Byker
2005-11-11 17:09:16 UTC
I saw the brawl footage on Fox and the mob is 100% jigaboos. A homey gets
thirty years for beating an old man to death and "...a woman who was a
friend or relative of Brown said of Johnson: 'He was 69. What, did you
expect him to live forever?'" ROTFLMWAO! Among burrheads, life isn't
cheap, it's worthless...
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Fight erupts at teen's murder sentencing
KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune
Published: November 11th, 2005 02:30 AM
A brawl broke out in a crowded Pierce County courtroom Thursday after a
judge sent a 19-year-old man who fatally beat an elderly East Side Tacoma
man to prison for 30 years.
Even before Andrew J. Brown's sentencing hearing started, the courtroom was
tense. The small arraignment courtroom - in which the gallery seats are
separated by glass from the judge and attorneys - was packed. Relatives and
friends of the victim, Darrel Johnson, were mixed in with Brown's family and
friends.
All had come to see the sentencing of the man who beat and stomped the
69-year-old Navy veteran to death in January.
"I knew it was going to break loose," victim advocate Lew Cox said later.
"It was hot in there, the place is just crowded. You have close family of
the victim. You have family from the defendant. It's warm, it's heated, and
tension was getting high."
Cox had someone call the Sheriff's Department to ask for security. A news
reporter did the same thing.
Sheriff's deputy Joe McDonald soon arrived. "I told him, 'You've got people
in there who are having some comments,' " Cox said. "I asked him to be in
there.
"And then he went on the other side of the glass."
McDonald stayed in the gallery for a short time, but then went into the
courtroom area, behind the glass and a locked door.
Each side made comments to the other throughout the hearing. It culminated
when a woman who was a friend or relative of Brown said of Johnson: "He was
69. What, did you expect him to live forever?"
That led to yelling, scuffling and punches.
McDonald fumbled for the key, let himself into the courtroom and tried to
break up the fight. A team of corrections officers came from the jail.
Cox criticized the Sheriff's Department's failure to prevent the fight.
"For them not to supply that security in there for the duration of the
hearing was wrong," he said. "You didn't need to be a rocket scientist to
figure out what was going to take place in that courtroom."
McDonald, in a brief interview after the fight, said he didn't realize the
situation was so volatile.
Later, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said the deputy wasn't trying to avoid
any conflict.
"We should have been there sooner," Troyer said. "There's no way around it.
We could have done a better job. . We need to do a better job of evaluating
possible problems before they occur."
Troyer confirmed that some in the room were affiliated with gangs. No
arrests were made, he said. But officers escorted people to their cars and
made sure they headed in different directions so there wouldn't be another
fight.
Brown's hearing was emotionally charged partly because his crime was so
shocking. The 6-foot-3 teenager attacked Johnson early Jan. 9 as the older
man was out for his morning walk.
Brown, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder last month, quietly
apologized Thursday. "I'm mercifully sorry for what has happened," he said.
His attorney, Edward DeCosta, told Superior Court Judge Stephanie Arend that
Brown had been awake for two weeks taking methamphetamine, and meant only to
rob Johnson.
DeCosta said Brown's parents abandoned him early in his life, his aunt died
when he was 14 and a friend was murdered. Brown had been homeless since he
was 16, DeCosta said.
"He's done everything he can to take responsibility," DeCosta said. "I'm
asking you to show Andrew some measure of mercy that he never showed Darrel
Johnson. That measure of mercy will show him that he's not beyond
redemption."
Arend said she was sorry for what had happened to Brown.
"But when I think of that in comparison to what you did here, it just didn't
add up," the judge said.
Johnson's three daughters told the judge he was a loving, honest patriot who
raised five children.
While Barbara McDonald told Brown she forgave him, Mary Garbagni said she
never could. And Julie Johnson said she hoped he'll die in prison.
