MC Hagins, not the happiest sort of story
Marcus Charles Hagins, 19, of Elverta was sentenced to what figures to be about 27 months in state prison for the home invasion and attack on a girl in Plumas Lake Yuba County about a year ago.
The victim and her parents lobbied Yuba County Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor for a harsher sentence, but the specific verdicts by the jury limited O’Connor on what she could impose.
In fact, O’Connor levied the maximum possible sentence, despite defense attorney Michael Bowman’s persuasive argument for a lighter term.
The parents urged O’Connor to consider the considerable trauma that their daughter suffered during and after the attack. Life would no longer be the same for any of them, they said.
The father admitted Hagins had no previous record. “Not even a parking ticket,” he said.
Nevertheless, a full force sentence was deserved, the father said, because of the insidiousness of the attack.
A Yuba County jury found Hagins innocent of two of the five crimes he was originally charged with in connection with the 2009 home incursion. He was found guilty of three related lesser charges.
This mixed verdict was particularly noteworthy, indicating as it did various opinions among the jurors.
Hagins was to be sentenced Monday, but victim family members could not be present. O’Connor therefore delayed the sentencing until today.
Following that earlier hearing, Chuck Sylvia, the foreman of the jury explained to reporters how it was that the jury reached its verdict.
The whole event was certainly regrettable to say the least, Sylvia said. But the victim and the defendant both knew each other and the victim suffered no significant physical harm. Moreover, the entire event transpired in less than 10 minutes.
Sylvia said that the jurors all felt bad about it, but the evidence did not seem to support the seriousness of the crimes charged.
Instead of spending his life in prison, the Hakins is now looking at doing just over two in state prison -- all factors and sentencing rules considered.
Prosecutor Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Dupré-Tokos argued at length for a stiffer sentence and O’Connor appears to have slammed Hakins with then most time available under current state sentencing rules.
But no bed of roses...
But his future life is not going to be a bed of roses for Hagins, to say the least.
Besides doing 27 months hard time in a state prison system in which sex offenders have a rough row to hoe.
From now on he will be forever required to register as a sex offender, which means serious limitations will be imposed on his lifestyle.
Hagins will be required to register with authorities on his birthday each year. He will not be able to live in certain neighborhoods. And he will subject to search and seizure on demand by any law enforcement agency.
The victim and her parents lobbied Yuba County Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor for a harsher sentence, but the specific verdicts by the jury limited O’Connor on what she could impose.
In fact, O’Connor levied the maximum possible sentence, despite defense attorney Michael Bowman’s persuasive argument for a lighter term.
The parents urged O’Connor to consider the considerable trauma that their daughter suffered during and after the attack. Life would no longer be the same for any of them, they said.
The father admitted Hagins had no previous record. “Not even a parking ticket,” he said.
Nevertheless, a full force sentence was deserved, the father said, because of the insidiousness of the attack.
A Yuba County jury found Hagins innocent of two of the five crimes he was originally charged with in connection with the 2009 home incursion. He was found guilty of three related lesser charges.
This mixed verdict was particularly noteworthy, indicating as it did various opinions among the jurors.
Hagins was to be sentenced Monday, but victim family members could not be present. O’Connor therefore delayed the sentencing until today.
Following that earlier hearing, Chuck Sylvia, the foreman of the jury explained to reporters how it was that the jury reached its verdict.
The whole event was certainly regrettable to say the least, Sylvia said. But the victim and the defendant both knew each other and the victim suffered no significant physical harm. Moreover, the entire event transpired in less than 10 minutes.
Sylvia said that the jurors all felt bad about it, but the evidence did not seem to support the seriousness of the crimes charged.
Instead of spending his life in prison, the Hakins is now looking at doing just over two in state prison -- all factors and sentencing rules considered.
Prosecutor Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Dupré-Tokos argued at length for a stiffer sentence and O’Connor appears to have slammed Hakins with then most time available under current state sentencing rules.
But no bed of roses...
But his future life is not going to be a bed of roses for Hagins, to say the least.
Besides doing 27 months hard time in a state prison system in which sex offenders have a rough row to hoe.
From now on he will be forever required to register as a sex offender, which means serious limitations will be imposed on his lifestyle.
Hagins will be required to register with authorities on his birthday each year. He will not be able to live in certain neighborhoods. And he will subject to search and seizure on demand by any law enforcement agency.
posted by Tom Nadeau at
8:03 PM
2 Comments:
This case went to Jury Trial, what was the defenses strategy? It seems to me that the defendant was known to the victim in some manner, I hope this is not one of those sham jobs we often see pulled off by the Yuba County DA’s office. Less than a 3 year sentence, sounds like low term penalties to me. Has the defense indicated weather an appeal will be in the works?
An appeal has not been ruled out, but is considered unlikely, inasmuch as it would raise the possibility Hagins' sentence might be increased, the defense attorney noted. -- TN
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