When boys behave badly, parents often excuse their behavior by saying "boys will be boys." While it may be okay for parents to say this, is it appropriate for the court to adopt the same forgiving stance especially when the boys at issue caused brain damage to a victim?
In October, 12-year-old Raymond Hernandez and 13-year-old Jiovanni Rosario were goofing off in a multi-story parking lot and caused a catastrophic shopping cart accident. The two boys took goofing off too far, and decided to throw a shopping cart down four stories onto an unsuspecting woman, reports the New York Post.
Marion Hedges was walking with her child at the time and unfortunately stepped right in the shopping cart's path. She suffered serious injuries and now has brain damage, reports the Post.
Both of the boys confessed to tossing the cart of the four-story ledge. Surprisingly, probation officials only recommended highly-supervised probation for the younger Hernandez, reports the Post. They have made no recommendations for Rosario.
Probation generally means that the defendant avoids jail or juvenile detention, and is released back to the community with certain restrictions, like curfews and mandatory school attendance. If someone under probation otherwise behaves, he will avoid further penalty.
If the recommendation is adopted by the family court, one of the boys in the shopping cart accident could avoid immediate, serious penalties for the role he played in Hedges' injuries. And, as personal injury liability laws cap the amount of damages that Hedges can go after in a civil lawsuit to $5,000, the brain-damaged woman probably has little help by way of New York City personal injury lawyer.
Marion Hedges was seriously injured in a shopping cart accident. Unfortunately for her, her attackers may receive minimal criminal or civil penalties.
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