Denver Judge Morris Hoffman got it right, even though it felt wrong.
There was, Hoffman said, only one true set of victims in the January 2005 cafeteria stabbing at Montbello High School – 17-year-old Contrell Townsend and his family.
Furthermore, Hoffman correctly added, the gang culture at Montbello did not knife Townsend to death during a cafeteria fight. Nor did lax security by Denver Public Schools kill Townsend. Marcus Rich ardson did. Richardson stood alone at “the altar of individual responsibility.”
But as he offered these no-nonsense observations at Richardson’s sentencing hearing Tuesday afternoon, Hoffman told another hard truth:
Not a week goes by, the judge said, that he does not do something that the law compels, but that he’d rather not do.
Then, as if to prove his point, Hoffman sentenced Richardson to less than half the maximum sentence the 18-year-old could have received for the manslaughter conviction a jury handed down in June.
The five years in Colorado’s Youthful Offender System that Hoffman gave Richardson was far short of what Townsend’s family asked the judge for. A family representative told Hoffman that Richardson deserved all 13 1/2 years in the adult penitentiary that the law allowed.
Townsend’s family refused to talk to reporters after the hearing. So did Richardson’s parents, after watching their son’s lawyers argue unsuccessfully for probation. It was the kind of day in court that either boosts your faith in the criminal justice system or crushes it.
I’m betting neither family was happy with the outcome, which may actually testify to its fairness. Hoffman had to honor the jury’s decision that this wasn’t murder. The judge also had to take into account that Richardson was 16 at the time of the crime.
In June, Richardson’s father, a Denver International Airport auditor, erupted angrily in court when the jury announced its verdict. After Tuesday’s sentencing, he walked stone-faced past me as I asked if he wanted to comment. Richardson’s mother, who works for the Denver treasurer, chose not to speak either. Townsend’s mother and stepfather left the courthouse shielded by a phalanx of cops to protect them from reporters. But in a June telephone conversation, Townsend’s stepfather, the Rev. Calvin Hall, told me that he felt as if the jury went easy on Richardson.
The emotions in this case were undeniable. A pre-sentence report billed the crime perfectly – a tragedy produced by “pride over reason.” Two kids with no prior criminal histories, who didn’t know each other, bumped shoulders in a school hallway. They stared at – or “mean mugged ” – each other as they went about their business for the next few minutes. Finally, they decided they had to fight and threw down for 42 seconds before one of them ended up mortally wounded.
Rumors of Crips and Bloods street gang involvement lent an edge to the knifing. Photos introduced at Tuesday’s sentencing showed Richardson flashing hand signals to friends shortly after his June conviction. Townsend’s brother told the judge the signals were gang signs. Richardson testified that he was signaling the expression “crazy world,” not Crips, to his pals. Taking no chances, deputies screened everyone entering Tuesday’s hearing with metal detectors.
But the fight here was within the justice system.
After finding Richardson guilty of manslaughter instead of second-degree murder, some jurors sent a note to Hoffman wondering why Richardson was tried as an adult and wondering if he would serve time in adult prison. Hoffman said most jurors wept in a private meeting with the judge after their verdict. One asked about testifying at the sentencing hearing.
“I think that says something good about this system,” Hoffman said.
It’s not uncommon, he added, for jurors to feel uncomfortable doing what the law requires.
Sometimes, the same thing goes for a judge.
Jim Spencer’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 303-820-1771 or jspencer@denverpost.com.
