16-year-old sent to Utah prison for 15 years after judge changes terms of plea deal

[villager]

A 16-year-old Utah boy was sentenced earlier this month to up to 15 years in a maximum security prison after a judge changed the terms of a plea agreement.

Cooper Van Huizen pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree felony robbery for his role in a home invasion late last year.

The teen, who had no prior criminal history, and his parents believed the plea deal would result in 180 days in jail.

But District Judge Ernie Jones told Van Huizen at the May 7 sentencing hearing he believed the terms recommended by prosecutors and the probation board were “too soft” and instead sent the boy to Utah State Prison for one to 15 years.

Van Huizen cried and begged for mercy as he was led from the courtroom handcuffed in front of sobbing family members.

“He’s 16 years old,” said his father, Marc Van Huizen. “Some 16-years-olds are more mature than others, but Cooper is really soft and tender emotionally. He’s just a nice, sweet young boy, always has been. He’s not this rough-and-tough, wannabe street-wise little kid.”

The teen is being held in a cell alone to protect him from other prisoners at “Uintah 1,” which houses death-row inmates and gang members.

Van Huizen was the youngest member in a group of teens who went to home Nov. 19 and held up two people at gunpoint, seeking money, cell phones, and marijuana.

<snip>

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/26/16-year-old-sent-to-utah-prison-for-15-years-after-judge-changes-terms-of-plea-deal/

[Dems2002]

1. Ahh - poor baby

Ahhh - poor little middle class white boy. Do I think the sentence is ridiculous? Yes. Does the same get handed down on the daily to POC? Duh.

The US criminal justice system is a horror. As it starts targeting more and more middle class white peeps, I hope the backlash is as severe as it was to Vietnam. Burn this system down.

[Tsiyu]

3. The for-profit prison system will soon make your prediction quite true, I'm afraid

I said on DU years ago that more and more people were gonna end up in poverty, losing their jobs, their homes, and I was ignored. Those who felt 'safe" ridiculed such a thought.

"If you only work hard" and all that blather.

Many of those posters have left DU - I can only assume they are ashamed to now have to eat their words.

Now, we've let our politicians approve for-profit prisons, and states must guarantee a certain percentage of prisoners to the corporations. it's the modern day Human Sacrifice to the Gods of the Next Quarter's Earnings.

States like Tennessee have nearly made every poor person a felon by now, and they are running out of warm bodies to exploit for profit.

You middle class folks believe they are gonna go after the rich next?

Very soon, the middle class is gonna end up in our barbaric, Dark Ages-style prison matrix, and then maybe we will see the American populace finally revolt and drive off the exploiters and the abusers and the torturers and the War on Some Drugs Warriors.

It will be a fine day to see the corrupt judges, the evil DAs, the sadistic prison guards and the malevolent law enforcement run for their lives as the masses chase them to the guillotines.....

[malaise]

10. This

Now, we've let our politicians approve for-profit prisons, and states must guarantee a certain percentage of prisoners to the corporations.

And don't forget the subsidies

[ljm2002]

8. Very interesting analogy...

...I had not thought of how our current prison system mirrors Vietnam in that way, in how it affects white middle class kids. But I do agree with you, that as it does so, people will magically become more aware of the horrors and injustices in our "justice" system, and what we need to do to it (metaphorically speaking of course -- but it does need to be destroyed and rebuilt).

[defacto7]

2. sick stupid judicial system

A 16 year old in solitary 23 hours a day, in a max security prison, in Utah no less. 1 to 15 years.

Cruel and unusual punishment. It's not tough love, it's teach a kid to hate for life.

Another nail in America's coffin.

[blkmusclmachine]

4. No "Affluenza" for you!!!

[DetlefK]

5. That "nice, sweet young boy" robbing people at gunpoint is "really soft and tender emotionally".

[former9thward]

29. Nice you sympathize with drug dealers.

That is who got robbed. His other co-defendants got 180 days and 210 days in jail.

[Lee-Lee]

36. You must think it's ok to rape a prostitute too

Or that a rapist who rapes a prostitute should get a lesser sentence?

That is the exact same as what you are doing here- laying blame on the victims.

[former9thward]

37. How do you justify the other sentences?

Given to OLDER defendants.

