⚖️ Judge Boyd Sentences 22-Year-Old in Predator Sting — Judging Judges

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: all right court is calling 20 25 cr zero zero nine seven four nine state versus cullen spencer o'neill can i have parties annette's manthalene brown for the state brian kimbrough for mr o'neill all right and are you mr o'neill yes ma'am all right according to your plea bargain agreement a punishment is to be assessed at a cap of eight years in the prison the state is opposed to your applications uh have both parties had a chance to review the psi report yes judge yes any objections to the psi report no no okay all right uh state you're opposed do you have any witnesses no witnesses judge defense any witnesses yes we have some witnesses all right call your first witness um [00:00:48] Speaker 2: before i do your honor i have some letters that i wanted to present the court on his behalf but i believe and i did give a copy to the state and i believe they were opposed to my doing so so i wanted to give them an opportunity to speak to that all right any objections to the court reviewing the [00:01:04] Speaker 3: letters yes judge i'm going to oppose their fears say i can't cross-examine the witnesses on those statements and i don't believe they're sworn statements either so i'm going to object to them [00:01:13] Speaker 2: oh your honor i've produced these have nothing to do with the incident they're only about the character and the uh information about the defend that i think it's part of the court's duty so with regards [00:01:26] Speaker 1: to whether they're hearsay or not the court needs to review it to see if it is hearsay and then um if the court determines it is hearsay then the court can always disregard all right with regards to the state's objections to the court reviewing the the letters that have been uh tendered by the defense um the court understands your objections the court is going to overrule those objections the court will take these into consideration in sentencing would you like to have a copy so they can review them oh i've reviewed it yes i i read very fast all right i'll call your first witness all right can you raise your right hand for me please do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you give will be the truth and nothing but the truth will help you god yes i do all right you can lower your hand state your name for the record tammy [00:02:16] Speaker 2: follows o'neil all right counsel you may proceed thank you uh and what is your relationship with cullen yes and uh could you tell me a little bit uh was uh cullen raised in san antonio he was raised in san [00:02:32] Speaker 4: antonio born in japan but came here shortly after that because um his late father was in the military [00:02:39] Speaker 2: and how long was his father in the military 24 years what branch was he in air force are you also in [00:02:45] Speaker 4: the military no sir i'm not um i am i worked as a civil servant but not now because i'm very worried but currently yes that is correct shut down that is correct for the air force i do work for the department of defense that's correct air force yes at the air force civil engineer center [00:03:02] Speaker 2: so uh cullen's father passed away seven years ago right yes sir and 2018. how did that from your perspective and was cullen living with you at the time yes sir he was and how did this affect him [00:03:17] Speaker 4: hugely hugely um it affected on all of the kids right um my daughter as well but i think it struck cullen extreme much harder right because of that father figure that he had in his life um and also [00:03:32] Speaker 2: that father figure to hold him accountable and how many siblings and other members of the family did he [00:03:40] Speaker 4: grow up with yes he has a younger sister um who's not here to testify today ma'am um one of the letters was from her she's full-time in college and couldn't come um and then he has a stepsister as well and [00:03:53] Speaker 2: uh can you describe his upbringing his uh his childhood was it normal was it good yes sir it was it was good [00:03:59] Speaker 4: i would say it was good he he got everything he he wanted you know what i mean one of those um and we i did the best to raise him um you know with my husband and then as a single mom after my husband [00:04:10] Speaker 2: passed away uh did con go to school he did he graduated he's got a diploma he got a diploma he [00:04:18] Speaker 4: didn't get a ged right yes he did yes he did he struggled um a lot in school with um adhd and also um yes so he he has struggled with that throughout his life since he's been real right hard to concentrate anxiety right and has he um been employed generally speaking since he got out of [00:04:42] Speaker 2: high school yes sir he has he has okay uh has he always sought employment yes and to your knowledge has uh colin ever been uh convicted of anything any crimes in his life no sir no sir this is so outside [00:04:57] Speaker 4: of his character um and i have never witnessed this type of behavior in him which is um why this is so shocking i you know i've had so many conversations with him and i think he's he regrets what happened right um i feel like from his personality this is just not something he typically would have done um and i feel like that it was a mistake um he just made a poor decision a very poor decision uh and [00:05:28] Speaker 2: you he's always lived at home correct yes sir and so you've gotten to know his friends yes absolutely okay and would you say based on your knowledge and your observation are his friendships appropriate age-wise [00:05:44] Speaker 4: yes sir i've never seen anyone