Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
I can't imagine the depths of despair Brandon Robinson is feeling right now. The pain of knowing he was responsible for unintentionally killing three young people after drinking and driving last summer was compounded Friday when he was convicted in court and officially held accountable.
Six months ago, Robinson was a carefree guy who had less than six months of adulthood under his belt.
While thousands of underage people drink and drive and never face any consequences, Robinson unfortunately drove a truck that slammed into another vehicle carrying five people, three of whom died.
I can't crawl inside his mind and relay his feelings. Only one who's been there can do that. But Robinson showed a range of emotions in court last week, all of which likely came from the heart.
He shook uncontrollably during parts of testimony from survivors of the accident and he became visibly upset when a video of the crime scene was shown to the court.
The 18-year-old spent most of the trial looking down, observers said.
During those times, he showed little emotion, but for a young man who realizes his entire life is in jeopardy, that lack of emotion was an emotion in itself. At one point, in the trial, Robinson apparently stared off into the distance and failed to respond to people. Maybe he was thinking about his happy life as a teen, or the night of the accident or his future, all of which in sum seem pretty bleak.
But Robinson showed another emotion even more troubling. During cross-examination by Deputy Prosecutor Dan Nelson, Robinson appeared to cop an attitude. An attitude of someone who thought he was being unfairly charged.
He was cocky about other people's testimony. And he told Nelson he was angered by what he perceived as a smirk on the prosecutor's face.
Something's wrong here. Either Robinson doesn't understand what's going on, or he's a boy in a man's body who isn't mature enough to own up to what has happened.
The one emotion that was missing was any sign of remorse. Sure, he's upset that society largely finds him guilty of drunk driving and killing three people despite testing .099 percent - just short of the standard level of criminal drunk driving.
Robinson claims he only drank a few beers - not enough to be intoxicated. And he claims he accidentally ran the stop sign at Zimmer and Crystal Lake roads and struck the other vehicle because he was looking down while trying to change a CD.
But realistically, that's beside the point. He was drunk and he killed three people.
For nearly five days, he sat in a court room that included plenty of people who's lives are devastated. Not just families whose loved one's died, but his own family.
And throughout the proceedings, nobody in the courtroom heard Robinson utter an apologetic word. Not one. Just anger and confusion and sadness and grief.
Most people, I would hope, would handle it differently. If I was on trial and on the witness stand, I would have taken a minute to plead my case, to let the families know I was sorry for their lives. And I would let them know I hurt, too.
I wouldn't bare my soul just as a way of gaining leniency. I'd do it because it's the right thing to do.
Robinson faces a long term in jail. He could serve 30 years. Or he could get less than 10.
Regardless of what prison term he gets, survivors will eventually walk away unsatisfied and, probably, bitter.
A heartfelt apology would really help ease the pain. Not only the hurt felt by those families, but for Robinson as well.
