What's ahead for Frank Brown

[mslacat]

Did ya miss me!

This is not a post about when or if Brown will play for the Cats again there is really not
much chance for that, but what Brown now faces in terms of criminal penalties.

A friend of mine, unfortunately a Griz, works, like my lovely wife, in the field rape and
domestic violence, but is involved more in the trial/court side of things, and I had the
opportunity to talk to him about this type of situation and he basically said in Montana the
sentence are pretty predictable. He said that there are three typical sentences that you
will see for statutory rape, and in Montana you rarely get off easy.

Case 1 The best case scenario for a defendant / rapist is if he has no prior legal
problems, was considered a "good citizen" before this event, he did not know the girl was
under age, just met at a party (for example)and were equally drunk and the girl had
a prior sexual history (this is not suppose to factor in but does) you might expect a two
year suspended sentence and two years on probation.
Case 2 Take case one and answer no to any one of the mentioned conditions or being
significantly older (10 years or so) than the victim with the exception listed below and
you will get a min. 2 years in prison and 10 years on probation.
Case 3 Have a previous felony conviction, or any type of sexual conviction of any kind
(peeping tom, rape, stalking etc.) multiple no answers to Case 1 conditions or being a
teacher, step father, or other person in a power position, pencil in 10 years in prison .

In statutory rape cases there are very few extenuating circumstances that will come into
play and the judges know what they have sentences before and rarely feel the need to
vary. The only factor that might shift a person from Case 1 to Case 2 or visa versa would
be the testimony of the family/parents (in all cases)and the victim (but only negative
impact conditions). In marginal cases the family can have a huge impact. If you are in
Case 3, though, just forget it!

Lets face it, though, we really do not know all of the conditions , behind this event , but
Frank is facing the real possibility of prison time for his actions. Are the rest of you
athletes listening! When in doubt card your date, if you are over 18 it your
responsibility!

[Whiskers]

Doesn't look good...