[LisaL]

38. Why don't you ask the judge?

[former9thward]

41. Authoritarians always revert to authority.

Everytime. They can't help themselves.

[Lee-Lee]

43. Give me more info and I can judge

What role did each play in the plot?

Did some cooperate to help get convictions or cooperate with info in other cases?

How well did each cooperate with the investigation once caught?

What was the attitude of each? Being repentant vs having an attitude and showing no remorse in front of a judge can make a huge difference in sentencing.

I see that he stole his fathers guns and provided them for the armed robbery, so that means he was in on the planning and provided the firearms- the theft of dads firearms and transfer of those guns to the possession of others for criminal purposes is in and of itself worthy of many years behind bars- he was literally trafficking guns for crime on a small scale.

Need more info before I can say anything meaningful about why the others got lighter sentences, so all I will say is that a whole lot of factors are possibly in play.

[former9thward]

46. "and I can judge"

How I would like to see the details of your entire life so WE could judge YOU. And sentence you to decades in prison for any infraction of the Authority. You would applaud if he got the death sentence. Disgusting.

[Lee-Lee]

48. Umm, you asked my opinion on something, then get upset when I say I need more info to judge?

If you ask me to explain something, I will look at the info and make a judgement. That is how adults come to form decisions and opinions.

How lightly should we take the long list of crimes here?

Stealing guns and then providing them to others with the intent to use them to commit armed robbery, multiple crimes in and of itself, is bad enough even before we get to the actual armed robbery.

If I ever steal guns, provide guns to others who tell me they plan to use them in criminal acts, then conduct a home invasion and armed robbery feel free to judge the hell out of me, and I will belong behind bars.

[former9thward]

50. We sentence people more harshly than any other Western country.

And guess what? We have more criminals than any other country. See how your philosophy works out?

[Lee-Lee]

53. Ok so what is an appropriate sentence for:

Theft of two firearms
Providing stolen firearms to people you know intend to use them for criminal acts (AKA firearms trafficking)
Conspiracy to commit armed robbery (actually probably multiple conspiracy counts, the theft of the guns, then the robbery, then anything else they planned)
Breaking and entering
Home invasion
Armed robbery
Assault (pointing a gun at a person is enough for felony assault in most states)
Theft

And I am sure if I had more details I could find more.

Just the theft of the firearms and providing them to others he knew intended to commit armed robbery is enough to justify the sentence. You want to stop misuse of guns? Actually punish it.

[former9thward]

55. The appropriate sentence was the one the prosecutor and defense agreed upon.

180 days. You and the judge want to destroy a life. He wants to do it for some publicity. Why you do, I don't know.

[Lee-Lee]

56. Because 180 days is a joke for the crimes

Especially since he is the one that stole the firearms and provided them to the others.

That alone is worth far more than 180 days.

You either want to be serious about firearms crime, or you don't. Prosecutors either going way too light or failing to prosecute at all is one reason gun crime isn't taken seriously in this country.

[tecelote]

6. If he wasn't a criminal at heart before...

the judge just made sure he will be.

[Dorian Gray]

7. Sounds like a real sweet boy

home invasion and holding two people at gunpoint.

[Lee-Lee]

9. “He's just a nice, sweet little boy"

Who holds people at gunpoint in their homes.

Personally, 15 years for all that goes with a home invasion and armed robbery is about right to me.

There are a lot of elements to that crime. Entering another's home, holding them so they can't leave (kidnapping in most states), the criminal use of a firearm in the assault upon other people- far more than just simple theft.

I make no secrets that I am for people being allowed to own and carry guns if they so wish, with legitimate rules and regulation. But I am also for very, very harsh penalties if people misuse a firearm like this.

His age doesn't mitigate the serious nature of the crime.

[malaise]

11. He's still a child

WTF is wrong with you folks?

This is cruel and unusual punishment.

[Lee-Lee]

12. At 16 he knew well enough he was wrong nt

[JJChambers]

13. What??

In what his bizzaro world is a sentence of one to fifteen years for home invasion and holding two people at gunpoint considered either cruel or unusual? This was an incredibly serious crime with a fairly light sentence.

Does no one on DU ever think about VICTIMS? Or how the actions of these violent criminals hurt VICTIMS? Or are we so obsessed with hating the system that we cannot accept that there are real, human victims?

