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| Posted By | Discussion Topic: There Is Justice | ||||
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| adolescentmasturbator | posted on 07-28-2001 @ 4:34 AM |    | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Jan. 01  | Fla. Teen Gets 28 Years for Killing By Amanda Riddle Associated Press Writer Friday, July 27, 2001; 1:11 p.m. EDT WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A 14-year-old boy who shot to death his favorite teacher in a rage on the last day of school was sentenced Friday to 28 years in prison. Nathaniel Brazill, who was tried as an adult, had faced at least a 25-year minimum sentence and up to life in prison for killing Barry Grunow at Lake Worth Middle School on May 26, 2000. Brazill, wearing a bright red jumpsuit and shackles, showed little emotion as Circuit Judge Richard Wennet rendered his decision. The 28-year sentence is without the possibility of parole or time off for good behavior. In issuing the sentence, Wennet had to decide whether the teen would be a danger to society or could be rehabilitated. But he made no public comment on his reasoning for imposing the 28-year sentence. The judge ordered the teen to earn his high school diploma, take an anger management course and spend two years in a halfway house after completing his sentence. He also will serve five years' probation. Defense lawyer Robert Udell said the family will appeal and will not seek clemency until the appeals process was completed. "I can tell you he's pleased. Nathaniel just wanted to know if there is a light at the end of the tunnel," Udell said. The defense had sought the minimum 25-year term. Brazill's family rejected a plea deal of 25 years offered by prosecutors before the trial. Kay Grunow, the victim's sister, said she was "extremely disappointed" with the sentence, calling it "an insult to Barry's memory." Brazill was tried as an adult and convicted in May of second-degree murder for killing the 35-year-old English teacher he called a "great man and a great teacher." Brazill had returned to school after being suspended by a counselor earlier that day for throwing water balloons. He shot Grunow after the teacher refused to let the seventh-grader talk to two girls in his class. At a daylong sentencing hearing Thursday, Brazill apologized for the first time, telling the judge: "Words cannot really explain how sorry I am, but they're all I have." Brazill insisted, however, as he did during his trial, that he didn't mean to hurt his teacher. In urging a life sentence, Grunow's mother and two brothers said Brazill was a danger to society and must be punished for the murder. "This was not an accident. I think Nathaniel should be punished to the fullest extent of the law," Phyllis Grunow, the victim's mother, said at Thursday's hearing. "I don't think any family should have to go through this." Brazill's mother, Polly Powell, also testified Thursday, sobbing and wiping away tears as she asked the Grunow family for forgiveness and begged the judge to be lenient. "Nathaniel is my first born and I love him like nobody else can. I just ask you that you please have mercy on him," Powell said. A defense witness testified that Brazill was a "pot boiling over" following his suspension and after years of silence about physical abuse of his mother by boyfriends. "All this other stuff was exploding inside of him," said Jacqueline Patterson, deputy superintendent of Milwaukee schools. Asked why Grunow was targeted, child psychologist James Gabarino, a Cornell University professor, testified that Brazill was in such a frenzy over his love life and the suspension that who the victim was "may not have mattered." Prosecutor Marc Shiner asked for a life sentence, but made a second recommendation of 40 years in prison and probation should the judge not sentence Brazill to life. "This young man deserves to spend the rest of his life in jail without parole," Shiner said. "That's the only way we can be sure he won't hurt someone again." Grunow's widow, Pam, told the judge that she didn't have a sentencing recommendation to the court but described her husband as a wonderful father with many friends and students who cared greatly for him. "At home he enjoyed working in his garden and being Daddy," she said. "He was devoted to us. We were his priority."  Resident Board Socialist Email me here IM me at stickysituation2 or pinkorag Webmaster of the Undergound Unofficial I Hate WhackBagKid Message Board I currently have brought into the International | ||||
Pompous, Arrogant, Enigmatic, Bitter, Quirky, Misanthrope with a Weird Sense of Humor and an Iron Clad Memory while flooding the board with my Stream of Consciousness UFC STRIKE 3 (I'm a dick and I like to ruin people's plans) | posted on 07-28-2001 @ 4:47 AM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Aug. 00 | The teacher had it comin' to 'em. Funny how ev'rything was roses When we held on to the guns Write To Me Here AIM: SmarterChild Sweet Mother Mary, so many say they've seen you But if I'm shown, I promise I'll lie Cause most things are meaningless, the more you get to know them Down here love is the only gun I trust | ||||
