Posted on 08/16/2006 10:04:23 AM PDT by flutters
Kenton athletes caused wreck that seriously injured 2 others; judge delays 60-day sentences
KENTON, Ohio — Two teenagers who pulled a stunt last winter that left a man physically disabled and his friend brain-damaged will each spend 60 days in juvenile detention, but not before they finish the upcoming high-school football season.
Judge Gary F. McKinley told a standing-room-only crowd in his courtroom yesterday that he knows his decision to allow standout Kenton High School athletes Dailyn Campbell, 16, and Jesse Howard, 17, to play sports before serving their sentences will be unpopular.
Five deputies were on hand during the sentencing hearing in Hardin County Common Pleas Court, and McKinley told the emotional crowd that he would hold anyone who had an outburst in contempt.
"I’m cutting you somewhat of a break here, and the court will get criticized for this," McKinley told Campbell.
The retired Union County juvenile court judge assigned to hear the cases said he had waffled when trying to decide whether to delay any sentence until after football season.
"I shouldn’t even be doing this," he told Campbell, a junior quarterback for the Kenton Wildcats, who won state titles in 2001 and 2002.
At those words, more than a dozen relatives of the two who were injured in the prank began to sob. Campbell’s mother and stepfather, sitting behind the victims’ families, looked relieved.
Campbell and Howard each pleaded no contest last month to two charges of vehicular vandalism. They both also pleaded to juvenile-delinquency counts of petty theft and possession of criminal tools. Prosecutors say Campbell and Howard and three others who are awaiting trial stole a decoy deer last November, painted it with obscenities and then placed it in the middle of a darkened rural road to see what would happen when drivers approached.
Robert Roby Jr., who was 18 at the time, swerved to miss the deer. His car rolled and crashed as Campbell and the other boys watched.
Both victims’ families pleaded with the judge to make an example of Campbell and Howard.
"None of these guys will ever know what our sons have gone through," Roby’s mother, Mary, wrote to the court. "They don’t think they did anything wrong. If they get nothing for what they’ve done, they’ll do something worse later. They need more than a slap on the wrist."
Roby nearly lost his right leg in the crash, and is facing his 11th surgery in the next few weeks, his mother said yesterday.
Robert Roby’s passenger, 17-year-old Dustin Zachariah, was on life support for several days and had broken bones, two collapsed lungs and brain damage. He now has the cognitive ability of a sixth-grader, his mother, Kathy Piper, said.
In addition to the 60-day sentence, which will begin at the Logan County Juvenile Detention Center after football season, Campbell and Howard are on house arrest and will be for six months after detention; must pay fines and restitution; must write a 500-word essay on "Why I should think before I act"; and must complete 1,500 and 500 hours of community service, respectively.
McKinley suspended two, one-year terms of commitment to the Ohio Department of Youth Services for both boys, so if they violate their probation those sentences could be invoked.
Campbell was sentenced first. The victims’ families left the courtroom before Howard was sentenced.
"They said they would not attend this hearing as their own way of showing protest to the previous ruling," Prosecutor Brad Bailey told McKinley. Piper had the victims’ advocate read a statement, saying that the judge’s ruling told her "that my son now is not only being pushed aside, but he’s been forgotten."
During their hearings, Campbell and Howard apologized. Campbell, who had two previous juvenile court convictions, showed no emotion and looked only at the judge. During Campbell’s apology, McKinley admonished him for mumbling.
Howard looked into the face of the victims’ advocate as she read the families’ statements. He wiped tears from his cheeks as he said he was sorry.
"I think every day that I hurt someone, and that hurts me inside," Howard said.
Yeah, it sure kept these two star athletes out of mischief.
Interesting. I didn't know that.
Thank you for the info.
What an absolutely stupid justification. You wanna know what would have been good for the team and fans? A severe object lesson that people pay consequences for reckless behavior, and that the consequences strike EVERYONE around them. Don't want your team and fans to suffer? Don't be stupid, reckless, short-sighted and self-absorbed. IOW, do what you're supposed to do in HS. Grow up.
I imagine you believe that an 18 yr. old driver should handle every road emergency with perfect precision and discipline. Give me a break.
Another judge who should be evicted from the bench. O'Reilly will be on him like white on rice. No wonder people have lost faith in our so-called "justice" system.
What are you talking about? This is well outside of Columbus.
If you both knew local geography, you'd know this is not around Columbus. Dispatch reporters do have cars and a travel budget.
