Robinson Sentence: 28 Years

After two hours of emotional and often tearful testimony from relatives of three teen-agers who died in a drinking and driving crash, Brandon Robinson was sentenced to 28 years in prison.

Superior Court Judge Joseph Sutton delivered the sentences Thursday in a soft, sometimes almost inaudible, voice. On each of three counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death, Sutton sentenced Robinson to the maximum eight years, for a total of 24 years.

On the two counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury, he sentenced Robinson to two years each, or another four years, for a total of 28 years.

The sentences were ordered served consecutively.

Robinson was convicted by a jury in November of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, causing the deaths of Aaron Hatfield, 17, Heather Florey, 16, and Tyler Bartley, 12.

The June 28 accident, in which Robinson reportedly ran a stop sign at the intersection of Zimmer and Crystal Lake roads in Warsaw, also injured Tiffany Bartley, 13, and then 6-month-old Monica Hatfield.

With credit for good behavior Robinson could serve half the sentence, or 14 years.

He also could receive an additional sentence reduction for earning a general education diploma.

Sutton said he found aggravating circumstances, which added time to Robinson's sentence.

A somber, tearful Robinson was led away by two police officers before court was even adjourned.

"This trial is very disturbing to me from a factual standpoint," Sutton said when pronouncing the sentences.

The age of the youngest victim, Monica Hatfield, was one aggravating factor, Sutton said.

Other aggravating factors he cited were: that the accident involved multiple victims and multiple fatalities; that a reduced sentence would "depreciate the seriousness of the crime"; that Monica's care, now by her grandparents, would pose a hardship to her family, including her special ongoing medical needs; and that Tiffany Bartley, who suffered permanent physical injury, cannot now participate in sports as she did before the accident.

"The court is disturbed by the defendant's aggressive driving behavior," Sutton said, naming that as another aggravating factor, as well as Robinson's use of fake identification to buy beer, his calls to witnesses during the trial, and his use of alcohol "only minutes after being confronted by his parents about the use of alcohol."

"Even though his blood alcohol content was .99, that's above the legal limit for an 18-year-old, (whose) legal limit is zero," Sutton said.

"The sad part of this is, it's preventable," he said.

The sentencing came after two hours of testimony in which parents of Tyler Bartley, Aaron Hatfield and Heather Florey described in detail how their children's deaths had affected their families and their lives.

Pam Hiers, of Mentone, mother of Heather Florey, said "Everything stopped when Heather died ... I can't laugh. It's still hard to laugh."

Sobs were heard around the courtroom, including Robinson, when Hiers played a video she had made of Heather, Aaron and Monica to the song of "I Will Always Love You."

Tiffany Bartley, 13, who was injured in the accident, testified that she can no longer participate in the sports she once loved, such as basketball, cross-country and track.

In asking Sutton to give Robinson the maximum sentence, Tiffany said, "No matter how long he gets, he's always gonna live after killing three people. ..."

Yolanda Kuta, Aaron Hatfield's mother, described how Aaron had two daughters and still worked, went to school and paid child support.

"That was his whole life - work, school, work, family," she said. "He was a loving son who stood up to responsibility. He went to be with God because of the lack of responsibility on Brandon Robinson's part."

Tracy Trout, mother of Tiffany and Tyler Bartley, showed sports awards Tiffany and Tyler had earned and read in a breaking voice a statement to Robinson on what he had cost her and her family.

"What you have cost me no amount of money, no amount of 'I'm sorry's' will ever change," she said. "Your parents will get to visit you and talk to you. I get to visit my son at the crash site, at his grave, in his bedroom."

She also read a letter and poems from Tyler's sister, Alexis, while Robinson's shoulders shook and he continually wiped his eyes with tissue.

Hiers took the stand later as Monica's guardian to tell of the one-year-old's continuing pain and a six-hour surgery last week to repair a hole in her skull and in the membrane around her brain.

The accident had left Monica with a hole in her skull, and, Hiers said, in six months her brain would have grown through the hole in the skull, causing severe disability or even death.

"This baby has been in nothing but pain for six months," she said.

Robinson took the stand in his own defense, and in a breaking voice told the families of the victims, "I don't know how to begin to tell you how sorry I am. ... I want you to know I'm thinking of you and my prayers are with you each and every night. ... I just want you to know I'm sorry this happened."

Robinson's attorney, Charles Davis, proposed an alternative to traditional sentencing since the guilty verdict is being appealed. Davis asked that the court set an appeal bond, allowing Robinson to continue working but taking 90 percent of his income for a trust fund for the victims, and that he be put into the work release program, using electronic monitoring, spending weekends in jail and performing community service.

He also would undergo random drug and alcohol testing.

"We have an opportunity here to structure a sentence so that all parties benefit," he said.

If that was not possible, he asked Sutton to postpone Robinson's serving of his sentence until after Jan. 1 so the family could make necessary arrangements.

But Sutton not only rejected Davis' alternative sentencing proposal, he had police officers take Robinson to Kosciusko County Jail immediately after sentencing - even before Sutton himself left the courtroom.

Afterwards, the parents of the victims were satisfied that justice had been served.

"I think the judge listened (to the families)," Trout said. "It would be hard for anybody not to. ... "(Robinson) ruined his life too, but he's taken away something from all of us. He's had his freedom long enough."

Hiers and Kuter also said they thought the sentence was fair.

"With work release he wouldn't be incarcerated," Kuter said. "If we want the laws changed, then we as a society have to do it."

Besides the jail time, Robinson also must pay a $500 fine for each of the five counts, or $2,500; court costs of $125.50; an alcohol interdiction fee of $200; and will have his driver's license suspended for two years for each count, or 10 years total.