[Vision2020] Deary Teens sentenced (Follow-up)

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (April 27, 2010) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

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Deary teen shooters get three years probation
Duo also receive 30 days detention, apologize for highway shootings

By Christina Lords Daily News Staff Write

Two Deary teens who admitted to shooting at several chip trucks and
passenger vehicles were sentenced by Lewis County Magistrate Stephen
Calhoun to 30 days of juvenile detention at the Nez Perce Juvenile
Detention Center in Lewiston effective immediately.

They also will serve three years of probation - the maximum allowed for a
juvenile facing those charges.

Austin Rickert, 14, and Austin Medlock, 14, each admitted to two counts of
unlawful discharge of a firearm at a passenger vehicle, as well as one
count of unlawful discharge of a firearm at a vehicle after they shot nine
chip trucks near Helmer on Jan. 22.

Rickert faced an additional count of altering a firework after what was
thought to be a pipe bomb was discovered while deputies were executing a
search warrant at his grandfather's residence.

Calhoun also ordered a suspended commitment for Rickert and Medlock to the
Idaho Department of Juvenile Correction if they are found in violation of
their probation terms.

Neither of the teens will be able to use or be in the possession of a
firearm or dangerous weapon as a part of their probation terms.

Medlock will be authorized to leave the detention center in the custody of
his parents to continue to attend counseling sessions, Calhoun said.

Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson asked for a sentence
placing the boys within the Department of Juvenile Correction program
where they could obtain therapy and live in a group-home setting instead
of the jail-like environment of detention.

The amount of time the two would have been sentenced to under the county's
request would have been determined by the personnel of the department of
juvenile correction, which could have been up to the day of their 19th
birthday, Thompson said.

The difficulty of determining an adequate sentence for such a serious
crime was compounded by the fact that neither Rickert nor Medlock have
been a part of criminal activity in the past, he said.

The prosecutor showed just how close some of the damage to the vehicles
could have come to "almost life-ending consequences" by showing a
photograph with a ballistic rod to trace the path of one of the bullets
through a rear passenger window toward the front windshield - narrowly
missing the driver and her passenger.

"A mere inches and one or the other of them (would) have been seriously
injured or dead," Thompson said.

Both boys stood to address the judge and vocalized apologies to those
involved in the situation, including the chip truck drivers, passenger
vehicle drivers and their families.

"I'd like to apologize to the community of Deary," Rickert said. "I'm sorry."

The two will pay nearly $1,500 in total restitution.

Rickert will pay the approximately $1,700 it cost to bring in the bomb
squad in relation to the possible pipe bomb incident.

Calhoun said he struggled internally with how long to sentence the boys to
detention.

He said the court was presented with numerous letters of support for the
teens from friends, family and school officials.

Many of those letters indicated Rickert and Medlock had made a mistake, he
said.

"'Mistake' is not strong enough because of what could have occurred,"
Calhoun said.

If someone had been injured or killed in the instance, it would have been
an "unimaginable tragedy," he said.

The original incident shut down a section of State Highway 8 between Deary
and Bovill for several hours. The teens shot the vehicles with .22-caliber
rifles and a crossbow.

They discharged the weapons from a three-level, 10-foot-tall fort located
near the highway, according to court records.

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With the knowledge of this additional information, it is clear that
Prosecuting Attorney Thompson's recommendation for the boys to be placed
in the Department of Juvenile Correction program would have been more
appropriate, realizing that detention, imposed against Rickert and
Medlock, could have been extended up to their 19th birthday (a duration I
consider to be too harsh for this incident).

As such . . .

My apologies to PA Bill Thompson for responding in such an irrational manner.

However, it should be noted, that this information was in the hands of the
Daily News.  They simply failed to post it.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown