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Cousins plead guilty to assaulting school bus driver


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Two 16-year-old cousins pleaded guilty Thursday to assaulting a Rutherford County School bus driver last August.

School bus driver Danny Campbell suffered a broken leg and facial injuries when the two cousins pulled him off the bus and assaulted him Aug. 22 on Blaze Drive near Blackman High School.

During an earlier hearing, Campbell testified the cousins got on his bus at Blackman High School and one boy pulled off his belt. Campbell stopped the bus and ordered the boy to put his on his belt. He cussed him and both boys approached him.

“They grabbed my leg and jerked me off the bus,” Campbell testified, adding the taller boy kicked him in the head and face. He was treated at Middle Tennessee Medical Center.

Assistant District Attorney Leslie Collum said she and defense attorneys Mark Downton and David Haley worked out a plea agreement for the boys to plead guilty as charged and make restitution to Campbell. Juvenile Court Judge Donna Scott Davenport accepted the agreement.

Both boys pleaded guilty. They were ordered to each pay $332.74 in restitution. They will be on state probation for an indefinite amount of time.

Davenport told the boys they must maintain good and lawful behavior, attend school, obey household rules and refrain from any contact with Campbell. The boys attend the Teen Learning Center and will return to Rutherford County schools next academic year.

The judge noted the boys were two years away from being adults and under her court.

“I do not want to see you back in here,” Davenport said.

 
 
 
Tagged under  bus attack, Donna Scott Davenport, Juvenile Crime


Member Opinions:
By: Farmall on 5/7/09
Ah yes, don't do it again or you will get in trouble policy.

By: Jamie on 5/7/09
You know it works everytime. (sarcasm)

By: mck3491 on 5/7/09
The boys obviously don't adhere to rules already; why is it believed that they will now? It's scary.

By: lar365 on 5/7/09
Yes, let them just slide so that next time they can just kill someone. They won't pay that money, their parents will. SO they have learned nothing other than how criminals of any age can just slide by.

By: enid0329 on 5/7/09
$332.74????? Why even bother?

By: prin on 5/7/09
Thi is exactrly what is wrong with society and young people today. They can attack an adult, break bones, threaten other students, and all they end up doing is paying money. Probably being paid by parents until student can repay. maybe they need to first work to pay the money and then be on probation. No wonder teachers have such a hard time with kids !!!

By: Macgyver on 5/7/09
What a joke! These clowns broke a mans leg and beat him and all they got to pay is a few hundred bucks! The driver basically is unprotected both on the bus and in the courts. Thats sad and wrong.

By: attagirl on 5/7/09
Hey people, this is criminal court, not civil court. This man can recover damages in a civil suit, but only restitution can be ordered in criminal court. That means the kids only have to pay for the man's actual costs.

Our law doesn't allow courts to sentence juveniles to jail. The purpose of juvenile court is treatment, not punishment.

By: hat4rack on 5/8/09
One of the main reasons for punishing someone is to 'discourage' future similar behaviors. Will this sentence discourage these boys from repeating such acts? I seriously doubt it. $332.74 is nothing (not sure what 'state probation indefinitely' means), and they'll have some pretty big bragging they can catch up on when they return to Ruth. County schools in 3 months.

By: uknuckle on 5/8/09
Remember the names of these two thug wannabes you will hear them again in the future and most likely for a more serious offense.It's time we stopped babying these types of punks that are ruining the school systems and instead of a slap on the wrist throw them in prison with the real hard cases they think they are

By: attagirl on 5/8/09
You people are still not understanding. The juvenile court does not have the authority to sentence a juvenile to jail or prison. State probation means one step below state custody. If they offend again, they will go into DCS custody. Also, the criminal court cannot order the defendant to pay damages - it can only order resitution. Damages can be awarded in civil court.

By: BJBurrum on 5/8/09
I feel that it is unfair to a man who enjoys wrking with children as much as Mr. Campbell does to have to be assaulted by thugs that apparently have not had any form of corpal punishment in their life time. I say why couldn't the juvenile courts put them in juvenile hall becasue this was obviously not the first time these boys had dealt with the law.I feel it is necessary to lock their butts up until theiur 18 then if you want a fight you are full blown legal. No heating a minor ruling.

By: cbeagle1 on 5/8/09
I can't believe these criminals are going to be back in school, and with MY children! What happened to zero tolerence for criminal behavior in our schools? These two should not be allowed to step foot in another school! This is scary and appalling!

By: emw247 on 5/8/09
Yet another reason to homeschool.

By: attagirl on 5/8/09
Zero tolerance means they have to attend alternative school until they "complete the program." When they do, they can go back to public schools.

Since we have cops in schools now, there are hundreds of little "criminals" running around. Schools don't discipline anymore, the police and the court do.

By: Boo on 5/9/09
We have taken the right to discipline our children away from the teachers, while expecting them to raise our kids for us. Now the job of discipline is dumped on our police and the courts, and even they can't do it to suit us. Parents get in the teacher's face and scream "not my child, he/she would never do such a thing. He's being picked on because of his/her color,or because of his/her ethnic background, or because the sun rose this morning." What else can we expect? The teachers and police department have more than enough to do without having to raise our children for us.


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