Posted on 12/04/2006 3:34:17 PM PST by FreedomCalls
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- One of the teenagers responsible for beating a Holly Hill homeless man to death asked a judge to reduce his 22-year prison sentence Monday. Warren Messner and three other teens pled guilty to killing the man because they were bored, but Messner said prison is too hard.
Messner is a big boy. He was 15 at the time he was brought into the woods to see the homeless man his friends had been beating. Even at that young age, he outweighed the victim, Michael Roberts, by 200 pounds when he jumped on his chest, crushing his ribcage. Roberts died.
"Did you feel bad when you are doing it?" Messner was asked during questioning.
"Not really, no," he replied.
He didn't feel bad then, but he does now. He has been in juvenile detention for eight months, locked in a small cell and occasionally allowed to go to class.
Messner and his attorney said he has already learned his lesson and is ready to go home to help others. ...
"He's not getting the mental health, the schooling. He's not getting anything, anything but locked in a cell all day long," Lori Messner [his mother] said.
The judge and the state both argued that being deprived services and being locked away is precisely the point of prison. Warren Messner will spend the next 22 years in prison without the chance for parole.
(Excerpt) Read more at wftv.com ...
How, by hopping on their chests and killing them?
Really, just the sheer weight diff alone bet the perp and the victim alone could easily be argued by the gov't as a dangerous weapon.
You musta sat under a banyan tree for a considerable time to be so enlightened!
Me, I just wanna snuff his lights out.
I'm sure the kid can earn a GED within the next 22 years.
Oh cry me a river. Doesn't this idiot understand murder? Says a lot of public schools huh?
LOL... Sometimes it just feels good to take off the Bodhisattva hat and slum it in the "lower worlds" for a while... if we didn't, we just wouldn't be human anymore. ;oP
I agree. What's it going to take for this country to return to its Wild West roots of justice? I'm getting tired of waiting! Just shoot the bastards!
I agree. What's it going to take for this country to return to its Wild West roots of justice? I'm getting tired of waiting! Just shoot the bastards!
Genuine Evil
Yours is not the first such comment on this thread, so this isn't directed just at you. This type of comment is disgusting. We've sentenced this man, rightly, to prison. We did not sentence him to get raped. I know that happens, but let's not cheer about it. It's a breakdown, and a failure that it happens. It is disgusting how much brutality we allow in prisons, and I really don't like seeing people cheering it on.
On the main subject, though, I watched the video. The reporter seemed almost delighted to pass on the judge's words that being locked in a cell all day is "what prison is for." I liked seeing that - both from the judge and the reporter.
Drew Garrett
Well,
I do not know the "lad" - so all my presumptions are out of hand, as it were. I think he could be redeemed somehow, and prove himself useful in his life on earth. My example for this hope is the well-known David Berkowitz, AKA the "Son of Sam" killer of NY state infamy.
Seldom in modern times has there been a more lost and evil soul walking amongst us - yet somehow, Berkowitz has found Christ behind bars. I believe his commitment is sincere in his heart of hearts.
I have viewed lengthy videotapes, and he is clearly remorseful, devoid of making any excuses, fully cognizant of the cruel and calculating depravity which he acted upon.
He knows he will never get out of prison, he flatly acknowledges the justice of his sentence without dispute, and he is obviously humbly grateful to G_d for a chance to have his miserable soul saved, and for a chance to be of some use in this life.
His personal testimony is unflinchingly honest, and utterly compelling.
In fact, I challenge a person with any heart to them to listen with an open mind and not weep openly.
He is now filling his mind with scriptures. He leads Bible studies in prison and is dedicated to introducing trapped, miserable sinners to Jesus Christ - for Christ's glory, not his own. His "memory bank" of Bible verses seems to border on encyclopaedic, and my own impression is that the Word is engraved upon his heart. He is where he belongs, and he accepts and embraces that.
If Berkowitz was/is salvageable, then Mr. Messner can be as well - IF he chooses wisely.
A.A.C.
They should send him to Mr. Arpaio's outfit where there really is hard labor -- and pink undies for all the guys.
His mind has been working a 3 day work week with long lunch hours and a half hour butt break every hour for years now.
Why incarcerate these animals if not to attempt rehab? Why not just do all of us and his next victim a favor and take out the trash now?
I volunteer to be the one to jump on his chest. All 265 lbs. of me.
They should all hang.
They should all hang.
Back in the old days, they would've pressed the guy to death for his crime. Stuck him under a plank and piled on weights a little at a time to literally flatten him while slowly suffocating him.
Not a bad solution when you think about it.
NOT !!!
Whenever I hear a sob story that Jonny and Jenna are just teenagers and don't know any better it just makes me wann puke...
The boy should have been put to death.
Boo Freakin HOO!
His a$$ should have been caned and then thrown in prison with grown mean who would make him their bee-yoch.
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