Prosecutor:
Prison sentence for Utah teen should stay; Courts » He says the boy’s defense
attorney was not ineffective in the robbery case.
By Jessica
Miller | the Salt Lake TribuneFirst Published Jun 04 2014 02:14 pm
¨
Last Updated Jun 07 2014 10:48 pm
The
prison sentence handed down to a 16-year-old South Ogden boy last month was not
illegal and should not be reversed, prosecutors argued in court papers filed
Tuesday.
On
May 7, Cooper Van Huizen stood before Ogden’s 2nd District Judge Ernie Jones
for sentencing after pleading guilty to two second-degree felony robbery
charges.
Though
attorneys and Adult Probation and
Parole recommended jail time and a lengthy probation, Jones told the teen
the recommendation was "too soft" for his crimes, and sentenced the boy instead to two one-to-15 year prison terms[1] — ordered to run concurrently.
Since
the sentencing, Van Huizen and his parents have fought it[2],
saying they did not receive solid legal
advice from the boy’s defense attorney, Roy Cole. A new defense attorney has
asked Jones to reconsider the sentence and allow the teen to withdraw his
guilty pleas.
But
Deputy Weber County Attorney Brody Flint opposed both motions, arguing in court
papers that Cole was not ineffective, because he negotiated a deal for Van
Huizen that took a mandatory minimum prison sentence off the table.
Flint
argued that with violent felony and gang enhancements, Van Huizen would have
faced a minimum of 11 years to life in prison on each of the three original
charges — two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of aggravated
burglary, all first-degree felonies — adding up to a potential minimum of 33
years in prison, if convicted at trial.
"Mr.
Van Huizen’s current term does not even approach what the minimum mandatory
could have been without his prior counsel’s tough negotiations," Flint
wrote. "His counsel negotiated a deal that was very generous and
beneficial to his client."
Even
though prosecutors had recommended jail time, rather than a prison term, Flint
argued that Van Huizen’s sentence should not be reversed. He noted that in the
plea agreement that Van Huizen signed, there was a paragraph that specifically
stated that the judge was not bound to sentence him according to the
recommendations.
Prison spokeswoman Brooke Adams said
last month that prison officials planned to move Van Huizen to a county jail.
She said Wednesday that the teen had been in the Daggett County jail since May
23.
Daggett
County Sheriff Jerry Jorgensen said Wednesday that
Van Huizen is one of about 80prison inmates housed at the county jail. He said
the jail has a contract to house prison inmates, and that he
personally screens the prisoners
that they do hold in their facility. He said he doesn’t allow inmates with gang
affiliations or violent offenders
to come to his jail.
Jorgensen
said Van Huizen is now held in a general population housing unit with 13 other
inmates.
"People
need to know that we are taking care of him," Jorgensen said. "He’s
in a good place ... We’re going to be attentive of his needs and hopefully do
some good for him." (Miller, 2014)
On
Nov. 19, a group of teen-aged boys — the youngest of whom was Van Huizen —
entered a Roy home, and held two people at gunpoint. According to one victim’s
statement to police, one teen pointed a gun at his face and demanded money,
cell phones and his stash of marijuana.
Van
Huizen admitted that 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.
Jones
said during Van Huizen’s sentencing that there was evidence the teens were
planning six similar robberies, but Hunt argued there is no evidence
implicating her client in that planning.
Van
Huizen was initially charged in juvenile court, but after a preliminary
hearing, juvenile court Judge Michelle Heward sent the case to adult court. Van
Huizen took the plea deal in March.
Father
Marc Van Huizen told The Tribune last month that they were "completely
shocked" by the sentence. He said he
believes his son’s case should be put back in the juvenile court system.
"That would be my hope,"
Marc Van Huizen said. "I would want him tried amongst his peers, because
of his age, because of his emotional and maturity level. That’s where he
belongs. He’s not a threat to society like he had been portrayed. He’s really a
good kid."
Cole said in May that he did tell
Cooper Van Huizen’s parents that "there was always the chance" that
their son could be sent to prison. But the attorney noted that a codefendant,
17-year-old Joshua Dutson, took the same plea deal and Jones sentenced him to
210 days in jail.
And another teen involved in the
robberies, 19-year-old Tomek Perkins, pleaded guilty to second-degree felony
counts of attempted robbery and burglary and was sentenced in April to 180 days
in jail.
"We were expecting [at most]
210 days," Cole said of Van Huizen’s sentence. "When the judge came
back with two 1-to-15 [concurrent prison sentences], we were more than shocked.
The cases of another two teens are still pending in 2nd
District Court, according to court records.
No court date had been set in Van Huizen’s case as of
Wednesday.
Twitter: @jm_miller
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