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Gov. Ralph Northam on Monday conditionally pardoned a former Old Dominion University student sentenced last year to 10 years in prison for a multi-car crash that left a New York man severely disabled.
Matthew Rushin, who has autism, is expected to be released sometime in early 2021, the governor’s office said. He’s been incarcerated since the night of the accident, which occurred Jan. 4, 2019, near Hilltop Shopping Center in Virginia Beach.
The conditional pardon reduces the 22-year-old’s sentence, but does not wipe out his conviction, defense attorney Miriam Airington-Fisher said. It also comes with rules.
Rushin will be on supervised probation for five years and must get mental health treatment, counseling and a substance abuse evaluation, said Alena Yarmosky, a spokesperson for the governor.
He can’t possess a firearm, operate a vehicle or contact the victims or their families, but can petition a judge to restore his driving rights in 10 years, she added. If he violates the terms in the next 10 years, he could be ordered to complete the rest of his sentence, Yarmosky said.
Actions like the governor’s in this case are extremely rare, Airington-Fisher said. And to get a decision this quick is “unheard of,” she said.
The defense lawyer said she broke the news to her client Friday, when she got word of the governor’s finding. It didn’t become final until Rushin signed off on the terms Monday morning, she said.
“He was just shocked and just extremely, extremely, extremely grateful” Airington-Fisher said. “He’s been overwhelmed by all the support he’s gotten."
Among those who’ve been working for Rushin’s release is Jason Flom, a music industry executive, philanthropist and advocate for the wrongly convicted. Author John Grisham, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, and Tina Knowles — better known as Beyonce’s mother — also reached out to help.
An online petition seeking Rushin’s release had gathered almost 250,000 signatures as of Monday.
Much of the support has come from the autism community and people involved in the Black Lives Matter movement, according to Rushin’s mother, Lavern, who has led the effort to get her son exonerated.
Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney Colin Stolle also was informed of the governor’s decision late last week.
“Our hearts go out to the victims and their families in this case for the ongoing pain and legal process that they have had to endure," Stolle said in a statement Monday. "... While it certainly is within the Governor’s authority to do so, this office believes that the sentence imposed by the court was appropriate, just and fair.”
Danna Cusick, whose husband George Cusick was left permanently disabled by the crash, was disheartened by the governor’s decision. And she believes it’s wrong to call it a pardon.
“It’s a reduction of sentence, that’s it,” she said. “He’s still a felon, he still has conditions he has to follow, he still can’t drive. This is no get out of jail free card.”
As for her husband of more than 50 years, Danna Cusick said his life will never be the same. “George is still in bad shape. He will always be in bad shape and our hearts will forever be broken.”
The crash that upended the couple’s lives occurred on First Colonial Road on a rainy, winter night.
Rushin had gone out to get some pastries at a Panera Bread store where he worked part-time. The Cusicks were in town looking for a summer vacation spot.
Rushin got into a minor accident in a parking lot and left the scene. He was driving his Chevrolet Tahoe on First Colonial when he made a sudden U-turn, drove head-on into oncoming traffic, and struck a Ford Explorer the Cusicks were in, and one other vehicle.
George Cusick was in a coma for weeks. He now lives in a nursing facility and is no longer able to walk, talk or feed himself.
Witnesses told police Rushin said he was trying to kill himself. Investigators determined he was driving 65 miles per hour and hadn’t hit the brakes before impact.
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Rushin pleaded guilty to malicious wounding and hit and run and was sentenced to 10 years. State sentencing guidelines had suggested he serve a term between two years and seven months and six years and four months.
Rushin’s family said he didn’t fully understand what he was doing when he entered the plea.
A variety of experts enlisted by them afterward determined the crash was not intentional and that his autism played a role.
They believe he decided in a panic to go back to the parking lot where the first accident occurred. They also believe he blacked out on the way and mistakenly hit the gas pedal.
In a video of his interrogation by police, Rushin repeatedly denied that he had tried to kill himself, they said.
The family submitted their pardon request to the governor in June and included the new information they’d gathered.
Jane Harper, 757-222-5097, jane.harper@pilotonline.com