[Vision2020] Sentence Appropriate?

Mon Jun 21 13:19:41 PDT 2010

Given the information in the news article and the Idaho Repository, Heustis did not cop a plea:

"During the sentencing, Michelle Evans, senior deputy prosecuting attorney for Latah County, asked for 10 years probation and a 90-day jail sentence.

"I think that it's appropriate to impress upon Mr. Heustis ... the seriousness of what he did," she said."

Heustis pled guilty as charged, and the sentencing was determined in a normal sentencing process and hearing, the same as if he was found guilty in a judge or jury trial.  See:

https://www.idcourts.us/repository/caseHistory.do?roaDetail=yes&schema=LATAH&county=Latah&partySeq=1684&displayName=Heustis%2C+Kendall+Wayne

Notice also the following actions:

Order for Evaluation

Presentence report

Addendum to Presentence Report

Paul writes:

"A couple of days later, he's in jail and scared for his life.  He's sees how many people out there assume he rapes babies on a daily basis, and he desperately doesn't want to go to prison for 15 years labeled as a sex offender because he knows that could very well happen if the prosecutor plays the "think of the children!" card and the jury is not very sophisticated about this whole online thing.  So he cops a plea and gets off with a reduced sentence and carries the "sex offender" brand on his forehead for the world to see and gets to read about how it's a crime that he was let out so soon and that he should be made to suffer more on a local mailing list."

Heustis was originally charged on 05/05/2009.  His guilty plea was entered on 04/09/2010.  Hardly a couple of days later.  He agrees to plead guilty and go through the normal sentencing process where an evaluation is made and both the prosecution and defense make their recommendations to the court.  

Paul's hypothetical case has vanished based on the facts.  In addition, if someone pleads guilty to something they did not do, that would be perjury.

The problem now is that most of the case has been sealed since Heustis was given a withheld judgment.  The original complaint and part of the Judgment of Conviction may be available. The part of the Judgment of Conviction which deals with the meat of the matter has probably been sealed.  The public is now prevented from examining the facts of the case in order to judge the actions of the prosecution (which also recommend a weak sentence) and of the judge. Very convenient.  A CYA move by the judge and prosecution since a withheld judgment is hardly appropriate for Heustis given his prior criminal convictions.

W.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Paul Rumelhart 
  To: Garrett Clevenger 
  Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Monday, June 21, 2010 12:12 PM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Sentence Appropriate?

  We know absolutely nothing about this particular case ("jack shit" is, I 
  believe, the technical term).  Yet we're willing to judge the leniency 
  of his sentence and to call him a pedophile and a creep on a public 
  mailing list.

  Here's a hypothetical situation:

  Maybe this guy went to an adult chatroom, where adults talk with other 
  adults about sex.  This guy strikes up a conversation with a person who 
  later claims that they are 13.  Since he's on an adult chatroom, he 
  figure that this person is role-playing, so he goes along with it.  The 
  conversations continue, and he make some remark about how they should 
  both get together and have sex, never intending to actually go through 
  with it.  He was just role-playing, not making an actual date.  A couple 
  of days later, he's in jail and scared for his life.  He's sees how many 
  people out there assume he rapes babies on a daily basis, and he 
  desperately doesn't want to go to prison for 15 years labeled as a sex 
  offender because he knows that could very well happen if the prosecutor 
  plays the "think of the children!" card and the jury is not very 
  sophisticated about this whole online thing.  So he cops a plea and gets 
  off with a reduced sentence and carries the "sex offender" brand on his 
  forehead for the world to see and gets to read about how it's a crime 
  that he was let out so soon and that he should be made to suffer more on 
  a local mailing list.

  I don't know that it went down that way, but I don't know that it didn't 
  go down that way.  I, personally, would rather have more facts before I 
  condemn this guy and rage about his lenient sentence.

  Paul

  Garrett Clevenger wrote:
  > Paul writes:
  >
  > "this law as it stands sounds to me like thought crime."
  >
  >
  > It's one thing to have fantasies about whatever, quite another to try to sexually engage with someone you think is 13.
  >
  > This isn't a thought crime cause the guy actually went out of his mind and out into the real world (even if it's a virtual computer world)
  >
  > This guy's a pedophile and should be locked up.
  >
  > I'm not a big supporter of entrapment mostly because it's probably a waste of resources but at the same time this guy pled guilty to enticing a 13 year old.
  >
  > That's dangerous and unacceptable in our wired world.
  >
  > When I read this story in the paper I too thought the sentence was way to light for this creep.
  >
  >
  > I'll hesitatingly give you a Stegner story that may give you an idea of Stegner:
  >
  > 3 years ago, we brought our baby to a restaurant after he was born. He was sitting in his car seat in the restaurant when up walked a guy who asked if he could hold him. I said sure while my wife had a horrified look on her face.  I guess I wasn't as cautious as I should have been letting a stranger pick up our baby.
  >
  > The guy walked outside with our baby. My wife ran after him and asked for her baby back.
  >
  > It turned out the guy was Stegner.  His wife came up later to apologize for him and said he really likes kids.
  >
  > It was one thing to want to hold a baby, quite another to leave the restaurant with him.  We were all taken back by this and wondered why a judge, someone who probably sees all kinds of creepy things, would be so thoughtless as to think leaving the restaurant with someone else's baby wouldn't freak the parents out.
  >
  > I don't know Stegner, but that incident left me wondering about his judging capabilities.  Seeing his sentencing reaffirms that.
  >
  > Garrett Clevenger
  >
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