TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Category: School Violence

  • No real justice in Roseburg

    No real justice in Roseburg

    Shooter gets 10 years, while victim and his family get life sentence:

    This is a great article about a real victim in a school shooting. The one who is actually shot. Not these cowards with guns who have delusions that they were wronged somehow…

    The gavel came down in the Roseburg courtroom a few weeks ago. Fifteen-year-old Vincent Leodoro will spend the next 10 years in custody for trying to kill 16-year-old Joe Monti at Roseburg High School last February.

    Sentence pronounced. Justice done.

    Well, no. Not in this society. Not unless you think saddling Joe Monti’s mother, Yvonne Allison, with crushing debt is justice. Yvonne says Joe’s medical bills from the shooting are about $2 million.

    Did I mention Yvonne is a single mom who does not work outside the home because she is a full-time caregiver for two disabled sons, whose fathers are dead? Yvonne used to have only one disabled son until Joe was shot four times by an angry high school freshman, who used a semi-automatic pistol with hollow-point bullets.

    “He currently has no feeling in his right foot, so he shuffles,” Yvonne says. “He also has many fragments of bullets in his back they were unable to remove.” Joe’s entire life may be affected by the nature of his injuries. “He asked why this happened to him. I said, ‘I’m sorry, Joseph. I don’t know.’ “

    Yvonne was at home on the small ranch outside Roseburg, early Feb. 23. Her oldest son, Eric, 35, owns the ranch and lets Yvonne live there. For years Yvonne has been caregiver for her son Justin, who’s 23.

    “He was born with neurofibromatosis,” she says. Sometimes wrongly called the “Elephant Man disease,” it’s an incurable genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow. “His eye was removed when he was 6. By 8 he’d had a craniotomy. . . . He also has brain cancer, but it’s in remission.”

    Yvonne is angry that news accounts after the shooting appeared to blame Joe, always mentioning a minor school bus incident he had been involved in. “Joe is not a bully,” she says. (In fact, Vince told police he had not been a victim of bullying.) “But the reports made it sound like this was all Joe’s fault, and it wasn’t in any way. It was the fault of an insecure, immature 14-year-old boy who had access to deadly weapons.”

    No matter how many reconstructive surgeries he endures, Joseph will never be the same strong boy he was the morning he was shot. He may never regain feeling in his right foot and be able to walk normally.

    And Yvonne cannot imagine how she ever will pay the enormous debt she now owes. She had no medical insurance when Joseph was shot; she could not afford payments. And she had not enrolled the family in the Oregon Health Plan because she was only living in Oregon part-time because Justin’s doctors all are in California.

    And that’s only part of the article. I defy someone to tell me that the gunmen in these school shootings are victims.

  • More on the Red Lake lawsuit

    More on the Red Lake lawsuit

    ‘No amount of money will bring them back’:

    Some more interesting lawyer-related details about the Red Lake lawsuit…

    The deal ends the district’s financial liability for the shootings because state law caps legal claims against school districts at $1 million.

    But families and survivors could sue other parties. Attorneys representing the 27 people involved in the school settlement said they are looking at their options.

    “Our investigation into the circumstances of the shooting continues as we speak,” said Minneapolis attorney Philip Sieff, who represented 14 people in the settlement. “This is the end of the families’ claims against the Red Lake School District but not the end of their claims in general over the shooting.”

    Who the hell else can they possibly sue? Jeff Weise’s father is dead, and his mother is severely disabled. The Jourdain’s? The gun manufacturers?

    The settlement includes families of the five students killed and the seven students injured, and one student who was in the line of fire. It also includes five surviving school workers, the families of the two slain school employees and a relative of the grandfather’s companion.

    I can see a settlement for those who died or were wounded, but there seems to be a lot of extraneous people involved in this lawsuit.

    The Ambulance Chasers are killing personal responsibility in this country.

  • Red Lake lawsuit settled

    Red Lake lawsuit settled

    Families settle lawsuit over Red Lake shootings:

    MINNEAPOLIS – Families of victims in last year’s shootings on the Red Lake Indian Reservation have settled a lawsuit against the school district for $1 million.

    The settlement was to be distributed among 21 families of shooting victims.

    In Philip Sieff, an attorney for the victims’ families, called the settlement “best for everyone because it provides these highly deserving families some compensation for their losses and allows the School District to return all of its focus to education.”

    Personally, I don’t see why the school district was sued. They had metal detectors and they had an armed security guard. Granted, neither of those steps stopped Jeff Weise, but what else was the school supposed to do? Not only that, but now you’re taking money away from the school that’s supposed to educate your children.

    What does this accomplish?

