Easy PredictionWe'll hear from
these punks again:
A judge Friday sentenced four black teenagers to probation and 60 days of house arrest for their roles in the mob beatings of three white women on Halloween night, evoking tears of joy among the defendants and their relatives and gasps of indignation among the victims' families.
"Juvenile Court is a joke," said Barbara Schneider outside the Long Beach courthouse as her daughter Laura, who suffered a concussion during the attack, sobbed next to her.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Andrea Bouas had asked for nine months in probation camp for three of the teenagers. Her jaw dropped when Judge Gibson Lee gave the first defendant probation, and as the hearings went on, she choked up, wiping her eyes with tissue.
Despite testimony that their involvement in the beatings varied, Lee handed identical sentences of probation, house arrest and 250 hours of community service to Anthony and Antoinette Ross, twins who turned 18 during the trial; to their 16-year-old sister; and to another 16-year-old described during the trial as Anthony's girlfriend.
Not only did the punks show no remorse, they are still claiming innocence:
"The three months in Juvenile Hall were the hardest months of my life," said Antoinette Ross, who turned 18 in December. "It hurts to know my life is slowly going down the drain for a crime I did not commit."
