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... Read more »
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... Read more »
posted by Tom Nadeau at
8:03 PM
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