Daniel Robbins knew what he was doing when he drove his SUV onto a sidewalk and hit Patty Emanuel, nearly killing a woman he had never met.
District Judge Kenneth Neill said no excuse could heal Emanuel's emotional and physical scars and sentenced the 17-year-old to 50 years in prison, with another 30 years suspended, totaling 80 years.
"Mental health is no excuse for this act," Neill said. "He knew what he was doing.
"This court is unable with the information it has before it to say this will not happen again."
Not yet an adult, Robbins had no minimum sentence for his crime -- attempted deliberate homicide. Neill fell short of sentencing him to the maximum of 100 years.
On Feb. 25, Robbins pleaded guilty to attempted deliberate homicide to avoid a trial.
On Tuesday, he kept his head down throughout the sentencing, speaking once briefly to apologize to Emanuel.
The stiff sentence followed testimony from police describing how Robbins twice pulled off the road to let other vehicles pass so he wouldn't get caught.
When he saw the attractive woman, Robbins told a friend who was a passenger, that he would kill her to have sex with her body.
Afterward Robbins described to police the rush of adrenaline when he drove up behind her on the curb.
"Then I kind of swerved over and I could feel the tension building in the car," he said in the interview. "It was something I'd never experienced... It was like, look at what I'm capable of."
Neill noted a class assignment where Robbins listed several New Year's resolutions.
Among improving his grades, Robbins said he wanted to get a driver's license so he could do horrible things people read about in the papers. He also wanted to taste human flesh and to shoot someone on a hunting trip and say it was an accident.
"The defendant made up his mind to run her down well in advance," Neill said. "It is a miracle that she survived."
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040414/localnews/228971.html
District Judge Kenneth Neill said no excuse could heal Emanuel's emotional and physical scars and sentenced the 17-year-old to 50 years in prison, with another 30 years suspended, totaling 80 years.
"Mental health is no excuse for this act," Neill said. "He knew what he was doing.
"This court is unable with the information it has before it to say this will not happen again."
Not yet an adult, Robbins had no minimum sentence for his crime -- attempted deliberate homicide. Neill fell short of sentencing him to the maximum of 100 years.
On Feb. 25, Robbins pleaded guilty to attempted deliberate homicide to avoid a trial.
On Tuesday, he kept his head down throughout the sentencing, speaking once briefly to apologize to Emanuel.
The stiff sentence followed testimony from police describing how Robbins twice pulled off the road to let other vehicles pass so he wouldn't get caught.
When he saw the attractive woman, Robbins told a friend who was a passenger, that he would kill her to have sex with her body.
Afterward Robbins described to police the rush of adrenaline when he drove up behind her on the curb.
"Then I kind of swerved over and I could feel the tension building in the car," he said in the interview. "It was something I'd never experienced... It was like, look at what I'm capable of."
Neill noted a class assignment where Robbins listed several New Year's resolutions.
Among improving his grades, Robbins said he wanted to get a driver's license so he could do horrible things people read about in the papers. He also wanted to taste human flesh and to shoot someone on a hunting trip and say it was an accident.
"The defendant made up his mind to run her down well in advance," Neill said. "It is a miracle that she survived."
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040414/localnews/228971.html