NEWBURY PARK : Charge Against Woman Reduced

Prosecutors dropped an attempted murder charge against a Newbury Park woman Friday because the alleged victim--her husband--has recanted part of his story.

Marcia Burns, 44, accused of ramming a jacked-up car when Jimmy Burns was working beneath it, now is charged with assault with a deadly weapon and felony hit and run in the Sept. 23 incident.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Tom Connors said the attempted murder charge was reduced because his office no longer believes it can prove the defendant intended to kill Jimmy Burns.

“We have some evidentiary problems concerning the victim (because) the victim has recanted on a lot of his statements,” Connors said. “The specific intent to kill was not as strong as we thought.”

The defendant’s lack of prior violence also played a part in the decision, the prosecutor said.

Jimmy Burns, 41, testified at a preliminary hearing last month that his wife could not have seen him under the jacked-up car when she rammed it with her vehicle. He also testified that Marcia Burns’ car had a mechanical problem that occasionally caused it to surge forward.

A witness told police he heard the defendant call out, “I hope you die” to her husband four times, including once after she rammed the vehicle.

Another witness said he told Marcia Burns she had hurt her husband, and she said, “Good,” and drove away, Connors said.

Jimmy Burns told police he saw the wheels of the car approaching before he was hit, and he heard his wife’s voice, Connors said. However, at the hearing Jimmy Burns testified that he neither saw nor heard anything.

Marcia Burns, who is free on $50,000 bail, is scheduled for trial on Dec. 5.