um under legal age at my house um that's another thing i think that my daughter um wrote in her letter that even when i'm not there she didn't witness that either as well his relationships have always been with people of age which is why this incident was so outside of his [00:06:03] Speaker 2: normal character and has he had friendships that uh were long-standing in other words friends that he's [00:06:10] Speaker 4: had for many years oh yes yes he has friends that um he went to kindergarten with right and one is here [00:06:15] Speaker 2: today actually so um now you know that we're here to ask the uh judge to place call in on community supervision yes sir adjudication yes you think that he could succeed on community supervision yes sir i do [00:06:30] Speaker 4: i do um i i very much do i think that um he needs that discipline right of being able to check in continually he's been on um an ankle monitor for the last year and a half and has done that very successfully right um to be able to check in um and be accountable to that um i think that he can give back to society by working and doing other things um while he was on probation versus if in you know he was [00:06:58] Speaker 2: incarcerated okay and um that's all that's fine pass the witness all right any questions [00:07:11] Speaker 4: no questions all right thank you thank you i appreciate your consideration well thank you [00:07:17] Speaker 1: and i would call yes i would call uh deborah higgins all right can you raise your right hand yes ma'am do you suddenly swear affirm the testimony you give will be the truth and nothing but the truth so help you god yes ma'am all right you can lower your hand if you'll state your name for the record deborah higgins [00:07:32] Speaker 2: all right counseling you may proceed thank you and uh miss higgins you go by dj is that correct correct okay what's your relationship with cullen how long have you known him i'm a family friend of approximately 14 years uh do you remember how you first met the family when i worked with cullen's mom was that in the department defense area yes are you still working there no sir i retired july 25th this year uh and in the course of working with his mother did you get to know cullen a little bit yes i um would [00:08:07] Speaker 5: go to their house for holidays and dinners and cookouts and whatnot what did you observe about cullen during your period of knowing him he's a good kid you know he was raised well i watched how him and his sister were raised they were raised well they did well [00:08:26] Speaker 2: did you have uh occasion to see him with other young people i met one or two of his friends when they were when we were all at the house they're all good kids okay and did you ever hear about anything that he might have done other than this incident that raised concerns with you no um and you you also work in the in uh uh pet uh safety or animal rescue animal rescue yes so you uh you observed what happened today and you yes familiar with yes so you do not condone uh bad behavior absolutely not okay right is right and wrong as well you're hardcore on very okay uh and you know that what cullen did was wrong yes in spite of that do you think that he uh could succeed on community supervision if the judge [00:09:22] Speaker 5: would give him that with structure accountability and discipline and having to stay focused on that thing [00:09:27] Speaker 2: yes i do i think he would do very well with that and do you think that would be a better outcome than [00:09:34] Speaker 5: sending him to prison i do why is that there's prison structure and there's i don't know the right legal term but probation structure and i think in being employed being forced to do the right thing every single day in a more open environment would be more beneficial to him to grow as a young man [00:10:04] Speaker 2: any questions yes all right thank you thank you how are your next leaders yes uh i would call [00:10:11] Speaker 1: melissa daly all right if you could raise your right hand for him please do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you give will be the truth and nothing but the truth will help you god all right you can lower your hand state your name for the record i'm melissa daly all right just keep your voice up so the court report we can hear uh defense you may proceed thank you uh miss daly uh [00:10:32] Speaker 6: you uh you're acquainted with colin o'neill correct how did you uh know colin o'neill um i've known colin since um we met my son practically in kindergarten and all of them all the groups of boys always played in the neighborhood so i watched basically colin grow up since kindergarten okay and he's always shown the utmost respect and yes ma'am and when i had groceries he'd be the first to come help me take them out of the car i haven't spent the night several times and i treated him like a son of mine [00:11:02] Speaker 2: so i have this is totally out of character right what is your son's name daniel daniel and and he is a friend and grew up with colin correct yes sir is daniel here yeah okay uh now would you uh if you had had any issues with colin as far as his influence would you have allowed daniel to spend time with cover i haven't had any issues with color right but if you had had oh of course i would [00:11:38] Speaker 6: but i have not seen i've always colin's always presented great character integrity and i thought well he was raised with his father hunting and having all the things that every board of the dream to have with the dad do and since his dad passed it was very heartbreaking but he had a group of friends that supported him so he wasn't like a lonely child he