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Saturday, March 18, 2006
Ind. Courts - Delaware County Judge criticizes plea agreements
"Judge criticizes plea agreements" is the headline to a story by Nick Werne in the Muncie Star-Press. Some quotes:
A Delaware County judge questioned whether preliminary plea agreements are too lenient in the cases of a husband and wife who fired gunshots while police were responding to a 2004 emergency call at their rural Cowan home.At question is whether the gunshots fired from inside the home were the accidental result of a physical confrontation between Mark and Teresa Hittson or whether the couple was firing on officers outside.
"By the grace of God, some of these officers didn't get shot," Circuit Court 5 Judge Wayne Lennington said. "They were bent on doing someone in."
Mark and Teresa Hittson reached identical agreements with the Delaware County prosecutor's office that would allow them to plead guilty to criminal recklessness, a class D felony carrying a maximum three-year sentence.
Lennington, who must approve the agreements, criticized them during a hearing this week.
The judge said the gunshots appeared to have been fired intentionally at officers and did not, therefore, meet the definition for criminal recklessness under Indiana law.
The Hittsons, perhaps, were deserving of convictions for the more serious crime of attempted aggravated battery, a class C felony with a penalty between 2 and 8 years, Lennington said.
The couple's attorney, John Brooke, debated with Lennington and said no evidence existed that proved his clients intentionally fired upon anyone.
Lennington has taken the agreements under advisement and given Brooke and Deputy Prosecutor Judi Calhoun until Tuesday to file written briefs with the court.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 18, 2006 10:29 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions