Teen Arraigned in Phoebe Prince Case Arrested for Drunken Driving

[thebear14]

This is who Mullins and Velasquez got all territorial over? A real catch.

neither one of them are real catches, in my eyes

 

[Paladine]

Austin Renauds mugshot and arrest was just plastered on MSNBC...and not a very happy looking mugshot...you gotta see it.

 

[Paladine]

Here comes WWLP to the rescue...I just don't get it. Go ahead, slap me upside the head.

Why aren't locals outraged? Why are they not asking why he wasn't charged with underage drinking? He was driving drunk! He hit a curb! It could have been a person...

Most people 22News spoke to about it had already heard about this alleged drunk driving incident and they said they were saddened by the entire situation.

Austin Renaud only had one charge against him in the Phoebe Prince case, he was accused of having sex with Phoebe Prince and as a result was charged with statutory rape.

He wasn't, however, charged with bullying Phoebe Prince.

Many people did feel like he got lumped into this group of so called bullies, but now some people are questioning his judgment.

One relative of Austin Renaud, who wanted to remain nameless, said that he wants people to know that Austin is not accused of bullying Phoebe Prince, he's just accused of having sex with her. But he did admit that "what he did was wrong."

http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/local-reaction-to-renaud's-oui-charge

 

[Paladine]

People REALLY need to start supervising what their kids say on the net...this is a comment from Austin, in Jan/09. This kid has some backassward priorities, imo...and a love of "drinkin" and "smokin" at 17?

01-26-2009, 12:05 PM
Replies: 76 besides bmx what else are your intrests?
Views: 1,116 Posted By AUSTIN RENAUD
girlfriend bass guitar snowboarding drinkin...

girlfriend
bass guitar
snowboarding
drinkin
smokin
work

http://thecomeupbmx.net/forum/search.php?searchid=1172689

 

[dcbrent]

Here comes WWLP to the rescue...I just don't get it. Go ahead, slap me upside the head.

Why aren't locals outraged? Why are they not asking why he wasn't charged with underage drinking? He was driving drunk! He hit a curb! It could have been a person...



http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/local-reaction-to-renaud's-oui-charge

"Only" one charge against him? Thank god it was only statutory rape. I guess that makes him the "hero" of the six.

People are now questioning his judgment?

Maybe it's something in the water there.

 

[angelmom]

According to this source which lists the actual laws and penalties by state, the penalty in MA is 2.5 to 3 years. I tend to give credence to sources which show evidence of having done actual research to support their statements of facts. Numerous other sources, also, indicate that the average of actually imposed penalties vary by the age of the defendant, with the harsher penalties reserved for those over the age of 21 involved with someone who is under the age of consent.

http://www.cga.ct.gov/2003/olrdata/jud/rpt/2003-R-0376.htm

Actually, that link is dated 2003.

According to this one (dated January, 2010), he could get life. If I am reading this right, there aren't any mandatory minimums or maximums.

http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/subject/about/sex.html


Whoever unlawfully has sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse, and abuses a child under 16 years of age, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life or for any term of years or, except as otherwise provided, for any term in a jail or house of correction.

AND

Commonwealth v. Elder, 389 Mass. 743 (1983). "Consent is not a defense to a charge of statutory rape."

Commonwealth v. Knap, 412 Mass. 712 (1992). "The only elements the Commonwealth must prove are (1) sexual or unnatural sexual intercourse with (2) a child under sixteen years of age"

 

[Paladine]

Holyoke police chief Anthony Scott told 22News with no financial implications for this boy it makes it very hard for him to take this seriously.

Chief Scott points to the fact Renaud was allegedly breaking the law just 14 days after being indicted on statutory rape charges involving Pheobe Prince.

Chief Scott said, "I believe if there was a bail and some of his parents money had been held on the condition of his release pending trial I believe he would have taken this more seriously."

http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/r...ot-hurt-by-dui

 

[Paladine]

There was no bail and no restrictions against the 6 on the charges against Phoebe. To me, that sends a message.

