Two emotional mothers stood before a Santa Clara County Juvenile Court judge Tuesday on behalf of their teenage sons – one who was stabbed to death at Santana Row on Valentine’s Day and another awaiting his sentencing for being one of five suspected gang members who beat him up first.
One mother begged for justice. Another pleaded for mercy.
Related Articles
Ex-San Jose cop pleads to on-duty indecent exposure, sexual battery, road rage
Arrests made after crackdown on mass thefts from Bay Area T.J. Maxx stores
About $600 worth of deodorant stolen from Los Gatos Safeway
South Bay startup, CEO to pay $630,000 for improperly obtaining federal grant funds
San Jose dismounts from revival of horse-mounted officers
“My son made an error, a mistake, but my son is a good boy,” said the mother of the 17-year-old who was tried and found responsible earlier this month for the assault.
But to the mother of 15-year-old David Gutierrez, who police say had no gang affiliation and was waiting with his girlfriend for their Valentine’s Day dinner reservation, the teenager sitting at the defendant’s table was “a terrible human being” who may not have been the one who pulled the knife, but whose actions led to her son’s death. “I would like to ask the court for maximum time.”
Judge Andrea Flint, however, sided with the recommendation of the teenager’s defense lawyer.
Instead of keeping him locked up in a secure treatment facility at Juvenile Hall for 2 to 4 years however — a maximum sanction she had imposed on one of the other juveniles charged in the assault — she announced she would send the boy with no prior criminal record to a youth rehabilitation ranch for 6 to 8 months.
In Juvenile Court, where minors’ names remain confidential to the public, Flint told both mothers and everyone else sitting in the small courtroom, the purpose “is not supposed to be punishment. The focus is supposed to be holding them accountable, respecting the victim’s family and what is really necessary for rehabilitation.”
Unlike the 16-year-old sentenced earlier this month to the more restrictive term — courtroom testimony indicated he had a previous arrest and repeatedly misbehaved and got into fights while in custody — the boy sentenced Tuesday on the same charges had no previous record. Although he had been involved in a fight in April, he had avoided trouble since, his defense lawyer said.
“He vowed in that incident to never fight again and he has kept that vow,” defense lawyer Ralph Robles told the judge, “even though he was the victim of an assault a couple weeks after.”
For the relatives of David Gutierrez, who have become outspoken activists in calling for tougher sentences for youth offenders, especially for the 13-year-old awaiting trial on charges he fatally stabbed David, the judge’s more lenient sentence Tuesday was a blow. The surveillance video the family watched during the trial showed the hefty 17-year-old, who was 16 at the time of the attack, grabbing David by the legs to flip him to the ground, then pummeling him with his fists.
“It’s very disappointing that they think the ranch is sufficient for his supposed rehabilitation,” said David’s aunt, Diana Gutierrez, who considered him like a brother to her. But she was pleased the assault and robbery charges on all the attackers — which included beating up a shopper at Valley Fair and stealing his shoe before attacking David at Santana Row and stealing his gold necklace — carry two “strikes.” Under California’s “Three Strikes” sentencing law, that means if he commits another crime, especially as an adult, his sentence could double.
Before her ruling, Judge Flint expressed concern that the 17-year-old soon would return to the same household and neighborhood where he was easily influenced by gang members.
“If he goes back to the same home he’s been living, in the same environment, if he’s so connected to people bringing him down, how is there going to be a difference when he gets out?” she asked the defense lawyer.
“This is a wake up call for both (the teenager) and his mother,” Robles said. Therapy and programming at the youth ranch ““would be sufficient,” he said.
Flint cautioned, however, that the same qualities the defense lawyer praised the teen for — being protective of his friends — could cause him more trouble.
The teenager has to understand, the judge said, that “he is not responsible to protect others. The responsibility is to work on himself.”
The parents who appealed to the judge both were single mothers. The mother of the 17-year-old attacker said her son grew up with trauma in the household, witnessing domestic violence and enduring the death of his father. –He graduated from high school, had a job and helped her with his disabled younger brother who can’t walk.
“There are so many things I could say but this is the most important thing I have to tell you,” she said, choking up. “Believe me, my son had a noble heart.”
David’s mother said she tries to hold on to the happy memories of her son, like the meal he made on Thanksgiving, including chicken alfredo, garlic bread and homemade pumpkin pie, and proudly served the family.
“He’s gone and never coming back,” she said. “All I have in my memory now is the video of (the teenager) and his friends attacking David. It keeps playing in my head every day.”