Man who rammed vehicle to be resentenced

A transient man who was sentenced in 2014 to about 12 years in prison, in part for intentionally ramming a vehicle his brother was driving, will be resentenced, a Washington appeals court ruled Tuesday.

Justin Fessel was convicted by a Clark County Superior Court jury of vehicular assault and hit-and-run stemming from the July 26, 2013, crash east of Orchards. He was sentenced to 72 months on the vehicular assault and 60 months on the hit-and-run, court records show. The sentences were to run concurrently.

However, his sentence in that case ran consecutively with two other cases — 60 months for bail jumping and a year for drug possession, according to court records.

Just before noon, Fessel, then 34, was driving a Chevrolet Tahoe SUV and deliberately rammed a Buick Riviera driven by his brother Jesse, then 28. Their father and mother, James and Shari, were passengers in the Buick at the time of the crash. Both were injured and taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center for treatment.

Justin Fessel fled the scene at Northeast 73rd Street and 147th Avenue in the Sifton area. He was later arrested.

The crash was reportedly the result of an ongoing family feud.

On appeal, Fessel argued that the Superior Court made several errors throughout his case, including failing to enter written findings of fact and conclusions following a hearing. The appeals court disagreed with all of Fessel’s arguments, except his argument that the Superior Court incorrectly ran his sentences consecutively. The state also conceded that this was an error.

The appeals court upheld Fessel’s convictions but ordered he be resentenced.