[former9thward]

33. The VICTIMS were drug dealers.

So drug dealers got victimized. Pity, pity. His co-defendants got 180 days and 210 days in jail and they were older than he is. How do you justify that in YOUR bizzaro world?

[tecelote]

26. Here we see why the US holds more prisoners than any country in the world.

I agree.

"WTF is wrong with you folks?"

[LisaL]

40. So armed robbers shouldn't get prison time?

WTF is wrong with you?

[tecelote]

42. Prison Time: 3 Months and a record.

No priors and family supporting him.

Second offense should be severe.

Additional time for community service would be justified.

'You really think that a few more years in jail with long term prisoners would do this kid good?

Let's stop blindly supporting the prison industry.

WTF!

[Lee-Lee]

44. 3 months?

For armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, stealing dads guns, providing dads stolen guns to another for criminal purposes, and probably a dozen other crimes I could add if I knew that states statutes?

[dem in texas]

57. A sixteen year kid doesn't always have good judgment

About 15 years ago, I was on a jury for a young man charged with capital murder for driving the get away car in robbery where one of the victims was killed by another of the robbers. The young man had no criminal record and this was the first time he'd been in trouble. I asked his age when he committed the crime and the judge said he was not allowed to tell (since then Texas law has been changed). Later, I looked it up on line and found that he was sixteen when the robbery occurred. I knew he did a really bad thing, but I raised three teenagers and they can do really stupid things. I thought he should serve some time, but not a real long term. anyway, it didn't matter because the defense took me off the jury because of the question I asked.

Yes, this kid in Utah did a really bad thing, he used extremely bad judgment, but what a waste to lock in him all those years.

[Nye Bevan]

14. The new sentence is ONE to fifteen years. Misleading headline. (nt)

[customerserviceguy]

60. Exactly

And the kid can both appeal the sentence and deal with the parole board. Maybe it will send a signal to other little assholes who think this is only a prank.

Yes, I know the victims were drug dealers. This could have turned into an all-out gunfight between this kid and his posse and the dealers trying to protect money and drugs with their own weapons. I have no idea what kind of area this occured in, but I can certainly imagine some innocent person injured or killed by a stray shot.

[stevenleser]

15. At first I thought he was just a burglar and I was going to say 15 years is way too much

But then I realized two things.

#1 - Not a burglary, ARMED ROBBERY. This person was one of a group of folks that went to a persons home and held them up at gunpoint for their money and stuff. That is a serious crime that could easily have escalated to one or more people being seriously injured or killed. A crime with a gun should bring real jail time.

#2 - The sentence was 1-15 years, not "15 years". That means there is a possibility that the kid could be out in 1 year or less.

I'm betting the kid will serve around 3 years which is the average term in Utah. That strikes me as OK for someone who did what he did.

[Tsiyu]

17. I don't know the details of this kids' part in the robbery

was he on the sidelines and talked into it? What are the details?

I speak above mostly on behalf of non-violent inmates, who make up over 50% of our bloated prison system.


But at 16, there is a chance this kid could be redeemed. No chance of that now.

[stevenleser]

18. Why is there no chance of that? He will probably be out by age 21 if not sooner.

The biggest impediment to his redemption, IMHO, isn't the additional 1-2.5 years he will likely spend in prison. It's the way people treat all ex-cons afterwards in terms of employment opportunities, etc., which I think is a disgrace.

Your punishment should end with to what the judge sentences you. Being punished your whole life with a felony on your record that every employer can ask you about is cruel and unusual.

[Tsiyu]

20. I could tell you horror stories

but will refrain.

Your words are what I'm talking about.

And our prisons are torture chambers - the stories we hear are only the tip of the iceberg.

A few years of being assaulted, beaten, etc by guards and other inmates does not aid reformation, nor will years in solitary.

[stevenleser]

23. I've read a lot about how bad the prisons can be and that's a shame.

I still dont think the difference between 180 days and 1000 days is going to be the difference.

[Tsiyu]

24. After reading some details

The family is outraged because another kid involved only got 180 days.

This kid took two of his dad's guns to use, they were planning more than this crime, though the guns were unloaded and he didn't aim them himself.

I agree he deserves some serious time - but in a juvenile facility, not an adult max security prison.

