I guess this answers my question from early last week…

[pedro]

Pleading guilty

I hope he gets a lot more than the minimum 15 years.

[EagleMountainUte]

He will probably be out in ten years I don’t see him going past his 40th birthday.
Keep in mind he started his sentence three years ago.
Sim Gill in regards to plea deals: “To those going forward who are going to engage in gun violence in the commission of a crime, you are put on notice. Starting today, there will be no more plea bargains, and we will now throw the book at you.”

Salt Lake Voters: Vote him in again.

[pedro]

Given the number of witnesses, there should have never been a plea bargain. Inexcusable in my book.

[Central Coast Ute]

15 years for murder is way too light. Like Eagle said, he won’t even do that much.

[2008 National Champ]

It’s why our current standard of justice doesn’t act as a deterrence. The conversation somehow has shifted over the years to “we don’t want to ruin two lives” as reasoning for giving the lightest sentence possible because apparently it’s more important to show greater compassion to the perpetrator than the victim was ever afforded.

For some crimes, I just don’t feel like “rehabilitation” should be an option. Harming children is one. I’d say emptying your gun into two unarmed people also falls under that umbrella.

[Central Coast Ute]

Agreed 💯

[Tony (admin)]

Absolutely nailed it.

[chinngiskhaan]

A few things:
– the sentencing guidelines for murder in Utah say no less than 15 years up to life.
– he could still be sentenced to life in prison.
– I don’t know if it will matter, but they should not have given him a deal (they agreed to drop a few charges and lower his aggravated murder charge). Maybe the elements of aggravated murder are difficult to prove?

[Central Coast Ute]

Possibly. I’m not sure about the guys criminal history or if the judge would even allow any prior convictions to be revealed in trial, but if there is nothing in his past, aggravated might be hard to prove.

[stbone]

Under the Utah code, certain prior convictions make a murder an “aggravated murder.” Because evidence of those prior convictions would be probative, the judge would absolutely allow that evidence. You can’t use evidence of prior crimes/offenses to prove likelihood that a person committed an offense, but in this instance, the evidence of prior conviction proves one of the elements of the crime and doesn’t go to the defendant’s character.

The path to “aggravated” that would have been the most likely is that “the actor, during commission of the homicide, attempted to kill one or more other individuals in addition to the deceased individual” or “the actor knowingly created a great risk of death to another individual other than the deceased individual and the actor.”

I don’t think proving the aggravation would be challenge, the prosecutor probably offered/accepted the plea deal to eliminate some risk of the trial going sideways and not getting any murder conviction.

[chinngiskhaan]

It isn’t just certain prior convictions that elevate a murder to aggravated murder. See my post below. They had good reason to charge him with aggravated murder.

[stbone]

Below is the list of prior convictions that can form part of aggravated murder. So, it isn’t any prior conviction, it has to be one of the list.

I agree they had good reason to charge him with aggravated murder. I don’t like the plea deal, but I’d guess it was done because they felt there were some weakness in the case that could lead to the trial going sideways.

(ix) the actor previously committed or was convicted of:
(A) aggravated murder under this section;
(B) attempted aggravated murder under this section;
(C) murder, under Section 76-5-203;
(D) attempted murder, under Section 76-5-203; or
(E) an offense committed in another jurisdiction which if committed in this state would be a violation of a crime listed in this Subsection (2)(a)(ix);
(x) the actor was previously convicted of:
(A) aggravated assault, under Section 76-5-103;
(B) mayhem, under Section 76-5-105;
(C) kidnapping, under Section 76-5-301;
(D) child kidnapping, under Section 76-5-301.1;
(E) aggravated kidnapping, under Section 76-5-302;
(F) rape, under Section 76-5-402;
(G) rape of a child, under Section 76-5-402.1;
(H) object rape, under Section 76-5-402.2;
(I) object rape of a child, under Section 76-5-402.3;
(J) forcible sodomy, under Section 76-5-403;
(K) sodomy on a child, under Section 76-5-403.1;
(L) aggravated sexual abuse of a child, under Section 76-5-404.3;
(M) aggravated sexual assault, under Section 76-5-405;
(N) aggravated arson, under Section 76-6-103;
(O) aggravated burglary, under Section 76-6-203;
(P) aggravated robbery, under Section 76-6-302;
(Q) felony discharge of a firearm, under Section 76-10-508.1; or
(R) an offense committed in another jurisdiction which if committed in this state would be a violation of a crime listed in this Subsection (2)(a)(x);

[chinngiskhaan]

In the past he’s been charged with felony burglary, animal cruelty, and giving an officer false information (basically fraud). So yeah, he never should have been free for this to happen in the first place.

[chinngiskhaan]

Utah Code section 76-5-202(2)(a)(ii)(A)

“An actor commits aggravated murder if the actor intentionally or knowingly causes the death of another individual under any of the following circumstances:

(ii)
(A) the actor committed homicide incident to one act, scheme, course of conduct, or criminal episode during which two or more individuals other than the actor were killed; or
(B) the actor, during commission of the homicide, attempted to kill one or more other individuals in addition to the deceased individual;”

Seems pretty clear that this is a case of aggravated murder.

[stbone]

I agree 100%. (2)(a)(iii) “the actor knowingly created a great risk of death to another individual other than the deceased individual and the actor” would have been another easy path to aggravated murder.

[Central Coast Ute]

Seems pretty simple then. Not sure why the DA took a plea deal. Sounds like justice for Aaron’s family was not served.

[stbone]

It is usually to mitigate risk of the trial going sideways. Juries and trials can be very unpredictable. In my mind, the question is whether the prosecutor offered the deal because it was in the best interest of the community and the Lowe’s, or of the prosecutor’s career.

[krindor]

I’d guess it’s not as much a risk of trial going sideways as just resource allocation. A plea deal takes SUBSTANTIALLY less time than a trial. If you’re a DA and have limited resources, you take a plea deal sometimes simply to save time and be able to handle your caseload.

This strikes me as one of those cases, as there wasn’t a lot of doubt about the events or the perpetrator background

[stbone]

Great point. That could definitely also be a consideration. Given how high-profile this would be, I could also see the uncertainty of trial along with the cost of losing being higher than normal.

[The Miami Ute]

I’m pretty certain that he’ll get deported to South Sudan once his sentence is served. That’s usually what happens to non-citizens in crimes much less egregious than murder.

[pedro]

Just to come back in via the Mexico border

[The Miami Ute]

Will there even be a border 15-20 years from now?

[pedro]

I’ve argued for years we should just annex Mexico, but I may have a personal bias on that subject. 🙂

[utefansince79]

He has a brother who is also awaiting trial (I believe still awaiting trial anyway) for allegedly killing an individual who had apparently won or tricked him out of some money during some sort of ‘matching game’ at an athletic shoe convention at the Salt Palace.

(Not nice to cheat during such a game, but doesn’t justify killing someone).

[chinngiskhaan]

You didn’t murder your brother over taking an extra $200 when passing go?

[NarfUte]

Apparently the brother was also involved in ANOTHER murder in 2020 (Salt palace murder in 2022) and Buk Buk was in the car… Complete failure of law enforcement and the legal system

[utefansince79]

Has a long history of poor behavior (such as the time he met someone to buy/sell a used smart phone, pulled out a gun, and left with all the phones and all their $$$). Sad that someone with all this history could be walking around and able to cause more pain and suffering.