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StumbleGorman athlete sentenced to three years probation
Lawyer says star football player still headed for Oklahoma
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 | 12:15 p.m.
Justin Chaisson
Chaisson Signs with Oklahoma
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del.icio.usBishop Gorman standout Justin Chaisson signs his National Letter of Intent to play football with Oklahoma.
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Former Bishop Gorman standout football player Justin Chaisson, 18, pleaded no contest Wednesday morning to four gross misdemeanors stemming from a March attack on his ex-girlfriend of four years.
The charges include two counts of false imprisonment, one count of conspiracy to commit coercion and one count of malicious destruction of property.
District Judge Stefany Miley of Department 23 accepted the terms of Chaisson’s plea agreement, sentencing him to a maximum of three years probation, 120 hours of community service and a restitution fee of a later determined amount.
The agreement also restricts any contact between Chaisson and the victim and one witness of the crime, both of whom are female classmates of his.
According to Chaisson’s lawyer, Michael Cristalli, the ruling will not have an effect on Chaisson’s athletic scholarship from Oklahoma University which he had accepted before the incident.
“He’s still going to Oklahoma,” Cristalli said. “We were working in conjunction with Oklahoma with these negotiations to make sure they would be comfortable with him going to the university and participating in the program.”
In addition to his sentencing Wednesday, Chaisson will be required to complete one year of domestic violence counselling from a previous sentencing on April 29, where he pleaded no contest to one count of misdemeanor coercion and one count of misdemeanor domestic battery.
Chaisson, who attended Wednesday’s hearing, declined to comment on the case.
According to a police report, on March 17, Chaisson forced his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend into the back seat of his sport utility vehicle in a coffee shop parking lot.
The victim told police Chaisson punched her in the ribs and drove her into the desert where he pulled her from the car. She said he then put a screwdriver to her neck and threatened to kill her until two of her friends pulled up on the scene and he forced her into his car again.
According to the police report, the incident ended when one of the two friends called 911 and Chaisson told his ex-girlfriend to exit his vehicle at a storage facility.
Chaisson will not serve jail time for any of the four felonies he was charged with, given he meets the conditions of his probation.
“This was two young people who were together in a relationship for four years, there were a lot of emotions that went into it,” Cristalli said. “Anybody who remembers their first emotional relationship can understand those types of feelings at 18 years old. She was never placed in a position where Justin was going to hurt her. She was not injured.
“We believe the long discussions had with the state to come to a fair resolution accurately reflects the nature of the circumstances.”
Chaisson notched 148 tackles and 28 sacks in his final two seasons at Bishop Gorman – earning him the distinction of the 73rd best football player in the nation by Rivals.com. The strongside defensive end, who can bench press 395 pounds and squat 500 pounds, chose Oklahoma over Florida, UCLA, Arizona and Iowa.
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Well vegasvegas somehow I knew you'd be the first to post. Glad it worked out for him to go to Oklahoma he deserves it.Everyone remembers making dumb mistakes..hopefully he has learned something through all of this.
Yes, Mr. Cristalli, we all remember when we were 18 and emotions ran high as we threatened our girlfriends lives with deadly weapons ... Just teens being teens, right?
WHO IS THIS IDIOT???!!!!??? How in hell did he get through law school with his complete and utter ignorance???!!!! How pathetic! Just like his moronic bobo client, Chaisson.
What a loser ... Just counting down the time till his next felonious assault!
WOW, the haters have already started! You guys hate to see a guy do good. Cristalli is an awesome attorney that knows his stuff....GO SOONERS!!!!!!!!!
I wonder how the ex-girlfriend feels about his getting probation? I wonder how she felt at the time of this guys youthful indiscretions? I wonder how she is getting along with her life and how this will effect her future. Not hateing, just wondering.
Oh, ya'll don't know the whole story. How do we know she didn't deserve it. You weren't in the hearings. Maybe she deserved that treatment. He's obviously sorry about what he did and he's doing community service. I'm glad he's coming to play for Stoops' Sooners. He'll be welcome in Norman!
to: BugMeTons ... whether she "deserved it" or not, he's guilty of committing crimes!! Otherwise he would have pleaded "NOT GUILTY" and defended his innocence in court.
Charged with FOUR FELONIES, found guilty, yet the guy walks free. You got folks in jail right this very minute doing time for simple MISDEMEANORS ... I mean behind bars for minor offenses such as trespassing on private property (without possession of any type of weapon), but they're not your lilly white Gorman HS star football players, no ... they probably have Mexican names.
Lady justice is supposed to be blind but, in this case, she was peaking out from behind her blindfold.