had lots of friends and that will help him get through that whole situation during his prime time and childhood and do you think that uh [00:12:13] Speaker 2: that he would be a good candidate for probation community supervision yes i do you think he could [00:12:18] Speaker 6: succeed on that i absolutely think he'd think he'd succeed because he has high integrity and this is just outside his character against incident thank you absolutely any questions [00:12:33] Speaker 1: all right thank you so much call your next witness um i'm going to call colin your honor o'neill oh can you raise your right hand sir do you solemnly swear affirm the testimony you give will be the truth that nothing but the truth will help you about all right you can lower your hand state your name for the record um colin o'neill all right defense you may proceed colin uh you know why we're here yes [00:12:54] Speaker 7: i do i made an egregious mistake one night i had no sympathy for the situation i was in due to being under the influence of drugs and alcohol and i made an honest young man mistake with my emotions and what i was trying to do i made a horrible mistake it's it's it's been haunting me and i mean i've had to deal with it for a year and a half that i've realized it and sat with it and people have made fun of me i've gone through it but it's something that i know that it's not over because i made a mistake and i'm willing to take that on on the chin you know what i mean you talk about football and lsu i'm leaving it all on the field you know what i mean with what i'm trying to do to prove that i need a plea but i made a mistake okay uh now the evening this happened you had been using [00:13:41] Speaker 2: drugs correct yes sir and you'd been drinking yes sir so you have an issue with drinking and with drugs yes and you're willing to deal with that 100 okay to get better to get better do you have a uh [00:13:54] Speaker 7: an attraction to younger women no ma'am i mean no sir i have i've never once ever in my life i think it was just the influence i was in the situation of not sleeping being tired from work just in my emotions my feelings as a young man just overcame me and i know that's horrible and i made a mistake for that [00:14:13] Speaker 2: okay now you did complete your gd correct yes sir i did okay and do you have plans and things that you [00:14:24] Speaker 7: want to achieve in your life yes so i was a month away from finishing college when this all happened and i've been held back for a year and a half to even finish college but my what i was doing in college was being a gunsmith i get with my situation now i might need to find a different line of work and what i've been doing as an iron worker and doing stuff outside and building buildings like chick-fil-a's walmart's and chase banks and stuff around the community the best i can now you were employed with an iron uh what kind of a company was it was an iron cover we it was hill country steel we do all the main steel around all of san antonio austin and dallas we we do every walmart every chick-fil-a every chase bank every car wash we provide the steel well did you did you start working with them when you were in high school yes right out of high school one of the letters i gave was from the employer that i've known since right out of high school and he he helped me a lot and he knew about my situation through house arrest and getting my getting my job back now you're not currently working for him right no i stopped working for him because i wanted to deal with this and didn't want to interrupt their company for my [00:15:34] Speaker 2: mistakes uh and are you hoping to be able to get work again yes i actually have a job interview on [00:15:44] Speaker 7: thursday for another steel company that was smaller that we used to provide steel with so that's something i'm really looking forward to to start doing and working um tell the judge why you think you could succeed on probation i did track football and baseball all throughout high school and i work harder than most grown men that i know and i know i messed up and i don't want to do prison because that's just not something i i know i will succeed in unfortunately but i know that doing the plea and being on a schedule checking in and doing things like that will really help me a lot get my life back on track i'm young i made a horrible horrible mistake for my age and i just i know that i want to be able to recover from it and not be stuck now when this happened [00:16:40] Speaker 2: understanding the situation you do admit that you that you were told that the girl was 15. yes i correct yes and you also admit that when you were going to see her it was because you were intending [00:16:56] Speaker 7: to have yes i i admit to that you know i mean i meant to the court to to take my honesty because i i made a mistake yeah but that's not something you you have ever done never never thought about it never once i've been around it and i have a little sister how could i how could i do that to her okay you know like that's something that i really think about a lot and being a better image for her especially with the situation i'm in i want to get out of this and be better for her and she was one of the main [00:17:23] Speaker 3: people i that wrote a letter okay that's what state yes ma'am uh you talked to probation prior to this period correct in the pre-sentencing report yes ma'am and when they asked you about the offense you [00:17:41] Speaker 7: minimized it correct i was nervous to what i said i was i was very nervous on what needed to be said i wasn't sure what said i've never been in a situation like this and never i've never had