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Equal Justice?
Sometimes, it just leaves me speechless. I know our justice system has problems, but it's rare that the timing of events just reaches out slaps you upside the head. Like now.
A couple days ago, I noticed the following two articles on the same page. I'd like to see if others had the same reaction I did.
A couple days ago, I noticed the following two articles on the same page. I'd like to see if others had the same reaction I did.
Platte City man gets 19 years in fatal crash
Kansas City Star
January 18, 2007
Sometimes words are very shallow
A 38-year Platte City man was sentenced Thursday to 19 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter in the death of an 84-year-old woman.
Todd N. Hickcox was found guilty in November of causing a head-on collision that killed Annabelle B. McFadden of Leavenworth. The two-vehicle crash occurred in February.
Hickcox was driving west in a Chevrolet S10 pickup on Missouri 92 near North Farley Road when he crossed the centerline and crashed head-on into a Toyota Corolla. McFadden, who was driving the Corolla, was on her way to Kansas City International Airport to pick up her son and grandson, who had flown from Los Angeles to visit her.
Hickcox walked away from the crash but returned three hours later and said he had passed out in a ditch, said Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd.
McFadden was taken to a hospital and died of her injuries.
At Thursday's hearing, Hickcox said he accepted responsibility for the crash.
'Sometimes words are very shallow,' Hickcox said at the hearing. 'I cannot change what happened, if anyone could it would certainly be me. I am truly sorry and I pray that someday you will forgive me.'
Hickcox was sentenced to 15 years in prison on the involuntary manslaughter charge and four years in prison for leaving the scene of the accident.
Copyright © 2007 Kansas City Star, All Rights Reserved.
Hosted by: Topix.net Publisher Platform (beta)
Kansas City Star
January 18, 2007
Sometimes words are very shallow
A 38-year Platte City man was sentenced Thursday to 19 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter in the death of an 84-year-old woman.
Todd N. Hickcox was found guilty in November of causing a head-on collision that killed Annabelle B. McFadden of Leavenworth. The two-vehicle crash occurred in February.
Hickcox was driving west in a Chevrolet S10 pickup on Missouri 92 near North Farley Road when he crossed the centerline and crashed head-on into a Toyota Corolla. McFadden, who was driving the Corolla, was on her way to Kansas City International Airport to pick up her son and grandson, who had flown from Los Angeles to visit her.
Hickcox walked away from the crash but returned three hours later and said he had passed out in a ditch, said Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd.
McFadden was taken to a hospital and died of her injuries.
At Thursday's hearing, Hickcox said he accepted responsibility for the crash.
'Sometimes words are very shallow,' Hickcox said at the hearing. 'I cannot change what happened, if anyone could it would certainly be me. I am truly sorry and I pray that someday you will forgive me.'
Hickcox was sentenced to 15 years in prison on the involuntary manslaughter charge and four years in prison for leaving the scene of the accident.
Copyright © 2007 Kansas City Star, All Rights Reserved.
Hosted by: Topix.net Publisher Platform (beta)
3 teens guilty in stabbing death
Kansas City Star
January 18, 2007
At least his perpetrators have been held accountable now.
Three Kansas City, Kan., teens on Thursday were found guilty of murder for their roles in the stabbing death of a Chinese food delivery driver they robbed.
A Wyandotte County juvenile judge found Benjamin McReynolds, 16; Brandon Johnson, 16; and Cortez Ennis, 15, guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery.
The three, along with McReynolds' older brother Brandon McReynolds, lured Zhihai Cui to an abandoned house in the 3200 block of Rowland Avenue the night of Aug. 12, 2005, so they could rob him, authorities said.
Cui, who was from China and had been in the United States less than a year, had worked for the restaurant for two months. He was making $1.50 a delivery, plus tips.
The teenagers wanted money so they could attend a party at the National Guard Armory.
'We have a very innocent man who was brutally murdered and nothing is going to bring him back,' said Assistant District Attorney Sheryl Lidtke. 'At least his perpetrators have been held accountable now.'
No sentencing date has been set, but at most, the boys could be held in a juvenile correctional facility until they are 22A1 2 years old, followed by six months of probation.
Lidtke said she was not surprised that someone as young as the defendants committed such a violent act, saying that youths are becoming more violent every year.