| Is Don on the phone? | posted on 07-28-2001 @ 6:51 PM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Jan. 01 | Hey, it was society's fault. The village didn't raise him right. It was the violent images in video games. It was Marilyn Manson and Snoop Doggy Dogg, and reality television, and the fact that he had to stay in school from 9am to 3pm. There was an earthquake, a terrible flood.... Hope he enjoys baloney sandwiches.  AIM:isdononthephone | ||||
| ass-fucker | posted on 07-28-2001 @ 6:56 PM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Jan. 01 | i can't believe i made trhough h. s. without killing any of my teachers | ||||
| I Rooned It | posted on 07-29-2001 @ 12:37 AM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Jun. 01 | I don't mean to go off on a rant, but the problem with school shootings like such, in my opinion, is that there aren't enough guidance councelors or teachers who give a shit about the kids. All they care about are their paychecks. Also with school budgets being cut left and right, classes being overcrowded, extra curricular activities being eliminated and all, the kids really suffer in the end. School becomes more of a prison term than an environment of learning and growing. There needs to be a faculty who cares about the children's need instead of following an out-of-date protocol for public schooling. People also have to realize that it cost money to teach children and complaining about taxes makes the community worse off in the long run. That's what I think. You Give Me Head, It Makes it Worse. Take out Your Fucking Retainer, put it in Your Purse. ---Jello Biafra | ||||
| Cluster F | posted on 07-29-2001 @ 12:50 AM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00 | i never got, or will i ever get why when a guy kills someone, he doesnt serve his life in jail. 28 years?...that means he will still be alive when the term is over, defeating the purpose of the sentence. I say, if you kill someone, you should get killed yourself, or serve your ENTIRE life in jail "I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out, in a good cause, and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious." -Vince Lombardi | ||||
Nay. We are but men. ROCK. The man with the plan. | posted on 07-29-2001 @ 2:27 AM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00 | I'm with ClusterF, man.... 28 years is NOT JUSTICE for blatant murder. Have you guys actually SEEN the video of this kid shooting his teacher? I have. He knew what he was doing. The only influence from rappers or movies that he had was that he knew exactly how to hold the gun to make it look just like they do.... but hey, to paraphrase Pete Townshend, if a song tells a guy to go shoot up a school, he was probably enough of an asshole to just do it anyway.  Me droogies: None. Syndra has graduated and will one day take on droogs of her own. Two positions available. Come and get one in the yarbles.... if you have any yarbles. | ||||
| FoundryMusicPaintballJoe | posted on 07-29-2001 @ 2:50 AM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Oct. 00 | I blame irreverant radio shows...I mean..... AIM: PaintballOpAnt19 Im A Racist Prick. I'm Gunna Find You Petrizzi..And Eat Ya. | ||||
| adolescentmasturbator | posted on 07-29-2001 @ 3:05 AM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Jan. 01 | I agree he should have gotten a lot more time I'm just glad they didn't give em lock him up till he's 18 and then let him free. Resident Board Socialist Email me here IM me at stickysituation2 or pinkorag Webmaster of the Undergound Unofficial I Hate WhackBagKid Message Board I currently have brought into the International | ||||
| adolescentmasturbator | posted on 07-29-2001 @ 3:05 AM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Jan. 01 | This message was edited by adolescentmasturbator on 7-29-01 @ 3:31 AM | ||||
| Rog2K | posted on 07-29-2001 @ 3:12 AM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Jan. 01 | I agree. "Were you born worthless, or did you have to work at it?" -Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, Drill Instructor (FMJ) | ||||
| Rog2K | posted on 07-29-2001 @ 3:16 AM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Jan. 01 | I blame the parents. I know, I'm taking a novel approach. But call me crazy for holding the parents responsible.... "Were you born worthless, or did you have to work at it?" -Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, Drill Instructor (FMJ) | ||||
| veronafd264 | posted on 07-29-2001 @ 3:28 AM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: May. 01 | Two words: Natural Selection Thanks to Danked for the sig pic! *Adopted by Danked* Computers can do that? | ||||
| Is Don on the phone? | posted on 07-29-2001 @ 9:39 AM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Jan. 01 | The ironic thing is that the family of Nathanial Brazil was relieved that he got 28 years, but will appeal it anyway to see if it can be reduced. I know that parents must feel for their children, but when your child kills a man in cold blood? Well, at least he's not in school again in September. AIM:isdononthephone | ||||
Displaying 1-14 of 14 messages in this thread. |