 

[jjenny]

Actually, that link is dated 2003.

According to this one (dated January, 2010), he could get life. If I am reading this right, there aren't any mandatory minimums or maximums.

http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/subject/about/sex.html


Whoever unlawfully has sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse, and abuses a child under 16 years of age, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life or for any term of years or, except as otherwise provided, for any term in a jail or house of correction.

AND

Commonwealth v. Elder, 389 Mass. 743 (1983). "Consent is not a defense to a charge of statutory rape."

Commonwealth v. Knap, 412 Mass. 712 (1992). "The only elements the Commonwealth must prove are (1) sexual or unnatural sexual intercourse with (2) a child under sixteen years of age"

Exactly. The penalty is up to life.

 

[Paladine]

Accompanied only by his lawyer. No parents by his side, 18 year old Austin Renaud pleaded not guilty to charges of driving under the influence in Holyoke District Court. Renaud was arrested by Holyoke police around 3 o'clock Sunday morning after they found him in his car on the side of Route 5. Police say Renaud's car was damaged, he had bloodshot eyes, and had a blood alcohol of twice the legal limit

http://www.cbs3springfield.com/news/local/91643789.html

 

[raeann]

Actually, that link is dated 2003.

According to this one (dated January, 2010), he could get life. If I am reading this right, there aren't any mandatory minimums or maximums.

http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/subject/about/sex.html


Whoever unlawfully has sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse, and abuses a child under 16 years of age, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life or for any term of years or, except as otherwise provided, for any term in a jail or house of correction.

AND

Commonwealth v. Elder, 389 Mass. 743 (1983). "Consent is not a defense to a charge of statutory rape."

Commonwealth v. Knap, 412 Mass. 712 (1992). "The only elements the Commonwealth must prove are (1) sexual or unnatural sexual intercourse with (2) a child under sixteen years of age"

The maximum of life is applicable under certain circumstances. After doing rather thorough research, I can find no record of ANY incident of a teen relationship resulting in anything NEAR life in prison-----EVER. If anyone else finds such a report, I would appreciate the link.

What the maximum sentence might be is not what is GIVEN on a regular basis. If you refer to the second post & link (post #27), you will see that the average sentence imposed in MA---even in cases of forcible rape of a minor---is LESS THAN 5 YEARS.

 

[jjenny]

According to this source which lists the actual laws and penalties by state, the penalty in MA is 2.5 to 3 years. I tend to give credence to sources which show evidence of having done actual research to support their statements of facts. Numerous other sources, also, indicate that the average of actually imposed penalties vary by the age of the defendant, with the harsher penalties reserved for those over the age of 21 involved with someone who is under the age of consent.

http://www.cga.ct.gov/2003/olrdata/jud/rpt/2003-R-0376.htm

2.5 to 3 years applies to having a sex with someone under 18 who was chaste prior to having sex. Phoebe Prince was under 16. Having sex with someone under 16 can lead to a penalty up to life (regardless of whether the person under 16 was chaste prior to having sex). No required minimal term.

 

[jjenny]

The maximum of life is applicable under certain circumstances. After doing rather thorough research, I can find no record of ANY incident of a teen relationship resulting in anything NEAR life in prison-----EVER. If anyone else finds such a report, I would appreciate the link.

What the maximum sentence might be is not what is GIVEN on a regular basis. If you refer to the second post & link (post #27), you will see that the average sentence imposed in MA---even in cases of forcible rape of a minor---is LESS THAN 5 YEARS.

The penalty is up to life. It can obviously vary because there is no min and max is up to life.
Thus I would not say about someone who is facing up to life in prison (however remote it might be) that this someone is not in trouble.