'I probably feel like the rest of the community, that this is outrageous conduct for people who are that young,' Lidtke said. 'I hope this sends a message to the younger kids in our community that will hopefully make them think twice before they do something as violent.'
None of the youths' relatives wanted to comment.
Reading from his ruling, District Judge David Boal found that each of the three had made statements to police admitting to planning the robbery. Moreover, each admitted to some role in the robbery.
Saying it didn't matter which one or ones stabbed Cui, Boal said Kansas law holds them criminally responsible for a crime committed by another because of their actions leading up to the crime. Boal said that first-degree murder includes the killing of a person while committing another dangerous felony -- in this case aggravated robbery.
Last year, a jury found Brandon McReynolds, who was 17 at the time of the robbery, guilty. McReynolds was tried as an adult, and a judge sentenced him in April to life in prison with no chance of parole for 20 years.
McReynolds also was sentenced to nearly three years in prison for conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, which is to be served after the homicide sentence. His sentence for aggravated robbery was to run concurrently with the life sentence.
Prosecutors had sought to try the three younger teens as adults, but Boal ruled that they should stay in the juvenile system, where they could be rehabilitated. In September, the Kansas Court of Appeals refused to overturn his ruling.
Meanwhile, a cousin of the McReynolds brothers, Tamara Ford, faced a charge of conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. But in exchange for her testimony against the others, prosecutors agreed to reduce the charge and allow her to plead to aiding a felon.
A plea hearing for Ford is scheduled for next week.
Copyright © 2007 Kansas City Star, All Rights Reserved.
Hosted by: Topix.net Publisher Platform (beta)
Kansas City Star
January 18, 2007
At least his perpetrators have been held accountable now.
Three Kansas City, Kan., teens on Thursday were found guilty of murder for their roles in the stabbing death of a Chinese food delivery driver they robbed.
A Wyandotte County juvenile judge found Benjamin McReynolds, 16; Brandon Johnson, 16; and Cortez Ennis, 15, guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery.
The three, along with McReynolds' older brother Brandon McReynolds, lured Zhihai Cui to an abandoned house in the 3200 block of Rowland Avenue the night of Aug. 12, 2005, so they could rob him, authorities said.
Cui, who was from China and had been in the United States less than a year, had worked for the restaurant for two months. He was making $1.50 a delivery, plus tips.
The teenagers wanted money so they could attend a party at the National Guard Armory.
'We have a very innocent man who was brutally murdered and nothing is going to bring him back,' said Assistant District Attorney Sheryl Lidtke. 'At least his perpetrators have been held accountable now.'
No sentencing date has been set, but at most, the boys could be held in a juvenile correctional facility until they are 22A1 2 years old, followed by six months of probation.
Lidtke said she was not surprised that someone as young as the defendants committed such a violent act, saying that youths are becoming more violent every year.
'I probably feel like the rest of the community, that this is outrageous conduct for people who are that young,' Lidtke said. 'I hope this sends a message to the younger kids in our community that will hopefully make them think twice before they do something as violent.'
None of the youths' relatives wanted to comment.
Reading from his ruling, District Judge David Boal found that each of the three had made statements to police admitting to planning the robbery. Moreover, each admitted to some role in the robbery.
Saying it didn't matter which one or ones stabbed Cui, Boal said Kansas law holds them criminally responsible for a crime committed by another because of their actions leading up to the crime. Boal said that first-degree murder includes the killing of a person while committing another dangerous felony -- in this case aggravated robbery.
Last year, a jury found Brandon McReynolds, who was 17 at the time of the robbery, guilty. McReynolds was tried as an adult, and a judge sentenced him in April to life in prison with no chance of parole for 20 years.
McReynolds also was sentenced to nearly three years in prison for conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, which is to be served after the homicide sentence. His sentence for aggravated robbery was to run concurrently with the life sentence.
Prosecutors had sought to try the three younger teens as adults, but Boal ruled that they should stay in the juvenile system, where they could be rehabilitated. In September, the Kansas Court of Appeals refused to overturn his ruling.
Meanwhile, a cousin of the McReynolds brothers, Tamara Ford, faced a charge of conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. But in exchange for her testimony against the others, prosecutors agreed to reduce the charge and allow her to plead to aiding a felon.
A plea hearing for Ford is scheduled for next week.
Copyright © 2007 Kansas City Star, All Rights Reserved.
Hosted by: Topix.net Publisher Platform (beta)
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