[LisaL]

35. He was the one who reportedly brought the guns.

"Van Huizen admits he brought two of his father’s unloaded guns to the robbery, but attorney Elizabeth Hunt contends in court filings that he was not the one who pointed a gun at the victims."

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57972054-78/huizen-van-prison-teen.html.csp?page=1

[haele]

61. Probably taken advantage of by the older boys who knew his daddy had guns.

Happens alot - especially in the 16 - 20 year old ages when younger boys are trying to find acceptance amongst their peers.
For example, a couple years ago, this 19 year old freshman at a local junior college has a license and a nice little car. His new 21 year old friend (they have a couple classes together) has this slightly older "cool" cousin who knows a few DJs and they need a car to go club-hopping on Friday nights.

Disclaimer: Names, status, and exact social background of participants have been slightly changed to protect both the guilty and the innocent. This is a slightly fictionalized account, but the ages and the events were real...it was in the papers over the last decade, though it was only a lead story when shots were fired; the trial was page 8 or 10 of the currents section when it occurred.

Back to the example. Oh boy, this 19 year old is hanging out with older guys...doing real man stuff, not that high-school stuff.

Until the second or third night out, the cousin gets in a fight. They get thrown out of the club, and pile into the 19 year olds car to leave. And as they are leaving, the cousin riding in the backseat sees the guy he got into the fight with, lowers the window, leans out and levels his concealed semi-auto 22 cal handgun which the kid never knew he had and didn't know was there - all he (and the friend riding in the passenger seat) saw was the cousin leaning out the window and waiving his arm. The cousin then yells at the guy and later admits to attempting to empty the magazine over the crowd "to make his point" - which scares the driver who then guns the car to get away.

This throws the shooter off balance while in the process of shooting, causing shots to go wild and he wings a couple innocent bystanders, killing one of them. Not knowing what happened, they get onto the freeway and head a couple miles away, pull over at someone else's house (one of the cousin's friends) and clean the shells out the car. The 19 and 21 year old try to pretend it never happened while the cousin flees town.

A month later, the 19-year old is arrested for being "the driver in a gang-related drive-by". Now, mind you, the cousin had been already been identified, caught, and charged with Murder 2, the 21 year old who had been riding in the passenger seat was arrested a couple hours before the 19 year old, and charged with accessory after the fact after a plea deal and bailed out to stand trial later. The 19 year old was then arrested and tried to plea bargain for the same charge as his friend, but he was charged with Murder 2 - same as the cousin who shot the gun that killed the innocent bystander, and he was not allowed any bail; he ended up spending 30 months in the county lock-up awaiting to stand trial with the cousin.

See, at the time of the arrest, the DA was up for re-election and needed to be tough on those nasty gangs, even though at the hearing it was proven that the kid never had any acquaintance prior to with the cousin and didn't know him outside the few times they went to the clubs. Nor was the other student, who plea bargained a member of a gang - both were "straight A" students. But the 19 year old was driving the car and he was from a "mixed" family, even though he was raised like any other middle class kid. After all, it is common knowledge that young men who are not wealthy enough to go to a proper university are all potential gang members, no matter what they are doing to further their lives, what color they are or background they come from.


According to the family member who served on the driver's jury, the driver eventually was acquitted because of the overwhelming push by the prosecution to find the kid an evil gang member to be thrown away for life instead of being the proven stupid young man who was taken advantage of by someone he didn't really know, but there were still a couple jury members who had a hard time understanding that an arrest does not mean automatic guilt to all charges.
The family member did say that if the kid was charged with what he had actually done according to evidence, witnesses and testimony, they would have probably found him guilty of felony accessory after the fact, which would have probably left him with time served, and he could go on with whatever life would be left to him.

Sure, the 19 year old was stupid - stupid for wanting to hang out in clubs with "cool" friends when he was under-aged, and certainly criminally stupid for cleaning out the car, but Murder 2 with minimum 15 years to max life in prison?

In the OP's case, if the 16 year old was not the ringleader (which I would highly doubt, being as the other kids were older), and this was a case of they knew his dad had guns, chances are he was just being a typical stupid, aimless young man trying to feel important at a time of life where everything is already going wrong with him emotionally.
If he admitted to a plea deal just as his co-defendants did, he should have gotten the same deal. But nooo... tough on crime and all that BS. It's not about rehabilitation, it's Old Testament Retribution, by golly.

