that her arrest be deemed never to have occurred.