13 Time Assault Offender Cries — Judge Slaps Him With MAX Prison Sentence!

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: you know how many times in your life do you have a guess yeah what's the number you'd guess a few a dozen because you've done it now 13 times convicted you've got 12 prior assault convictions not counting the two rnos you've got nine prior felonies you were on a felony probation at the time of this offense so i think that's proportionate you know this is an offender that's among the worst offenders of a domestic violence offender because of the extraordinary history of assaults so we're back on the record and we'll call um a little early um is that okay for victim rights issues yes people v brett tenhopen file 26-7193 fh council please state your finances [00:00:44] Patrick: what's the goodness when kind of prosecutor patrick on behalf of the defendant good morning and we're [00:00:49] Speaker 1: here for sentencing on a charge of domestic violence third offense it's five years statutory maximum the advisory guidelines were scored at 12 to 24 months have you had a chance to review uh that report and recommendations with your client yes i have any additions or corrections to the factual information in that report no that's actually mr richard and mr friegel any [00:01:11] Patrick: challenges to the scoring the guidance uh yes your honor the mdoc scored over 19 of 25 points for misconduct in the jail and they provided a description within the narrative um i believe that would be uh excessive in this case i think ov 25 should be scored at 10 uh under mcl777.49c instead of a um that would reduce his overall ob to uh 10 points instead of 25. thank you mr richard i believe that will be 19 is [00:01:46] Speaker 1: properly scored at 25 okay yeah i think i would tend to agree as well um it was scored at 25 points because he uh assaulted an inmate while incarcerated in the jail uh was in lockdown for a couple weeks as a response i think uh an assault in jail uh does uh threaten the security of a penal institution and i think that's pretty high on the list of things that threaten the security of the penal institution as if there's assaulted behavior being committed inside it so i think ob19 is properly scored at 25 points any other defense challenges no thank you any challenges from the people there all right uh and [00:02:26] Patrick: anything you wish to say on behalf of your clients yes i think the uh defendant's written statement to mdoc is it's uh reflective of what he could be uh when he's sober uh he had approximately two years of sobriety uh after an inpatient uh stint in harvard hall which was uh following his owi third conviction um and he was doing well and he was staying occupied but it seems as though the moment he picked up the alcohol uh he committed an assault against his significant other uh bringing him here today and he realizes that for some reason it just does not connect that he can't touch alcohol so i would ask the court to consider some kind of uh alcohol programming for him in prison or perhaps give him 12 months in jail here uh instead of a prison sentence uh allowing him to be released over to emmet county to continue his his uh sobriety program that he had established there he had had a bad slip obviously and uh he seems to know that uh treatment does help this needs to get the anger [00:03:41] Speaker 1: management in the alcohol treatment thank you okay thank you mr tenopin you're not required to say [00:03:49] Brett Tenhopen: anything today but it is allowed sure yeah that's fine your honor i stand before the court today with humbleness and humility but first and foremost like to say that i'm truly sorry for what i did for my actions and i was wrong for what i did i would never hurt miss grant i loved him more than anything and i would never hurt her i'd like the court to know that there's no justification at all for my actions i do know that i was sober for two years as you know from alcohol and a relapse on the day of this incident because i was intoxicated to alter my judgment and i know for sure this would not have happened if i was not intoxicated i've changed my life and i'm not the same person i was 10 15 years ago just three years ago i hit my bottom i realized i needed help with my drinking problem i asked for help on my own i admitted to myself in harper hall inpatient completed three month inpatient and three months transitional housing became a harper hall you know i'm a graduate from the program i've had two relapses in three years since i finished the program i also know that relapse is part of sobriety i asked the court to please let me go back to inpatient treatment because there's something that i've missed or something that i need to relearn that i didn't apply the first time and i know that i know that you may have to fight and battle more than once to win it especially in recovery i know that my past it's just a story and has no power over me i paid my debt for all my past and asked for your honor that you please not use it against me because i'm not that same person i was then i need more treatment and not a prison cell i'm asking the court for mercy and leniency because the president is not [00:05:40] Speaker 1: going to help thank you all right thank you mr telegram recommendations from the people oh yes johnny thank [00:05:46] Speaker 4: you uh we are here because on may 26th uh fortunately the victim had reached out to a friend who was a good friend that called 911 on her behalf because she was being