Sentencing Begins - What should I write?

[WhatsAPro]

I was told that the sentencing is about to begin for the guy that stabbed my brother in the spine.

My question is this:
What should I write about...my sister called me up and told me today that I can write soemthing that the DA would read if I sent it to him durring sentencing.

I live in South Dakota and my Bro in Massachusetts, so I have to have someone else read it for me.

The guy that did this was in a gang and he was with 2 other guys that helped out in the crime but did not do the actual stabbing..it was all unprovoked and gang related. I feel no remorse for this 21 year old animal.

What kind of statement is the judge looking to hear? What am I aloud to write? I want to write in order to give this guy the most time he can.

I am also on a deadline. i found out today that i needed to do this. and his sentencing starts in a few weeks i think.

Thanks for the help.

Mark
<a href="http://www.whatsapro.com">WhatsAPro.com</a>

[betheny]

Whoa. I'm sorry. Really sorry.

Maybe talk about how you and your brother used to run and play but now you can't. That you worry about your brother's health, about how Christopher Reeve basically died of a pressure sore. Talk about things he loved to do but now can't, and how the future is changed for him too. He'll never walk his daughter down the aisle, or fly a kite on the beach with his son. Pull the heartstrings.

Talk about how your brother is forever more vulnerable now to scumbags with knives and no conscience.

[lynnifer]

I agree - long term health effects. As well, how he'll get up every day and it will be the first thing he thinks about as well as the last thing he thinks about.

More than that - how your relationship with him will never be the same.

[LaMemChose]

I'd discuss the costs of the senseless violence against your brother. Tell the costs in sociological, economic, psychological, physical, familial, spiritual terms to your brother and to you as his sibling.

If you have pictures of you and your brother before the accident, why not copy and send those?

Tell what has happened in your raw, honest, courageous words.

Thank you for what you are doing to help send this crminal away for as long as possible.

[rfbdorf]

The above are great suggestions.
Most people do not know what being SCI means. They think "paralyzed - can't move his legs - so what? just means you move around in a chair."
They need to know the ugly stuff that isn't generally talked about - whatever applies to him:
Unrelievable pain
Can't even take a shit without help - explain digital stim
Has to push a rubber tube up his penis to urinate
Urinary tract infections from doing that
If he sits still for more than a half hour he gets a pressure sore - a sore that's like a burn except extends deep, deep under the skin and may take months of care to heal (explain that Reeve died of complications from one, even though he had access to the best care in the world)
Liable to do serious injury to himself without knowing it until he sees the result (e.g., foot or leg damage - break bone, burn, cut)
Then there are the "little "things:
Sex
Can't stand up to get things from off a shelf
Can't bend down to pick something off the floor
Can't walk on the beach
The monetary costs - personal care, medical care, transportation, the many, many things ABs do in normal life that he now cannot (change the oil, mow the lawn, clean the gutters, ...)
The so very terribly frustratingly long time it now takes to do the things he is able to do
The heartache of knowing so much of his life was taken away from him, and it was completely senseless.
- Richard

[yankee]

I was hit by a drunk driver and am a C6 complete.

At his sentencing I focused on who I was before - a sailor in the US Navy who loved his job and his country - and I would never be able to defend my country again. I had my second child six months prior and would never be able to hold him the same way, nor run around and play with my two year old like I used to. My relationship with my wife was strained due to the fact that now she had two little kids and one big kid (me) to take care of.

It isn't just your brother who must deal with SCI, it is everyone close to him - family and friends. There are so many aspects to what you can say - write from your heart and the judge will hear that.

The drunk driver got 8 out of ten years for what he did. He and the person who stabbed your brother deserve life - because what they did was not necessary and avoidable.

God Bless!

[bob clark]

Hi WhatsAPro,

There are some "victim impact forms" on the internet (one from Australia) that can help get you started. But look in your phonebook there in South Dakota and see if you can talk with a victim's rights advocacy person.

If you can't find such a person or group in the phonebook call the District Attorney's Office in your area and ask them about the availability of a victim's rights advocacy person.

I've heard some very effective victim impact statements on Court TV but can't find any of them posted on their website that you could use as a template, so to speak.

There should be some person in the judicial system (or closely associated with it) in your area who's heard many of them and that could sit down with you for an hour or so and help get you started. If you're not much of a writer (or even if you are) I can imagine that's it's difficult to put pen to paper and start to write such a personal statement, put it in a chronological or logical order and emphasize the important parts that you want known. And make it sound as though it's coming from you, your head and heart, and not anyone else's.

If you find a victim's advocate, print out what everyone here has suggested and take it with you so you'll have an idea as to what to write about. What your brother (and his family and friends) has to look forward to for the next 50 or 60 years due to the intentional behavoir of the criminals who so maliciously assaulted your brother.

Rfbdorf has listed quite a few of them. And talk to your brother about what he may want you to include.

Good luck.

[annamarie]

i agree with all the previous post but i have a uestion is your brother to visit you other siblings and your parents?what im trying to say holidays familyreunion can he just arrive.is all of your homes wheelchair accesible? maybe you want to ad this too.

[rfbdorf]

i agree with all the previous post but i have a uestion is your brother to visit you other siblings and your parents?what im trying to say holidays familyreunion can he just arrive.is all of your homes wheelchair accesible? maybe you want to ad this too.

Good point.
He cannot even go over to most of his friend's/relative's houses and visit them.
- Richard

[WhatsAPro]

Hey thanks a lot for all the advice. All of this is good stuff. I have written a lot of stuff before. I'll post my drafts when I get them done....

Thanks again. Keep them comming.

[cheesecake]

I had to do a victims impact statement after an assault almost 5 years ago. I was already disabled but the assault took away most of the use of my right arm. The person who assaulted me was one of my students and he was mentally ill, hearing voices.

I tried to keep it simple and straight forward. I talked about what I had personally lost as well as its impact on my young children, our family and our income. I talked about some of the daily issues and struggles.

I did stay away from the anger, and the more emotional components. I surprised many by asking for treatment vs. incarciration for the student.

For me, I had to dig deep and look at my personal values. Was any punishment going to restore me.....NO. I indicated that in my presentation.
I also indicated that many lives changed that day, including the person who assaulted me as well as his mothers. The damage was done and nothing would reverse that day.

I asked and got some financial restitution, not much as the mom had very little, but I did get some. I was reimbursed for child care as I could no longer take care of my 3 yr old....that alone made a significant impression.

The judge asked me some questions, good questions. In the end the student received an appropriate and VERY very restrictive sentencing, probably more so than if I had asked for prison time.

Each person has different things that they want acheived. I would simply suggest that you hold true to the values that you hold dear and speak from your heart.

Best to you and your family.