 

[raeann]

I also tend to give credence to sources which show evidence of having done actual research to support their statements of fact.
2.5 to 3 years applies to having a sex with someone under 18 who was chaste prior to having sex. Phoebe Prince was under 16. Having sex with someone under 16 can lead to a penalty up to life. No min or max.

AND, once again, please refer to the ACTUAL average sentence given in the state of Massachusetts (link in post #27), it is less than 5 years. No one said the maximum is not written as life.....just that it is NEVER imposed in cases such as this, nor in cases much worse where force was involved.

 

[raeann]

The penalty is up to life. It can obviously vary because there is no min and max is up to life.
Thus I would not say about someone who is facing up to life in prison (however remote it might be) that this someone is not in trouble.

I certainly don't recall anyone here stating that they were NOT in trouble. Just that prior to this incident, AR was in LESS trouble than some of the others. I believe there are numerous posts listing the charges for each, so there is no point in repeating those again.

 

[angelmom]

I would not call being charged with statutory rape the "least of trouble." That charge could get someone up to life in prison in MA.

According to this source which lists the actual laws and penalties by state, the penalty in MA is 2.5 to 3 years. I tend to give credence to sources which show evidence of having done actual research to support their statements of facts. Numerous other sources, also, indicate that the average of actually imposed penalties vary by the age of the defendant, with the harsher penalties reserved for those over the age of 21 involved with someone who is under the age of consent.

http://www.cga.ct.gov/2003/olrdata/jud/rpt/2003-R-0376.htm

The maximum of life is applicable under certain circumstances. After doing rather thorough research, I can find no record of ANY incident of a teen relationship resulting in anything NEAR life in prison-----EVER. If anyone else finds such a report, I would appreciate the link.

What the maximum sentence might be is not what is GIVEN on a regular basis. If you refer to the second post & link (post #27), you will see that the average sentence imposed in MA---even in cases of forcible rape of a minor---is LESS THAN 5 YEARS.

I totally agree that he will NEVER get life. I think the confusion came in when you said the penalty was 2.5 to 3 years, not the average jail time. It is true that he could get life, so is obviously in some trouble. Both statements are true.

And all I was pointing out is that the possible penalty may have been updated in the last 7 years, since you were being so cautious about your sources.

The statement in red came across as a little snarky, as if jjenny hadn't done the kind of research that you had done when she said he could get life, though in fact he can. I don't know if you meant it that way (downside of text vs. face to face conversation).

Also to add, when a case is very high profile, you just never know what a publicity seeking judge will do. Atlanta had a very famous case where a judge gave an honor student and star athlete who had never been in trouble 10 years in jail for having oral sex with a girl less than 2 years younger than himself. It took protests in the streets, famous lawyers and judges weighing in, and over 2 years for him to finally be released. It's important to note that the girl claimed from day 1 that it was consensual, and that there is a provision in the law that would have made it legal if they had had intercourse instead of him getting oral sex.

See Genarlow Wilson for details.

 

[raeann]

I totally agree that he will NEVER get life. I think the confusion came in when you said the penalty was 2.5 to 3 years, not the average jail time. It is true that he could get life, so is obviously in some trouble. Both statements are true.

And all I was pointing out is that the possible penalty may have been updated in the last 7 years, since you were being so cautious about your sources.

The statement in red came across as a little snarky, as if jjenny hadn't done the kind of research that you had done when she said he could get life, though in fact he can. I don't know if you meant it that way (downside of text vs. face to face conversation).

Also to add, when a case is very high profile, you just never know what a publicity seeking judge will do. Atlanta had a very famous case where a judge gave an honor student and star athlete who had never been in trouble 10 years in jail for having oral sex with a girl less than 2 years younger than himself. It took protests in the streets, famous lawyers and judges weighing in, and over 2 years for him to finally be released. It's important to note that the girl claimed from day 1 that it was consensual, and that there is a provision in the law that would have made it legal if they had had intercourse instead of him getting oral sex.

See Genarlow Wilson for details.