physically assaulted by the defendant the defendant admitted he was intoxicated at the time the victim was reluctant initially to disclose the abuse to the police but thankfully the police were patient with her and created a safe environment for her to tell the truth the defendant is 44 years old he was nine at the first time at his first arrest uh he has nine prior felonies and 24 prior misdemeanors he has a significant criminal history he is unemployed due to a disability and received a ged jail has been tried 21 times for the defendant prison once probation seven times he was on felony probation at the time of this offense for an owi third in emmet county when checking the register of actions this morning it looks like their sentencing on that probation violation is on hold awaiting the sentencing here to take place first also during this case he was sentenced to assault on july 17th of 2026. also during this case he assaulted an inmate as discussed at the sherboygan jail he was on lockdown for two weeks but it didn't result in additional charges that the probation in emmet county had already included outpatient counseling which obviously wasn't effective since this incident involved him drinking and for the defendant i agree that drinking equals assaultive behavior hence the significant criminal history i'm in agreement with the psi recommendation for 23 months to five years with credit for 44 days the guidelines are 12 to 24. the defendant should realize at this point he'll be maxed out every time he commits an assault of crime [00:07:30] Speaker 1: thank you all right thank you mr tenepin would you please stand with your lawyer for the court sessions you know a couple of the statements that you've made mr tenepin are are striking to me breathtaking honestly and their lack of uh lack of understanding you know for you to say i'm not the same person i was well the so who was the person you were somebody who drank and assaulted people who are you now someone who drank and assaulted people and even while you've been in the jail assaulted people so i don't see a difference the statement i would never hurt her because i love her so much well gee if this was your first assault you know you might have some debate about what to make of a statement like that you've been convicted of convicted of assaults you know how many times in your life you have a guess yeah what's the number you'd guess a few a dozen not counting our nose not counting our nose against police and even dozen before this one this is your baker's dozen assault conviction so to say well i'd never hurt fill in the blank whoever it is no judge is ever going to believe that coming out of your mouth because you've done it now 13 times convicted and the relapse is part of recovery but you know what's not part of recovery assaults were you drunk in the jail when you [00:08:43] Brett Tenhopen: saw somebody it wasn't quite if he assaulted me yep i mean i just want to put that on the record all [00:08:50] Speaker 1: right you know that's going through this criminal history that's my best guess going through it as carefully as i can that you've got 12 prior assault convictions not counting the two rnos i won't you know go through the painstaking bit about going through each of those and putting them on the record here they're in the psi you previously maxed out a prison sentence from 2006 to 2011. generally that means that you weren't really behaving well in prison you've got nine prior felonies you were on a felony probation at the time of this offense all of those things i think uh you know call certain they they certainly would call for a prison sentence i mean they absolutely do they absolutely do there's nothing else we can do i mean it'd be irresponsible for me with somebody with your behavior and your history to say oh well we'll give it we'll give it another try for his 13th assault conviction now it'll be different who would think that in fact the guidelines don't adequately even take into account this extraordinary assault of behavior assault of history you lucked out by having that habitual fourth dismissed with the habitual fourth we'd be looking at a life maximum and the range that i could pick would be a lot higher and i think i'd pick something much much higher in fact i think with the dismissal of the habitual with this dozen prior assault convictions i think that calls for the tanner max or the two-thirds max so i think that's proportionate you know this is an offender that's among the worst offenders of a domestic violence offender because of the extraordinary history of assaults so their state costs of sixty eight dollars 130 in the crime victims assessment court costs of 350 and i'm going to sentence you to the maximum i'm allowed to by law i think that's proportionate to commit you to the michigan department of corrections for a term of not less than 40 months nor more than 60 months or five years with credit for 44 days previously served that is above the advisory guidelines range and i've placed my reasons for the departure on the record and mr tenepin if you wish to appeal you may do so by filing an application of the court of appeals if you want a lawyer i'd give you one if you ask within six months and you qualify so we're going to hand you a piece of paper explaining that process and i ask you to initial one copy and until the other one out if you wish to take an appeal do you have any questions for you have any questions for you have any questions for you have any questions for you have any questions for