Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Brandon Robinson won't be released from prison anytime soon because Superior Court 3 Judge Joe Sutton recently denied Robinson a sentence modification hearing.
Robinson, 23, was sentenced in December 1998 to 28 years in prison on three counts of driving while intoxicated causing death and two counts of DWI causing injury.
His sentence was the maximum allowed by law. The presumptive sentence for DWI causing death, a Class C felony, is four years, with two years subtracted or four years added depending on circumstances of the case.
Robinson was the driver in a June 28, 1998, car accident that killed Aaron Hatfield, 17, Heather Florey, 16, and Tyler Bartley, 12. Two other children were injured in the crash.
Robinson, then 18, had been drinking before the accident and ran the stop sign at the intersection of Zimmer and Crystal Lake roads, Warsaw, where three white crosses stand as memorials today.
In the court order denying Robinson's request, Sutton said, "A reduction in sentence to time served would be well below the presumptive sentence for three deaths and serious bodily injury to two other individuals."
He finished the order saying that according to Indiana code, the court is not required to hold a hearing where it is not inclined to grant the motion.
Robinson has reportedly been a model prisoner, becoming a Christian and expressing remorse for his prior actions. He has used his jail time to create pamphlets and educational materials warning high-schoolers of the risk of drinking and driving and other reckless behaviors.
