blueturk
04-29-2005, 07:11 PM
In 1983, Charles Rothenberg gave his 6 year old son a sleeping pill, doused him with kerosene, and set him on fire. The kid survived but sustained 3rd degree burns over 90 per cent of his body.
Rothenberg only served 6 years for this act. He was sentenced to 13 years but got out early for good behavior.Convicted of a weapons charge he was sentenced to life under California's "3 Strikes" Law but another judge knocked that down, and now this fucking piece of shit is only looking at 7 years. There are people in California that have stolen food and been given much longer sentences than that under this law. What the fuck is up with this?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4970578,00.html
Man Who Set Son on Fire Dodges Life Term
Friday April 29, 2005 3:31 AM
By LISA LEFF
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A man who became notorious for serving only 6 years for setting his son on fire two decades ago will not be sentenced to life in prison on a handgun charge under California's tough three-strikes law, a judge ruled Thursday.
Charley Charles, known as Charles Rothenberg when he burned his 6-year-old son in 1983, was convicted in February of illegally possessing a handgun that he said he needed as protection from vigilantes bent on retaliation for the crime against the boy.
The prosecutor charged Charles under the 1994 three-strikes law, counting his two felony convictions from the crimes against his son - both attempted murder and arson resulting in great bodily injury - as previous strikes.
San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Lee indicated she was reluctantly not counting Charles' arson conviction as a prior strike. She went to great lengths to explain that she felt the heinousness of what he did to his now severely disfigured son, coupled with a lengthy criminal history, made him just the sort of criminal the three-strikes law was designed to punish.
``That pervasive malignancy puts him squarely within the spirit and the letter of the three-strikes law,'' Lee said.
But the judge said she was compelled to count his handgun conviction as only a second strike because of a 2004 California Supreme Court ruling that said if two previous convictions stemmed from the same act, it could count as only one strike.
``There is such an interrelation and close connection between the arson and the attempted murder that they are - to put it in the vernacular - the same ball of wax,'' Lee said.
Charles, 64, will be sentenced Friday for being a felon possessing a handgun and ammunition. He would ordinarily face a prison term of 16 months to three years, but the terms are doubled because it's his second strike.
In 1983, Charles took his son, David, to a motel in the Southern California suburb of Buena Park and gave the boy a sleeping pill. He then doused him with kerosene, set him afire and left the room.
He said then that he was distraught over losing the boy to his estranged wife in a custody battle. The boy survived, suffering third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body.
In court Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Shay Matthews told the judge Charles' son, now an adult, had his fingers, ears, nose and genitals burned off during the attack and so fears his father that he declined to attend the sentencing hearing.
Charles was convicted of attempted murder, arson and other charges. He received a 13-year prison sentence, the maximum penalty at the time, but was released for good behavior after serving 6 years. Sentencing guidelines were later increased.
His attorney, Gabriel Bassan, told jurors that his client needed a weapon because had ``no reasonable, legal alternative to protect himself.'' He said Charles was despised by a public that could not forgive his past and was labeled a ``baby burner.''
Rothenberg only served 6 years for this act. He was sentenced to 13 years but got out early for good behavior.Convicted of a weapons charge he was sentenced to life under California's "3 Strikes" Law but another judge knocked that down, and now this fucking piece of shit is only looking at 7 years. There are people in California that have stolen food and been given much longer sentences than that under this law. What the fuck is up with this?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4970578,00.html
Man Who Set Son on Fire Dodges Life Term
Friday April 29, 2005 3:31 AM
By LISA LEFF
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A man who became notorious for serving only 6 years for setting his son on fire two decades ago will not be sentenced to life in prison on a handgun charge under California's tough three-strikes law, a judge ruled Thursday.
Charley Charles, known as Charles Rothenberg when he burned his 6-year-old son in 1983, was convicted in February of illegally possessing a handgun that he said he needed as protection from vigilantes bent on retaliation for the crime against the boy.
The prosecutor charged Charles under the 1994 three-strikes law, counting his two felony convictions from the crimes against his son - both attempted murder and arson resulting in great bodily injury - as previous strikes.
San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Lee indicated she was reluctantly not counting Charles' arson conviction as a prior strike. She went to great lengths to explain that she felt the heinousness of what he did to his now severely disfigured son, coupled with a lengthy criminal history, made him just the sort of criminal the three-strikes law was designed to punish.
``That pervasive malignancy puts him squarely within the spirit and the letter of the three-strikes law,'' Lee said.
But the judge said she was compelled to count his handgun conviction as only a second strike because of a 2004 California Supreme Court ruling that said if two previous convictions stemmed from the same act, it could count as only one strike.
``There is such an interrelation and close connection between the arson and the attempted murder that they are - to put it in the vernacular - the same ball of wax,'' Lee said.
Charles, 64, will be sentenced Friday for being a felon possessing a handgun and ammunition. He would ordinarily face a prison term of 16 months to three years, but the terms are doubled because it's his second strike.
In 1983, Charles took his son, David, to a motel in the Southern California suburb of Buena Park and gave the boy a sleeping pill. He then doused him with kerosene, set him afire and left the room.
He said then that he was distraught over losing the boy to his estranged wife in a custody battle. The boy survived, suffering third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body.
In court Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Shay Matthews told the judge Charles' son, now an adult, had his fingers, ears, nose and genitals burned off during the attack and so fears his father that he declined to attend the sentencing hearing.
Charles was convicted of attempted murder, arson and other charges. He received a 13-year prison sentence, the maximum penalty at the time, but was released for good behavior after serving 6 years. Sentencing guidelines were later increased.
His attorney, Gabriel Bassan, told jurors that his client needed a weapon because had ``no reasonable, legal alternative to protect himself.'' He said Charles was despised by a public that could not forgive his past and was labeled a ``baby burner.''