  • Love letter from Hell

    Love letter from Hell

    Dylan Klebold in Love:

    When the Columbine documents were released, the mutant reaction was one of apathy. Most of the reactions went along the lines of “Well it’s bad that Eric Harris was a racist and a homophobe but look at how cute Dylan Klebold was for writing love letters”. I think this article has a much more realistic perspective…

    We don’t know whether Klebold ever summoned the nerve to deliver the love letter. We just know that, mixed in with the grotesque torments that impelled Klebold and Harris to slaughter their schoolmates, there dwelt (within Klebold, at least; experts now believe Harris was more clearly psychopathic) recognizably human torments more typical of the adolescent male. To some, this may make Klebold seem more sympathetic. To me, it makes the very notion of love, or at least teenage infatuation, seem much darker and creepier. This is not to say that I would recommend that school officials across the country mobilize en masse to expel all young swains who declare their love to unsuspecting schoolgirls. (The high schools would be emptied within a week.) Judging from the text of Klebold’s letter, it shouldn’t be as difficult as many suppose to spot the distinct warning signs that a young man is seriously deranged. Still, I’m not sure I’ll ever think the same way about what it means to have a secret admirer.

    Even monsters are capable of love, but it never stops them from killing the villagers.

  • Immunity granted

    Immunity granted

    Kerns case will go to trial in fall:

    I’m still not holding my breath on that one, but in other news, Farley and Sullivan have been granted immunity in the trial of Tobin Kerns…

    A single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court ruled last week to enact immunity for two key witnesses in Kerns upcoming trial, bringing an end to another legal stalemate that had kept the case from moving forward.

    Kerns, 18, and Joseph Nee, 20, both former Marshfield High School students, are facing trial separately for their alleged involvement in staging a Columbine-like attack on the high school in 2004. Kerns, was arrested in September of that year after Nee and two other MHS students – Joseph Sullivan and Daniel Farely – informed he school resource officer about the plot. A few weeks later, Nee was also arrested after Farley and Sullivan implicated him in the planned attack on the school.

    Kerns and Nee were both charged with promotion of anarchy, conspiracy to commit murder and threatened use of a deadly weapon after police found materials at Kerns’ home outlining a planned attack on Marshfield High School. Police found a binder and evidence that Kerns’ computer had been used to look at Web sites like the Anarchist’s Cookbook, which explains how to make explosives. Nee had been staying with the Kerns family for a few weeks earlier in the spring, and Kerns father, Ben has argued that the materials in the binder belonged to him, not his son.

    Kerns’ trial was set to start in March, but things came to a standstill when Farley and Sullivan sought immunity under the Fifth Amendment out of fear they might incriminate themselves through their testimonies.

    The Plymouth County District Attorney’s office then sought to enact immunity in the Nee trial in hopes of carrying immunity over into the Kerns trial.

    While immunity was granted to both witnesses in Superior Court, Judge Louis Coffin said in April he was unsure if he had the authority to grant immunity in Juvenile Court, citing a ruling in Commonwealth vs. Russ, a 2001 case that set a precedent against enacting immunity in juvenile cases. Assistant District Attorney John McLaughlin then brought the matter before a single Supreme Judicial Court Justice in Boston.

    If this helps Tobin get exonerated, then I’m all for it, but I can’t shake the feeling that two people who were complicit in the plot are getting away.

  • Zero Day

    Zero Day

    Last night, I watched the movie Zero Day. For those of you who haven’t heard of Zero Day, it’s about a fictitious school shooting filmed from the point of view of the shooters much like what Harris and Klebold did with their basement tapes.

    As far as movies about school shootings go, Zero Day is the best. It is much more interesting than the crap fest that is Elephant, and much more realistic than Home Room. In my opinion, the director tried to make it like Columbine without it actually being Columbine.

    What at first I didn’t like about the movie turns out makes the movie better and more disturbing. In the actual basement tapes, you can see the anger and hatred in Harris and Klebold. In Zero Day, the actors were much more subdued about the whole thing.

    My only complaint about the film isn’t with the film itself, it’s the fact that the mutants look at this as almost a “fan film” when I’m pretty sure that this was not the film’s intent.

    Anyway, I won’t spoil any more of it, but I highly recommend that anybody, especially those with kids still in school, to watch this movie.

  • Newman’s sentencing appeal denied

    Judge says teenager in shooting should receive house arrest:

    The appeal for the ridiculously light sentence Pine Middle School shooter James Scott Newman received has been denied…

    A judge on Friday agreed that a 14-year-old Pine Middle School student who shot a classmate should be sentenced to house arrest.

    Prosecutors challenged Court Master Janet Schmuck’s May ruling involving James Newman, who said he brought his father’s gun to school March 14 because he was sick of being made fun of.

    But Washoe District Family Court Judge Frances Doherty sided with Schmuck’s ruling, dismissing claims that Schmuck abused her discretion.

    Washoe County District Attorney Richard Gammick had called Schmuck’s ruling “crazy,” and during Friday’s hearing, Deputy District Attorney Jo Lee Wickes said Schmuck’s decision did not consider public safety.

    Wickes added that Newman would benefit more from being incarcerated because he would have more education, socialization and recreation opportunities.

    Newman’s attorney, David Houston, said the boy is doing well on house arrest and that psychiatrists deemed him a low risk to commit similar violent offenses.

