Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch was understandably angry when a Brooklyn jury Dec. 17 found Justin Murrell not guilty of attempted murder when he sped off in a stolen car and dragged Police Officer Dalsh Veve for several blocks, causing the officer to fall and suffer what the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office described as catastrophic head trauma.
Mr. Murrell, who was 15 at the time of the June 2017 incident and is now 17, was convicted of first-degree assault after driving at speeds approaching 60 miles an hour while swerving several times to try to dislodge Officer Veve, who held on grimly while squeezing off a couple of shots until he fell off.
Mr. Lynch argued that the teen’s actions fit the description of attempted murder. Officer Veve, despite undergoing nearly a year of rehabilitation before he was sent home last May, still requires 24-hour-a-day care and is afflicted with serious memory problems. As the PBA leader put it, “He will suffer the permanent and devastating effects of Justin Murrell’s criminal actions for the rest of his life.”
He said Mr. Murrell, who at the time of the incident had an extensive rap sheet despite his youth, was acquitted on the most-serious charge because “this jury fell for this baby-faced punk.” Undoubtedly there is truth in that assessment.
When teenagers are on trial for murder, it is common, except for the hardest of cases who won’t take cues from their lawyers, to seem subdued and give no hint of the violent tendencies that put them in that situation. Jurors sometimes respond to what they see of those defendants with sympathy because of their age, particularly since their victims are not in the courtroom to remind them of where their compassion should be focused.
Because Mr. Murrell was younger than 16 at the time of the incident, he faces no more than 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 9. Mr. Lynch last week said it was “imperative” that Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Ruth Shillingford, who heard the case, sentence him to the maximum allowable. Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez has already indicated that is the sentence his office will seek.
The judge should honor that request. An allowance for the reckless violence that some teenagers are capable of because their brains aren’t sufficiently developed to grasp the consequences of their actions is already built into penalties that are less than half the maximums for both attempted murder and first-degree assault. No further break should be granted to Mr. Murrell, who would still be released from prison well before he turned 30.
Ten years is both the most he can get and the least he deserves. And it won’t come close to giving back to Office Veve what he lost for doing his job properly and bravely.