We need more judges like this.....
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20070126/SPT03/701260342/1035/SPT
Wave of irresponsibility
'No respect for authority'
By Paul A. Long
Post staff reporter
In popular lore, it's known as the butterfly effect, the belief that any small action can have a profound influence on the world around it.
In the case of Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry, his series of run-ins with the law over the past year have had a wide-ranging impact, Kenton District Judge Douglas Grothaus said Thursday before sending Henry to jail for two days.
Henry's once promising career is in jeopardy, the Bengals' hopes for a potential Super Bowl-bound season floundered and a young Cincinnati woman is in the Hamilton County jail facing a murder charge, said Grothaus. Henry shares some responsibility for all of that the judge said in a five-minute scolding from the bench.
"You have no respect for authority," Grothaus lectured Henry during his court hearing Thursday. "In all honesty, you have no respect for yourself."
Henry, who has been arrested four times in three states in the past year, pleaded guilty to violating Covington's keg law by allowing three young women - aged 15 to 18 - to drink in his hotel room. In a plea bargain with prosecutors, Henry agreed to a 90-day sentence, with all but two days suspended, and a $250 fine.
But what he didn't expect was facing the anger of a normally mild-mannered judge who said he has grown tired of seeing a parade of young lives coming before him, damaged by drugs, alcohol, and the bad influence of their elders.
To top off his rebuke, Grothaus sent Henry directly to jail, and ordered him to serve the full two days, saying he could not be released until 9:15 a.m. Saturday - exactly 48 hours after he was taken into custody. Normally, a two-day sentence is satisfied with the serving of two calendar days, and could be as little as a couple of hours.
The plea and one a day earlier in Clermont County end Henry's legal troubles, but he may face more discipline from the NFL.
On Wednesday, Henry ended his DUI case in Clermont County by pleading guilty to reckless operation of a car. His 30-day sentence in that case was suspended.
"It's good that Chris's cases have been resolved," Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said in a statement. "Now he must continue to strive to mature and grow both as a player and as a person."
Henry previously pleaded guilty to gun charges in Florida, which earned him a two-game suspension from the NFL.
He is one of nine Bengal players arrested in the past year, mostly for alcohol or drug-related charges. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who already has questioned the Bengals about all their legal troubles, has the power to fine a player who is convicted of or admits to a violation of the law relating to the use of alcohol.
"Any (player) convicted of or admitting to a second criminal violation will be suspended without pay or banished for a period of time to be determined by the commissioner," according to NFL policy.
One of Henry's agents, Marvin Frazier, said on the Bengals' Web site that the player has gotten the message.
"He understands he has to take life a lot more seriously now," Frazier said.
"He's had to grow up and he knows that. Hopefully, the commissioner will see that he's already paid a high price and that he's done what he's had to do. We're looking at a brief stretch of time in which he made several bad decisions and he wants to get on with his life the right way."
Throughout Grothaus' speech, Henry remained mostly silent, quietly answering, "yes sir," to the few questions the judge directed at him.
"Remember the court hearing in which I indicated you were to consume no alcoholic beverages?" Grothaus asked.
"Yes sir," Henry responded.
"I find it disturbing that less than a week or two later, I learn in news reports that you're hanging out a window puking, as yet another Bengal gets arrested," Grothaus said. "I don't think you have any understanding about how your actions affect others."
Grothaus pointed out that one of the women Henry was drinking with in Covington is 18-year-old Monica Beamon, who faces a murder charge in an unrelated case in Hamilton County.
"I guarantee you if we look at her (background), there's a history of her being mistreated and abused throughout her life, and being taken advantage of by people who did not have her best interests at heart - and I include you in that class of people in that young woman's life. There's no question her life is over, and you helped play a small part in it."
Beamon's arrest and her original statement - later proved false - that Henry raped her are part of the reason Kenton County Attorney Garry Edmondson agreed to the reduced charges in the plea deal. Henry was charged with three counts of unlawful transaction with a minor, misdemeanors that could have landed him in jail for a year.
Beamon would not be available to testify during any trial, and the other two women told a different story. Subsequent investigation showed that while Henry rented the room and allowed the minors to drink, he never actually gave them liquor or helped them buy it.
"In entering his plea and accepting his sentence, he acknowledges that he should have intervened to ensure that no one under 21 was drinking," Edmondson said.
The Bengals entered the 2006-2007 season with high hopes, and fans and players had playoff dreams, said Grothaus, who later described himself as a casual fan. Henry was to play a major role, but his legal troubles were a distraction not only to himself, but also to other players who depended on him, Grothaus said.
"Many people think the Cincinnati Bengals ought to be playing next week" in the Super Bowl, the judge said.
"It would be easy for us to sit here and say it was because of a missed field goal in that last game, or an interception that was thrown. But each and every one of those games throughout the season counts - and you were the cancer on that team that spread and caused it to be the lost season.
"You'll forever go down in the history of the 2006 season as being the Stanley Wilson of the Cincinnati Bengals," said Grothaus, referring to the running back found passed out from a cocaine overdose in his hotel room in Florida the night before the 1989 Super Bowl.
Henry's actions also have jeopardized his own career, which in turn has an impact on his own family, Grothaus said.
"You're a cancer," the judge repeated. "And any team is going to sit down and say, you know, you may be worth $1 million to catch that ball, but we're not going to take that chance."
Grothaus also fined Henry $250, and ordered him to set up speeches to students at Two Rivers Elementary School in Covington about the importance of education, and to student-athletes at Holmes High School in Covington about the damaging impact drugs and alcohol are having on his career.
He told Henry to undergo drug and alcohol testing and counseling, warning him he had had his last chance.
"The next time I get wind that you're puking out the window, you'll be doing the other 88 days," he said.
Reply With Quote
![]{ilr]3's Avatar](image.php?u=552&dateline=2010 "]{ilr]3's Avatar")
Originally Posted by digitaldean