"I can only hope with the help of his kind, he'll get what he deserves and
never make it out of there alive," she said.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/5323929p-4823335c.html
thirty years for beating an old man to death and "...a woman who was a
friend or relative of Brown said of Johnson: 'He was 69. What, did you
expect him to live forever?'" ROTFLMWAO! Among burrheads, life isn't
cheap, it's worthless...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fight erupts at teen's murder sentencing
KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune
Published: November 11th, 2005 02:30 AM
A brawl broke out in a crowded Pierce County courtroom Thursday after a
judge sent a 19-year-old man who fatally beat an elderly East Side Tacoma
man to prison for 30 years.
Even before Andrew J. Brown's sentencing hearing started, the courtroom was
tense. The small arraignment courtroom - in which the gallery seats are
separated by glass from the judge and attorneys - was packed. Relatives and
friends of the victim, Darrel Johnson, were mixed in with Brown's family and
friends.
All had come to see the sentencing of the man who beat and stomped the
69-year-old Navy veteran to death in January.
"I knew it was going to break loose," victim advocate Lew Cox said later.
"It was hot in there, the place is just crowded. You have close family of
the victim. You have family from the defendant. It's warm, it's heated, and
tension was getting high."
Cox had someone call the Sheriff's Department to ask for security. A news
reporter did the same thing.
Sheriff's deputy Joe McDonald soon arrived. "I told him, 'You've got people
in there who are having some comments,' " Cox said. "I asked him to be in
there.
"And then he went on the other side of the glass."
McDonald stayed in the gallery for a short time, but then went into the
courtroom area, behind the glass and a locked door.
Each side made comments to the other throughout the hearing. It culminated
when a woman who was a friend or relative of Brown said of Johnson: "He was
69. What, did you expect him to live forever?"
That led to yelling, scuffling and punches.
McDonald fumbled for the key, let himself into the courtroom and tried to
break up the fight. A team of corrections officers came from the jail.
Cox criticized the Sheriff's Department's failure to prevent the fight.
"For them not to supply that security in there for the duration of the
hearing was wrong," he said. "You didn't need to be a rocket scientist to
figure out what was going to take place in that courtroom."
McDonald, in a brief interview after the fight, said he didn't realize the
situation was so volatile.
Later, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said the deputy wasn't trying to avoid
any conflict.
"We should have been there sooner," Troyer said. "There's no way around it.
We could have done a better job. . We need to do a better job of evaluating
possible problems before they occur."
Troyer confirmed that some in the room were affiliated with gangs. No
arrests were made, he said. But officers escorted people to their cars and
made sure they headed in different directions so there wouldn't be another
fight.
Brown's hearing was emotionally charged partly because his crime was so
shocking. The 6-foot-3 teenager attacked Johnson early Jan. 9 as the older
man was out for his morning walk.
Brown, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder last month, quietly
apologized Thursday. "I'm mercifully sorry for what has happened," he said.
His attorney, Edward DeCosta, told Superior Court Judge Stephanie Arend that
Brown had been awake for two weeks taking methamphetamine, and meant only to
rob Johnson.
DeCosta said Brown's parents abandoned him early in his life, his aunt died
when he was 14 and a friend was murdered. Brown had been homeless since he
was 16, DeCosta said.
"He's done everything he can to take responsibility," DeCosta said. "I'm
asking you to show Andrew some measure of mercy that he never showed Darrel
Johnson. That measure of mercy will show him that he's not beyond
redemption."
Arend said she was sorry for what had happened to Brown.
"But when I think of that in comparison to what you did here, it just didn't
add up," the judge said.
Johnson's three daughters told the judge he was a loving, honest patriot who
raised five children.
While Barbara McDonald told Brown she forgave him, Mary Garbagni said she
never could. And Julie Johnson said she hoped he'll die in prison.
"I can only hope with the help of his kind, he'll get what he deserves and
never make it out of there alive," she said.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/5323929p-4823335c.html