16 year olds - male and female - are generally driven to doing criminally stupid acts more by inexperienced braggadocio and fear of inadequacy than actual evil intent. The emotional pull into herd mentality is almost overwhelming. Their brains are still short-circuiting, and their peers will to dictate their actions far more than their actual upbringing or any logical thought process they may still possess does.
And from what I've observed with my own stepdaughter and her peers, this sort of stupid criminality happens a lot in the flail through adolescence. Most of the time, they don't get caught and it can be covered up or "forgotten". Lord knows she did enough wrong that were we more "tough" and "letter of the law", she would have been in juvie - or worse - off and on between the ages of 15 and 18.

I'm not saying that the 16 year old should get off scott free, I'm pointing out that the punishment this kid got far outweighed what he was capable of doing.

Haele

[JVS]

47. I think it's a good sentence.

Like you pointed out in #2 it's UP TO 15, not a certain 15. He has a choice now to clean up his act and have a future or not clean up his act and have none.

[hack89]

16. Either we are serious about gun crime or we are not

I vote for treating gun crime seriously.

[Lee-Lee]

22. Sometimes this place befuddles me

Last edited Thu May 29, 2014, 05:15 PM - Edit history (1)

I've seen people say all gun owners should be imprisoned.

I've seen people say ban all guns and lock away anyone who doesn't comply.

Everyone agrees violent crime, with guns or not, is a problem.

But let someone who commits a violent crime with a gun, the exact kind of problem people want to ban guns to prevent, get a stiff sentence and people suddenly have problems with it?

Sometimes I wonder if the more irrational and extreme gun phobia here isn't about something other than crime. People angry when a person who commits a gun crime gets a stuff punishment for it doesn't jive with the rest of the attitude from most here about guns.

[WinkyDink]

19. Punk's victims probably also "cried and begged for mercy." This wasn't shoplifting.

[brooklynite]

21. UNREC

Title is very misleading. It should be "16-year-old sent to Utah prison for UP TO 15 years", which according to the article starts with "one".

[redqueen]

25. Yep. Metric shit tons of spin.

I'm sure the perp's race isn't why the facts were spun blue.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

27. Anyone know what "one to fifteen years" will actually mean? N.T.

[villager]

28. Well, given that the judge already overrode a *plea bargain* agreed to by all sides...

Funny how little that kind of judicial overreach bothers so many posters here at the "Underground..."

[Donald Ian Rankin]

30. I don't think judicial overreach is the problem here.

I think it's an excessive sentence, but I certainly support the right of judges to overrule plea bargains.

[villager]

39. I think it's a big problem -- it kills the whole point of a "plea bargain"

Why even make one then?

[LisaL]

32. His lawyer should have warned him this could happen.

And lawyer says she did warn his parents.
There is no guarantee that a judge will accept the terms of a plea deal.

[KansDem]

51. That's what bothered me most about this report

...the judge ... overrode a *plea bargain* agreed to by all sides...

It didn't seem kosher to me. How do you build trust when you change the agreement?

[villager]

52. Exactly. Stunning how many here so easily sign off on that aspect of it

Though sadly, maybe it's not really a surprise anymore, either...

[LisaL]

31. The "nice, sweet young boy" should have stayed home instead of participating in a home invasion.

I am just saying.

[CreekDog]

34. well whatever you think of the sentence and the conditions, he's getting out in 15 years

he'll be 31 years old.

you have to ask yourself, since he's going to be released, is the sentence and conditions he will be in for these 15 years going to make him better or worse for society when he's freely roaming then?

i think the answer is probably worse.

[Lee-Lee]

45. No, he is getting out in 1-15 years

Could be out before he is even 18.

[Jenoch]

49. I too am amazed at the posts on this thread.

I believe the problem with this situation is not the one to fifteen year sentence as much as the problem is that two of the perps got sentenced to just 180 to 200 days.

I do not believe that gun crimes should be plea bargained down.

[Lee-Lee]

54. The disconnect is amazing

Thread after thread complaining about gun crime.

A person commits multiple gun crimes and everyone whines he is getting punished too harshly.

[Go Vols]

58. Its odd that a 16 year old

is considered an adult only when they break the law.

[villager]

59. Whatever punishes kids the most, I guess

Funny how easily that also flies here around the "Underground..."