You are correct. No one in Kenton ever heard of Columbus.
What an absolutely stupid justification. You wanna know what would have been good for the team and fans? A severe object lesson that people pay consequences for reckless behavior, and that the consequences strike EVERYONE around them.Overly emotional nonsense. Far better to let the players meet the commitments they have made, and then, after the fact, serve their sentences during what would otherwise be "freer" time. Though certainly the judge would be justified in requiring that they serve their sentences immediately if they quit the team, are kicked off, or become academically inelgible.
Sentences are delayed all the time. I've heard of DUI sentences being served a full year after the offense.
-Eric
Far better to have punishment be truly punishing. They need to lose something important to them, and in the scheme of things, a lost football season weighs light in the balance against permanent brain damage. I doubt the kid with the destroyed leg is gonna be kicking any field goals this year
The only commitment the judge should be considering is commitment to a penal system.
Though certainly the judge would be justified in requiring that they serve their sentences immediately if they quit the team, are kicked off, or become academically inelgible.
The fact they haven't been kicked off already speaks volumes about misplaced priorities. These two have already proved they have a reckless disregard for their actions.
Sentences are delayed all the time. I've heard of DUI sentences being served a full year after the offense.
Another stupidity that rewards bad and dangerous behavior. Perhaps it was for a schoolbus driver who shuttled around a HS football team. Mustn't disappoint the fanboyz.
I never said that or anything close to that.
I'm simply taking about paying attention to the road, and driving at a speed at which the driver can stop or at least avoid obstacles on the road without wrecking. That is usually possible even at noticeably higher than the speed limit, though slowing down for corners is often required.
Maybe it is time to make an example of this judge. Impeach him.
When Bill Parcells coached the Giants, there was a great video of him on the sidelines during a Philadelphia game, saying "this place is like a banana republic." Of course, Woody Hayes got fired for punching a player who intercepted a pass.
Here in Texas, football is serious, but UT and Oklahoma fans party in Dallas before the big game, and there are seldom any incidents beyond the standard public intoxication. But I don't think there's anyplace in the country where people identify with football as their life like Ohio and Pennsylvania.
More people know now. Swerving for an animal causes more trouble than staying the course. Everyone out there should try to remember this.
SD
Placing the decoy around a corner does make it more difficult to be spotted, especially at night, and would make doing so even more reckless of an act by those placing it there.
However, it is still the driver's responsibility to slow down for the corner and to be able to stop in time if something is on the road.
What if a car had broken down on the road? What if a bail of straw had fallen off of a truck? What if there simply happened to be a kid standing on the road that froze at the sight of an oncoming car instead of running off to the side? What if it was just a large dog standing in the road (not that uncommon in rural areas).
A car is an incredibly dangerous piece of equipment if operated without the proper caution. Having the item on the road be behind a corner or a hill doesn't lessen the responsibility of the driver to be in control.
It would add to the level of stupidity of the kids putting the decoy on the road, because corners do reduce visibility and while even a careless driver should see something in the road on a strait section of road, they need to pay more attention or go slower to deal with surprises in a corner.
However, if a car breaks down in a corner, and another car comes flying around the corner and hits it. It's not the driver of the broken down vehicle that will get cited for causing the accident. Drivers are responsible to be able to stop their cars in time to not hit objects on the road.
I think they should be able to sue those responsible. Whatever damages are determined should be paid for my the responsible parties in proportion to their level of responsibility for the crash. I believe that it is common in civil cases for the jury to have to determine how much each party contributed to the situation and split the damages accordingly.
The driver may not get much, or anything, if the jury decides his driving was the major factor in the severity of the accident.
Last week I was driving on a country road--speed limit 55. I came around a corner and over a hill. Just around the corner and over the hill were four kids standing next to their bikes and talking, completely across the road. I was going 35 mph and doubt that I could have stopped had I been going 55.
Are you saying I would have been at fault had I sit one of them when I was driving 20 below the posted limit? It would seem that you are arguing that a driver is always at fault.
Sue the two vermin for every penny they will ever have. Keep the judgment active until every dime is paid. Include medical bills, pain and suffering, and exemplary damages. Sue their parents, too, since the vermin were minors.
Use the legal system to destroy them.
Did I mention the annual Christmas visit? Force them to unwrap their packages before the holiday. Take their college money. Break them.
And be sure to tell them to have a happy day.
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