What a travesty!! This guy has not learned the lesson the law intends. The only thing he learned is ... get an attorney that can get you out of trouble.
I guarantee this won't be has last domestic; I'd bet my last dollar that he's going to hurt someone ... and hurt them bad!! Then there won't be an .... 18-yr old emotional relationship defense, but with the right lawyer, there will be another one.
Just can't get over the fact that this "STAR FOOTBALL PLAYER" can attack a 17 yr old female, THREATEN TO KILL HER WITH A SCREWDRIVER AT HER NECK, commit coercion, AND malicious destruction of property but "will not serve jail time for any of the four felonies he was charged with, given he meets the conditions of his probation."
TSK!!
On the other hand, it was only his little 17 year old girlfriend ... but if he does the same thing to his dog or cat, look out!! He just might have to do some time. What a silly system.
But keep watching your newspapers boys & girls .... HE'LL BE BACH and his crimes will have escalated.
She deserved it!? Are you kidding me!? Obviously you are egging us all on...Either way, he DID threaten her with a weapon held to her neck, he DID assault her with a punch to the ribs (you try taking a hit from someone who outweighs you by 150 pounds)and he DID force her into his car. What he didn't do was serve the same amount of time any domestic violence offender of color, of minimum funds, or minimum english would have served. DISGUSTING!
Well, well. Sooner fans come to Vegas ...
You really wouldn't mind if he did it to your daughter, would you? In fact, you'd probably give him a big ol' pat on the back. Just as long as he can "make dem tackls"
Clueless rednecks!!
Oh, and yes, I am a hater of muscle-headed idiots who think they're real men by beating women (or 17-year-old girls). Real tough guy, huh?
To BugMeTons: Sounds like "Texas Justice": she needed killin'! What sort of moron are you? No 17-year-old child "deserves" to be beaten and kidnapped. What planet are you visiting from?
This is SICK! My outrage has nothing to do with his color, the school he attends or any other bias, but the fact that he did all of those horrible things to his girlfriend and now he gets probation? That just shows other people that what he did was okay. RIDICULOUS! As far as her deserving it, if it was your daughter, is there anything that she could do to "deserve" all of the things he did to her? I put myself in her position, she's a young girl probably not anything close to his size and I think of the intimidation that she must have felt. I would have been fearing for my life. And yes, I agree with the others, this guy will more than likely end up back in the system at some point in his life.
Bugmetons.. you've got to be kidding right? "Maybe she deserved that treatment." Right.. I might get mad at my girlfriend sometimes, but I sure as hell would NEVER threaten her with a screwdriver to the head, and whoever would is a sick scumbag. I cant believe the boomer gooners are still taking this guy.
This Justin creep sounds like a real PUNK. Just goes to show it's not what you know or what you do, it's who you know and if you have the money to buy your way out.. Don't care what school he attends, nor that he is a football player.. A cowardly punk is just that, and he fits the bill! 6'4" 250+ throws his size around to terrorize someone, and he gets off with a pat on the head!
What he did was kidnap the girl.."The essential difference between kidnapping and false imprisonment is that kidnapping involves the additional element of asportation. Asportation means that you have moved the person from one place to another. You need to be aware that this movement only needs to be slight movement. However, practically speaking, a prosecutor might have a difficult time getting a conviction for kidnapping if the person was just moved from one room to another."
I see all charges we plea bargained down to gross misdemeanors...
"The agreement also restricts any contact between Chaisson and the victim and one witness of the crime, both of whom are female classmates of his."
The victim had a restraining order on him the day before he kidnapped, hit her in the ribs, and threatened her with the screwdriver...
This attorney is a total imbecile re:"Cristalli said. "Anybody who remembers their first emotional relationship can understand those types of feelings at 18 years old. She was never placed in a position where Justin was going to hurt her. She was not injured."
I'm somebody and I absolutely cannot understand abuse as a reaction to a first breakup or any other. Had this whimpy punk had a jury trial, I doubt most jurors would have reacted well to this statement.
But, most of all, shame on District Judge Stefany Miley of Department 23 for accepting the terms of Chaisson's plea agreement, sentencing him to a maximum of three years probation, 120 hours of community service and a restitution fee of a amount that wasn't yet determined.
This Judge is sending out a message to other kids as well as adults that it is OK to kidnap and assault.
No wonder Las Vegas is one of the top cities in the nation for it's violent crime rate with Judges like this...
I don't think we've seen nor heard the last of Justin Chaisson, and I'm not talking sports! Girl's arm yourselves with pepper spray!