4 teens get probation, house arrest in Long Beach attack
A judge Friday sentenced four black teenagers to probation and 60 days of house arrest for their roles in the mob beatings of three white women on Halloween night, evoking tears of joy among the defendants and their relatives and gasps of indignation among the victims' families.
"Juvenile Court is a joke," said Barbara Schneider outside the Long Beach courthouse as her daughter Laura, who suffered a concussion during the attack, sobbed next to her.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Andrea Bouas had asked for nine months in probation camp for three of the teenagers. Her jaw dropped when Judge Gibson Lee gave the first defendant probation, and as the hearings went on, she choked up, wiping her eyes with tissue.
Despite testimony that their involvement in the beatings varied, Lee handed identical sentences of probation, house arrest and 250 hours of community service to Anthony and Antoinette Ross, twins who turned 18 during the trial; to their 16-year-old sister; and to another 16-year-old described during the trial as Anthony's girlfriend.
Another five teenagers convicted in the case are scheduled to be sentenced beginning Monday morning in the Superior Court. They have spent 95 days in custody.
A 10th defendant, the Rosses' 12-year-old sister, was acquitted of all charges.
The rulings Friday surprised both sides in the case, as Lee had repeatedly denied motions to have the 10 youths released to their families before and during two months of trial, and then Jan. 26 convicted all but one of the assault.
Eight were also found to have committed a hate crime during the attack.
Geraldine Caldwell, the great-aunt of three defendants sentenced Friday, said she never thought when she woke up that morning that the children might be home that evening.
"No way, no way," she said. "God had his hand in this."
But juvenile law experts say probation is common for youths with no criminal records.
"The whole idea is not to simply throw people into the criminal justice system," said Daniel Macallair, executive director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco. "The purpose of the juvenile justice system is not retribution; it's not even punishment. It's still rehabilitation."
Judges are expected to give the least restrictive sentence that would rehabilitate the minor, while protecting public safety, ratcheting up penalties only if initial discipline doesn't work.
