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American Morning
Nathaniel Brazill to Face Sentencing
Aired July 27, 2001 - 10:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Just over an hour from now we are going to check out a sentencing hearing that is due to resume in the case of Nathaniel Brazill. He is the 14-year-old Florida boy who shot to death his favorite teacher on the final day of school last year.
Our Mark Potter is in West Palm Beach with the latest -- Mark, hello.
MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, again, Daryn.
Yes, Judge Richard Wennet will impose that sentence at 11:30 Eastern Time and the sentence could range from 25 years to life in prison. Now, yesterday they had a hearing on this matter. It took almost all day. And family members and others finally got their chance to weigh in before the court on this issue and to express their feelings. And as you can imagine, at times it was quite emotional.
Several relatives of Barry Grunow, the slain teacher, advocated a life prison term, a recommendation echoed by the prosecutor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARC SHINER, ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY: Why take a chance on him again? What reason does he deserve that? If he was over 18, this would be a pretty simple issue. He's a young man. Should we throw away the key -- and there's really no reason not to in this case. There's no reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POTTER: Now, the defense asked Judge Wennet to impose the minimum sentence allowed by law in this case. That's 25 years without parole. The last witness of the day yesterday was Nathaniel Brazill himself. He apologized to the community and to the Grunows.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATHANIEL BRAZILL, CONVICTED MURDERER: I'm sorry I took him away from you. I have been thinking a lot about how his kids will feel when they are my age. I have been thinking a lot about Mrs. Grunow and how alone she is. When I look back at the last day of school, I deeply regret the choices I have, that I made that day.
(END VIDEO CLIP) POTTER: Now, the prosecution witnesses included family members, friends and colleagues of the slain teacher, Barry Grunow. Many of them talked about the devastating impact of his violent death. Among those speaking to the court, his widow, Pamela Grunow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAMELA GRUNOW, VICTIM'S WIDOW: Barry's family and friends are left to heal broken hearts and carry on. Nathaniel has consequences to face and everyone must consider the cause. Why does a young person make such a sad choice? Then, maybe tomorrow, another woman's husband, another little boy's daddy and another great teacher won't be sacrificed in an angry, crazy moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POTTER: Once he is sentenced today, Nathaniel Brazill will be transferred to the South Florida Reception Center near Miami. That's a prison processing center. There, a spokesperson says, he will be kept away from the adult inmates. He will be in a single cell, always monitored by a corrections officer, and whenever he moves around the compound he will be escorted.
Still to be determined is where he actually begins serving his very lengthy sentence -- Daryn, back to you.
KAGAN: Mark, quick question here, what in Florida does life sentence mean? It might seem like stating the obvious, but it does mean different things in different states. Does life mean life?
POTTER: Yes, life means -- absolutely. That's what it means here in Florida. And if he gets the 25 year sentence under the state's very strict gun sentencing law, that means 25 years, no time off for good behavior. That particular law says that the sentence in that case where a gun is fired and somebody is hit, whether that person is injured or killed, 25 years must be served to the day.
KAGAN: So in the very least Nathaniel Brazill will not be out of prison before he's close to 40 years old?
POTTER: That's exactly right. It's a 25 year minimum. What's interesting is he was offered a plea deal, he and his family, of 25 years, and under that agreement he would have gotten off with some good behavior and probably would have gotten out in 21 years. Now he's looking at least at 25 and the speculation around the courthouse is that he'll get from 35 to 40, somewhere in that range.
But he could, and it's up to the judge, get up to life.
KAGAN: All right, Mark Potter in West Palm Beach, thank you very much.
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