the thoughts that [00:17:52] Speaker 3: i had but when you spoke to probation you did minimize what you did in this offense correct i wouldn't say [00:17:58] Speaker 7: minimize i told my side the best that i felt that i could but i did make mistakes i did say things i wasn't supposed to and we're here in this situation because of my mistakes right and the officer didn't force [00:18:10] Speaker 3: you or coerce you into this situation i mean it was a sting operation correct but you willingly agreed [00:18:16] Speaker 7: to meet this person they didn't force you to get that yes after so like maybe 30 45 minutes of time had passed since they had started talking to me yes and you described in great detail and graphic [00:18:27] Speaker 3: language exactly what sex you wanted to perform on this 15 year old is that correct [00:18:33] Speaker 1: yes any other questions no all right any other witnesses no your honor all right court will hear a brief [00:18:44] Speaker 2: argument uh state judge i'll uh let defense go first your honor uh colin o'neill in my opinion is a perfect candidate for probation he checks off the boxes so to speak he's 22 years old okay and [00:19:09] Speaker 1: not to interrupt your your argument counts but this well well no no this is what i wanted to address but nobody addressed it i don't know if anybody wants to address it and it has to do with the thing that's mentioned in the psi and i don't know if you want to address part of that here yeah i mean uh i could i could ask him okay if i could recall i'm sorry about that yes you can recall it sure you had correct [00:19:39] Speaker 2: yes it was for myself yes and you were using yes i was and you were as and as you earlier testified you were using alcohol yes and you had a a and did this problem develop like years before it mainly [00:19:55] Speaker 7: developed a year or so before just working hard and just trying to stay up and just trying to deal with college and deal with a full-time job i just i didn't know how to overcome myself or talk to or and that's just what led me down the rabbit hole right there and i just messed up and you understand [00:20:11] Speaker 2: that when you when you got to the point what happened that night you were doing you had an [00:20:19] Speaker 7: alcohol and drug problem yes i definitely did and you have it now right i wouldn't say now i have definitely resorted to staying off being a lot better person just due to my probation with my anchor moderate you know what i mean just in case for whatever reason they wanted to drug pests me or whatever god forbid they would do i mean and i have a little sister and my mom and i don't want to keep that image i really don't you know that's why i really would like i don't mind doing drug tests drug classes [00:20:48] Speaker 1: or probation or whatever all right and i just asked that because i forgot to bring it up so that could be clear about because it was in the psr so sorry for the interruption okay no you're fine are there any other questions no more questions all right i'm sorry you can see with your argument thank you uh so and uh [00:21:09] Speaker 2: that charge was dismissed yes um again as i was saying i think my main point is that cullen is a very good candidate for probation he has no criminal history uh he is 22 years old he has a very very supportive family he has friends that he's had since he was in kindergarten that are still his friends i brought family members uh and i brought friends that have known him that are not related to him all of them including the letters that the quote uh read from his employer uh and from other people that are friends that are not family his sister did write a letter all of them attesting to cullen's uh character and their long history of knowing him that isn't to say that what he did was not illegal and wrong he should be punished for it but he should in my opinion be punished in such a way that he is rehabilitated this is a case where that to me it cries out for rehabilitation not for prison prison would be the opposite in my opinion of what should happen now i know this is a crime that is extremely uh terrible and there is uh a lot of of um outcry against this this behavior and i agree it's fine i'm not opposed to that but in the appropriate circumstance and i think this is one a person that does this kind of crime can be rehabilitated and can go forward and contribute and of all the people that i've represented for sometimes in the last couple of years colin seems to me to be the best candidate for probation um and i'm hoping that the court will give him that opportunity whatever uh program whatever um monitoring the court feels appropriate i'm asking the court to give him that chance all right state [00:23:34] Speaker 3: judge i respectfully disagree with defenses view that this defendant is a great candidate for community supervision this defendant has a pattern and throughout this case of hiding and minimizing his behavior when he speaks with the undercover instead of putting what he wants to do in a text message he insists on talking and he says those things over avoiding message so less traceable he gets there what happens happens he gets arrested he gets to this court he pleads on this case to supposedly take responsibility and when given that opportunity to take responsibility to the psi officer instead of just saying i chose to go there that night he says well she pushed me the officer pushed me to do it the undercover push he blames the undercover doesn't take full accountability and even today he says oh well the reason for that is i was scared if his reaction to being scared concerned anxious or nervous is to lie