It was a stunning sentencing. On Friday, the judge sent a high school baseball player to jail for a punch thrown during a play in a high school baseball game in April between McLane High School and Fresno High School. The boy and his family were expecting probation, but Fresno County Superior Court Judge David Gottlieb sentenced Brandon Madrid to eight months in jail.
The details of the incident and the sentencing are laid out in this story in The Bee.
What do you think of the sentencing? After all, the victim's jaw was broken by the punch, and he has had four operations to repair it. Has street violence now become part of high school baseball? Maybe this sentencing will send a message to the players, coaches and school officials.
this kid is vicious....so is jail...he should be a REALLY tough guy when he gets out! this sentence makes as much sense as millatarizing gangmembers w/bootcamps....if you teach conflict resolution in the schools,(its too late for his parents),perhaps we wouldnt gleefully bomb other countries,sometimes i feel our country has turned sociopathic.
It just shows you how our society has changd. You can steal from over a 1,000 people all of their life savings as in the ENDRON case and get about a 9 years prison term or you can have a fight in high school and do almost a year in county jail. This young student will have a mark on him for life that will effect him either in school, military service or on job interviews. But I guess the judge feels that community service and probation would not be enough.
I'm not sure how this type of a sentence will help a first time offender. A young man with his entire future ahead of him. Although punishment is due for the fight, how will putting him in jail with other, I'm sure more seasoned criminals be in the best interest of this young man and society. I wonder what political gains the judge and the family members of the other boy involved will get from this sentence. Brandon has already lost his senior year of baseball, he didn't get to graduate high school, lost his job, and his name is now associated with this one incident. He will be forever known as a felon. The most interesting thing to me is why would Brandon with his promising career in baseball, attack another player without provocation?