ang2pang asked
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A defense attorney asked for probation Thursday for a preacher and his brother convicted of beating a boy with a tree branch for goofing off at a summer program. Seeking the lightest sentence possible from the jury, attorney Carlos Garcia argued that 23-year-old twins Joshua and Caleb Thompson deserve a second chance. Prosecutors have not said what sentence they will seek. Possible punishments range up to life in prison. The Thompsons were found guilty Wednesday of felony injury and aggravated assault in the beating of 11-year-old Bible student Louie Guerrero last summer. Prosecutors said Guerrero was so badly injured that he spent a week in intensive care and needed a blood transfusion. Guerrero, now 12, flashed a big smile when he walked out of court with his family Wednesday. Several church members left in tears. The boy's mother, Norma Arellano, said she knew the brothers would be found guilty. 'It hurt me very much what they did to my son,' she said. The brothers' father, Hank Thompson, leads the fundamentalist Capitol City Baptist Church where Joshua Thompson ministered to Spanish-speaking members. During closing arguments Wednesday, the Thompsons' attorneys described them as 'cookie-cutter All-American' men who didn't intend to inflict serious injuries. Prosecutor Beth Payan called the Thompson brothers 'cowards' and 'bullies' and said the beating was a 'cold, calculated, violent act against a little boy.'
378 answers · 0 comments
Answer this yourself in the app
See how this splits by age, gender, and region in the app.