If you review my post you will see that I did NOT put any statement in red in any of my posts. I was not referring to anyone's posts in that statement, just to the veracity of the website which had done the work of gathering information from every state and summing it up in a chart. Also, I did not say the penalty was 2.5 to 3 years, I was relating the information from the link I provided. The entire point of my posts was not to argue with any other poster, but to simply post FACTS as they are provided in various easy to find sources which give the actual time average of sentences for this type of charge.

It is unreasonable IMO to erroneously portray that these young men are facing even a slight possibility of a life sentence, when that has NEVER been done in any similar case in the entire country. Even the case reported in the post quoted was only 10 years----NOT LIFE---and those ten years caused a resounding uproar. There is not going to be a life sentence imposed in the case, IF THEY ARE FOUND GUILTY, according to legal precedent it just will never happen.

 

[jjenny]

If you review my post you will see that I did NOT put any statement in red in any of my posts. I was not referring to anyone's posts in that statement, just to the veracity of the website which had done the work of gathering information from every state and summing it up in a chart. Also, I did not say the penalty was 2.5 to 3 years, I was relating the information from the link I provided. The entire point of my posts was not to argue with any other poster, but to simply post FACTS as they are provided in various easy to find sources which give the actual time average of sentences for this type of charge.

It is unreasonable IMO to erroneously portray that these young men are facing even a slight possibility of a life sentence, when that has NEVER been done in any similar case in the entire country. Even the case reported in the post quoted was only 10 years----NOT LIFE---and those ten years caused a resounding uproar. There is not going to be a life sentence imposed in the case, IF THEY ARE FOUND GUILTY, according to legal precedent it just will never happen.

The link provided by you doesn't apply to what these men are charged with. Phoebe Prince was under 16. Having sex with a chaste person under 18 (but over 16) would result in a different penalty than having sex with a person under 16 (whether chaste or not).

 

[Paladine]

The maximum of life is applicable under certain circumstances. After doing rather thorough research, I can find no record of ANY incident of a teen relationship resulting in anything NEAR life in prison-----EVER. If anyone else finds such a report, I would appreciate the link.

What the maximum sentence might be is not what is GIVEN on a regular basis. If you refer to the second post & link (post #27), you will see that the average sentence imposed in MA---even in cases of forcible rape of a minor---is LESS THAN 5 YEARS.

Raeann...I don't know much about sentencing in MASS, that's why I turn to the experts. I remembered this link from a MASS defense lawyer, he applauds the charges. He thinks none will serve any time in State Prison...and he's a Boston, MASS lawyer writing this on his blog. If he was too far off base, he'd look like an idiot, imo...so, I tend to believe him, myself...

Yesterday, March 29 2010, Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel announced that nine separate felony indictments have been issued against nine teenagers attending South Hadley High School, all involved in the brutal bullying campaign waged against Phoebe Prince. The felony indictments range from stalking to statutory rape. The most serious of these charges carry lengthy state prison sentences, though I doubt any of these defendants will serve time in state prison. Even though as a Boston criminal defense lawyer I practice on the other side of the legal aisle than District Attorney Scheibel, I applaud her for this unequivocal action.

With his opinion, in mind....2 or 3 yrs would seem to be a hard sentence...
http://www.legal-attorneys.info/tag/statutory-rape/

 

[raeann]

Raeann...I don't know much about sentencing in MASS, that's why I turn to the experts. I remembered this link from a MASS defense lawyer, he applauds the charges. He thinks none will serve any time in State Prison...and he's a Boston, MASS lawyer writing this on his blog. If he was too far off base, he'd look like an idiot, imo...so, I tend to believe him, myself...

With his opinion, in mind....2 or 3 yrs would seem to be a hard sentence...
http://www.legal-attorneys.info/tag/statutory-rape/

Thanks for the link....it is good to see an opinion from someone who is experienced in these cases on a first hand basis.



A favorite saying:

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can not make him drink."