    Houston said the prosecutor’s claim that Schmuck abused her discretion was based on “societal revenge” because he was not incarcerated for a crime that sent fear through the school and the community.

    Schmuck has said she struggled with the sentencing and wanted to give Newman and his family a chance to “make it work.”

    Schmuck ordered that Newman and his family undergo counseling, that all weapons be removed from their home and that he complete 200 hours of community service.

    Newman also cannot get a driver’s license until 90 days after his 16th birthday and can’t get a hunting license for two years.

    Justice in Reno is not only blind, it’s also brain-damaged.

  • Wish fulfilled?

    Wish fulfilled?

    Sensational:

    This is a letter to the editor at the Winston-Salem Journal about the recent slew of news reports about the Columbine documents…

    It saddens me to see the media fulfill the dreams of the two Columbine killers (I will not mention their names) with the continued coverage of their actions and publication of their names and faces at almost every “appropriate” opportunity (“Documents show progression of hate,” July 7). I read an excerpt from one of the killers’ writings shortly after the event that stated that one of his goals was to become famous through his actions and become immortalized by the media.

    The media in their never-ending pursuit of the sensational has fulfilled their perverted dreams and goals by keeping their faces and names in the headlines. This could give others similar goals, knowing that they will be made famous through media attention. The Columbine story could be told in such a way as to help pass on its lessons, learned at such a heavy price, without plastering the names and faces of the perpetrators and keeping them “famous.”

    PAUL S. MARLEY

    Tobaccoville

    While I do agree the media has more than sensationalized these stories, I have to disagree with the words famous and fame.

    The more appropriate words are infamous and infamy. Fame implies that they’ve done something noteworthy or something that people enjoyed. While there are those dregs of society I refer to as mutants who do take pleasure in Columbine, they are but the smallest of minorities.

    Infamy refers to notoriety through heinous or despicable acts. And it really doesn’t matter if their wish can be viewed as fulfilled or not. There’s not a whole lot they can do with that wish in hell.

  • Marshfield attorneys appear before supreme court

    Marshfield attorneys appear before supreme court

    Supreme court judge to rule on immunity in Kerns case:

    All lawyers involved with the trials of Tobin Kerns and Joe Nee argued before the Massachusetts Supreme Court on the immunity issues of Nee’s cohorts Joseph Sullivan and Daniel Farley…

    Justice Martha Sosman met with Kerns’ attorney William McElligott, Sullivan’s attorney Robert Dimler and Gail McKenna from the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office Friday, where attorneys pled their case to allow for immunity to be upheld in Kerns’ impending trial. The trial was set to start in March, but things came to a standstill when Farley and Sullivan sought immunity under the Fifth Amendment.

    The DA’s office then sought to enact immunity in the Nee trial in hopes of carrying immunity over into the Kerns trial.

    While immunity was granted to both witnesses in Superior Court, Judge Louis Coffin said in April he was unsure if he had the authority to grant immunity in Juvenile Court, citing a ruling in Commonwealth vs. Russ, a 2001 case that set a precedent against enacting immunity in juvenile cases. Assistant District Attorney John McLaughlin then moved to bring the matter before a single Supreme Judicial Court Justice in Boston.

    Torn between making a decision herself and seeking the counsel of the full bench, Sosman asked how time-sensitive the Kerns case was. While each attorney said they would support a decision before the full bench if necessary, they sought an answer to the immunity issue as soon as possible.

    “We would have no problem with a full court decision, but my client is seeking a speedy resolution,” McElligott said.

    McKenna argued in favor of enacting immunity in the Kerns case, saying that the immunity granted in Superior Court must be upheld in all courts and counties through the state. She said if a decision were given Friday against the Commonwealth’s favor, the Commonwealth would likely appeal the decision before the full bench.

    More appeals. More delays. And still no justice for Tobin.

  • 7/11/06: From the Mail Sack

    7/11/06: From the Mail Sack

    It’s time to take a dip into the mail sack. This is from my entry on the Columbine Rampart Range tape…

    DISTURBED BY SCHOOLS Jul 11th, 2006 at 5:38 pm

    im not american n when this shit happened i got put into a SPECIAL CLASS so i think DEATH TO ALL JOCKS its because of the im so cool im in the football team they did all u ppl who think down on some one cause there diffrent should wake up.FUCK if it wasnt for ppl being who they r n not what others want where would the world be. i say KILL ALL JOCKS. they ant ppl there SCUM :mrgreen: HAVE A SUPER DAY

    My spellcheck just went on strike. It refuses to work until these kids start writing in proper English. The commenter is from Australia, in case you were wondering.

    Anyway, for one second, let’s just say that you were put into a special class because of Columbine. Why are you blaming the jocks? You should blame the two little cowardly scumbags from Colorado.

    And I’m guessing that special class didn’t work.

    And remember, I’m not picking on you because you’re different. I’m picking on you because you’re stupid.