to minimize that is a terrible candidate for probation because he's going to keep doing it on probation judge the descriptions in this report that the court has in the in the stipulations of what he specifically says he's not just saying he wants to meet up with a 15 year old he uses graphic sexual language graphic violent language to talk about not only physically but using a 15 year old child who he fully believes at that time is a 15 year old child i understand that this defendant is young there may be some substance abuse issues however judge this is not the kind of person who i believe would be safe on our streets i don't think he's a good candidate for probation and i would worry about an actual child being harmed if he's let out so i would respectfully ask the court to deny the applications for community supervision and sentence him under the committee agreement for eight years [00:25:32] Speaker 1: all right so mr o'neill i want you to know that i heard everything from all of the witnesses i reviewed the psi i've internalized uh everything um i've read the chat matt messages that was sent to someone you thought was 15. i messed up i messed up during all right oh it's okay if he says something [00:26:02] Speaker 7: i mean i mean i've said about this you know what i mean like this is my life you know and i mean i just [00:26:07] Speaker 1: want to fix it the best way i can all right uh and i want you to know i'm taking in consideration your age and i do understand that sometimes people will do things they're intoxicated be it through drugs or alcohol however in reading the stipulations and in reading the psi reports there were [00:26:33] Speaker 7: so many times that you could have just pulled back i just i did not understand you know what i mean i i really did if i had a better understanding i would have been honest like i have been today [00:26:45] Speaker 1: no no i'm not even here's the thing this is what i understand when probation officers are interviewing you for a psi report there are a lot of things going through your head right you don't want to say anything that could hurt you sometimes defense attorney i was a defense attorney let me just tell you what i would tell my clients i would tell them for the love of all that's holy just say my attorney told me not to speak about it right and then sometimes i would have clients i'm like go ahead tell them so i will tell you what is in the psi i'm not holding that against you because sometimes when people are faced with legal decisions sometimes they get nervous sometimes you have a lot of voices in your head what would my attorney say i understand all of that so i'm not holding that against you that maybe you said something that could be considered you're not taking responsibility so i want you to know that yes ma'am what i'm talking about is the offense and it's like there's so many points along the way that you could have stopped like not drive over there yes not [00:27:54] Speaker 7: go to the hotel not go up to the hotel room i completely agree and that's something that i've talked to myself and my mom and my family about and my friends about why i even did it because in no right state of mind ever have i ever thought that way or been in a situation like that i just i crashed out and i just i didn't i didn't know what what what sympathy was for the simple like the situation i was in i really didn't and i was i was young i was sleep deprived i was off drugs and alcohol and i really did not mean to make that decision and that's not who i am as a person i've never lied to my mom or people about my situation i've always been honest when they asked especially how i got my job back i had to sit there in front of a bunch of grown people and explain what happened you know what i mean and that's something i i mean i can't be unhonest about it because look how it looks on a piece of paper you know no matter what i said no matter what i did it's what's shown and i mean that's what's here today in front of us like and i i made a mistake but i don't believe that i just heard prince because i just i want to be rehabilitated i know i can work through what the police says i know my punishment isn't over it'll be at least 10 years that i'll have to deal with whatever the plea [00:29:08] Speaker 1: requires and i know that all right so this is what the court is going to do the court is going to find you guilty the court is going to order chapter 62 compliance there's a three thousand dollar fine time time and money to run concurrently the court will send it to to three years in the prison to give you credit for any time served uh did you review the trial court certification of defendants rights to appeal with your attorney did you understand it and sign it because this is a plea bargain agreement because i followed your plea bargain agreement and because you weigh your right to appeal you do not have the court's permission to appeal because this is a felony conviction you're not allowed to own or possess any weapons or ammunition if you have a question over that what that is you'll need to speak to an attorney to speak to an attorney do you understand so three years yes but like well i [00:29:59] Speaker 2: have i'm sorry okay okay you got to talk to him well yes here but i have another thing i'd like to raise yes this is uh not a 3g office no so i will i didn't the court uh retained jurisdiction [00:30:17] Speaker 1: i'll consider it i'll tell you what you can file whatever you want to file and then the state you can you know make whatever arguments you you want to make counsel excuse me may i hug my mom now you'll have to talk to the deputies they're in charge of security