By Jim Haley
Herald Writer
If the defendant doesn’t get the message, it isn’t the judge’s fault.
Superior Court Judge Ronald Castleberry Tuesday made it clear that he didn’t like the fact that Sean Patrick O’Brien had left a loaded gun where his 5-year-old could find it and shoot herself in the leg.
What’s more, he didn’t like the fact that O’Brien, 45, of Everett, had the weapon in the first place, because of a 1992 felony conviction of attempting to elude a police vehicle.
It’s against the law for most felons to possess firearms.
But Castleberry sentenced O’Brien, a single parent, to just three months of home confinement and 240 hours of community service. That was the penalty recommended by deputy prosecutor Lisa Paul and defense attorney Natalie Tarantino.
"Mr. O’Brien, I have no sympathy for you whatsoever," Castleberry told him. "I cannot in any shape or form excuse you for what you did."
O’Brien pleaded guilty to second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, a felony, and a gross misdemeanor of reckless endangerment. Under the law, the sentencing range was between three and eight months in jail, Paul said.
Although Castleberry didn’t feel sorry for O’Brien, he did for the four daughters O’Brien fought to regain after they were placed in foster homes. Tarantino noted that O’Brien sought counseling for his daughters after the shooting, which occurred in November 2000.
Paul said even the state’s Child Protective Services agreed that it wouldn’t be good for the daughters if their dad spent an extended period of time in jail. She argued that the irony is sending their dad to jail would be inflicting more pain on his daughters, perhaps forcing them to return to foster homes. The argument for leniency was solely because of them, she said.
O’Brien told the judge he didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to have the .22-caliber pistol, and bought it just days before the shooting.
He said he had been working on the pistol, which he thought was broken. He wrapped it in a pillowcase and put it on his headboard when he went to the bathroom.
A few minutes later, he heard the shot.
"I admit it was the stupidest thing I ever did," he told the judge.
Castleberry also was not pleased that O’Brien still owes a large sum for child support and had not made preparations for the children in case the judge threw him in jail on Tuesday.
"You tell me you come into court today, and you tell me you have no plan" for taking care of the kids? Castleberry asked. "I do have a lot of sympathy for your girls."
You can call Herald Writer Jim Haley at 425-339-3447
or send e-mail to haley@heraldnet.com.
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