Former unt football player gets 15 years

[unt88]

http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2013/02/dallas-county-jurors-deliberating-punishment-for-former-mesquite-teacher-who-had-sex-with-students.html/

[Marty]

Name sounds familiar, when did he play at NT?

[Harry]

He was a good offensive lineman from Bishop Lynch...

I believe he graduated about the time Booger and that 2000 class came into play.

I spoke to him several times, real nice kid...really sad to see how life can change for someone with such a bright future at one time.

[SilverEagle]

Name sounds familiar, when did he play at NT?

According to the 2005 media guide, a "Andy Lott" lettered in 98 and 99.

[UNTexas]

He was a new guy when I was a Junior or Senior. I didn't know him well but he was a nice guy and this just sucks to see. Same with Damon West. A few others from back then did short stints in the clink but nothing like 15 or 65. Makes me sick to see this stuff.

I am familiar with federal sentencing guidelines because of my job, however, could someone with state sentencing guildline experience please tell me what these guys are looking at realistically?

Edited February 15, 2013 by UNTexas

[Mean Green 93-98]

Makes me sick to see this stuff.

Me too.

[Harry]

Emmitt and others can probably assist here.. the article indicated he could have done 7 but it looks like he chose to fight it and lost so it could be longer.

[UNT90]

2nd degree felony. 2-20 years and probation eligible. He didn't fight it. He was offered 7 by the DA's office and chose instead to "plea open" to the judge. That means he pled guilty and elected to have the judge do the sentencing instead of the jury (yes, you can plead guilty and still have a jury hear the punishment case).

Basically, he rolled the dice that the judge would give him less than 7 years. He lost that gamble.

[NT03]

Emmitt and others can probably assist here.. the article indicated he could have done 7 but it looks like he chose to fight it and lost so it could be longer.

Probably would have just served 3 to 4

[foutsrouts]

I knew that name sounded familiar.

[JesseMartin]

Hmm. What is the legal age of consent in Texas? If it's 17 or under, then wouldn't the basis of this law be using one's standing as a teacher as leverage to pursue a relationship? And if that's the case...that it would be legal if he wasn't their teacher...isn't 20 years a bit excessive? I know it showed the range of punishment beginning at 2 years; that seems more realistic for something like this if they were of legal age and there was nothing forcible (just unethical) about the...uhm...arrangements.

[UNT90]

Hmm. What is the legal age of consent in Texas? If it's 17 or under, then wouldn't the basis of this law be using one's standing as a teacher as leverage to pursue a relationship? And if that's the case...that it would be legal if he wasn't their teacher...isn't 20 years a bit excessive? I know it showed the range of punishment beginning at 2 years; that seems more realistic for something like this if they were of legal age and there was nothing forcible (just unethical) about the...uhm...arrangements.

2-20 AND probation eligible. He could have gotten probation if the judge thought the circumstances warrant it. He/She didn't. There were multiple victims, as I understand it.

The murder statute in the state of Texas is punishable 5-99 or probation. It's done this way because the legislature is smart enough to know that one crime does not have the exact same circimstances as all the others,. This way, the judge or jury deciding the punishment has a wide range to apply to the circumstances of said crime.

Edited February 18, 2013 by UNT90

[JesseMartin]

I only read that short bit but it seemed as though he was only indicted on one count of the crime with the others being sworn witnesses without sufficient evidence to indict him on multiple counts. Either way, I was more interested in the legal age. I haven't done much reading on trial law but was thinking about the appellate possibilities if the statutes appeared disjointed in addition to the excessive punishment discussion you posited here. Of course, as I have no law degree, it's all about curiosity

[gksmith]

Hopefully no relation to Ronnie Lott.

[SilverEagle]

2-20 AND probation eligible. He could have gotten probation if the judge thought the circumstances warrant it. He/She didn't. There were multiple victims, as I understand it.

The murder statute in the state of Texas is punishable 5-99 or probation. It's done this way because the legislature is smart enough to know that one crime does not have the exact same circimstances as all the others,. This way, the judge or jury deciding the punishment has a wide range to apply to the circumstances of said crime.

Then are we talking about this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephebophilia

[UNT90]

Then are we talking about this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephebophilia

Possibly.

Or he could just be an opportunistic offender, meaning that if he was an elementary school teacher, he would have pursued the students in that class.

Don't know without the details.

[JesseMartin]

Does that wiki article remind anyone else of Greek philosophy? Dialogues, specifically. I used to get weird looks in class, but hey, Plato and Aristotle are funny. Not my fault if nobody else gets it.