Carlson changing his plea on escape charge
FARGO – A teen sentenced to life in prison for killing his 16-year-old sister is now scheduled to change his plea to charges that he tried to escape and assaulted a correc-tional officer.
A change of plea hearing has been set for Nov. 26 at 8:45 a.m. in Cass County District Court in the case of Sergei Isaac Carlson.
Carlson, 16, was sentenced to life in prison last month for killing his sister Whitney last summer in south Fargo when he was 15.
He is now facing felony charges for trying to escape from the Cass County Juve-nile Detention Center on Sept. 25.
Carlson repeatedly struck a correctional officer in the head with trim from a book-case before being tackled to the ground by another officer, according to court documents.
Carlson planned the escape attempt with others in the facility and had two female residents distract a male officer during the incident, court documents state.
Posted by: Brittany Lawonn on 11/19/2008 at 11:55 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Jury acquits man of attempted murder, convicts him of aggravated assault
FARGO – A Cass County jury has acquitted a 19-year-old West Fargo man of attempted murder, but convicted him on an aggravated assault charge for the 2007 stabbing.
The jury deliberated for a little more than four hours before returning with the verdicts this morning in the case of LaSamuel Richardson III.
Richardson did not dispute stabbing Andrew Gregerson with a 7-inch kitchen knife in August 2007 in West Fargo, but argued he did so in self defense.
The week-long trial was the second for the case. The first trial ended in a mistrial Aug. 1 after a juror read a Forum article about Richardson’s prior conviction for a Fargo stabbing.
Assistant Cass County State’s Attorney Leah Viste said prosecutors are “happy that there was a conviction.”
Defense attorney Jeff Bredahl did not return a message seeking comment
Posted by: Brittany Lawonn on 11/04/2008 at 4:36 PM | Comments (3) | Permalink
Mother of slain teenager pleads with media to leave case alone
Here is the story so far on the news conference mentioned in the previous blog post:
UPDATED 12:02 p.m.
FARGO – The mother of a 16-year-old girl killed by her brother pleaded with the media this morning not to use information contained in police reports involving her daughter’s death, including the 911 call she made and the boy’s confession to authorities.
“No one in this community needs to be subjected to seeing those crime scene photos,” Penny Ripplinger said. “No one in this community needs to be subjected to hearing the 911 call I made.”
Ripplinger said she and Whitney Carlson’s family had thought after Sergei Isaac Carlson’s sentencing Oct. 23 they “could put this horrible ordeal behind us and let Whitney rest in peace so we could move forward in our grief and healing.”
She said that idea quickly faded when she was notified Tuesday that The Forum and KFGO AM Radio had requested police documents for the case, including Carlson’s confession, crime scene photos and the 911 recording.
The documents became public record after Carlson was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for killing his sister last summer in her Fargo bedroom.
Forum Editor Matthew Von Pinnon said requesting the complete police file in a high-profile case is not uncommon. Such requests are made in an effort to get the “full scope of what happened” and make sure nothing was missed in the reporting process, he said.
Von Pinnon said The Forum is sensitive to the family’s concerns.
“I don’t think we’re interested in printing anything that would cause undue pain to the family,” he said.
Von Pinnon added that the police file has not yet been released to the newspaper.
“The truth is we don’t have these documents yet and it's hard for us to say exactly what may be of interest or may be newsworthy in them, but we're not requesting them to, again, cause pain for anyone,” he said. “This is a pretty routine practice, especially in higher-level types of crimes in our area so that we have a complete picture of what’s happening. It doesn’t mean that any of that will necessarily make it into print.”
Check back with www.inforum.com for updates and see Friday’s Forum for more details.
Posted by: Brittany Lawonn on 10/30/2008 at 12:04 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink
News conference set for 10:30 today
The family spokesman for a teen killed by her brother has scheduled a news conference for 10:30 a.m. today to discuss new developments related to the case.
Mark Bourdon, who is the uncle of both Whitney and Sergei Isaac Carlson, will be speaking at the Cass County Courthouse.
Carlson, 16, has been sen-tenced to life in prison for killing his then-16-year-old sister last summer in Fargo.
He is currently facing new felony charges amid accusations he assaulted a correctional officer while trying to escape from the Cass County Juvenile Detention Center.
Check back with www.inforum.com for updates on the news conference. Listen to the news conference live on WDAY Radio at 970 A.M.
Posted by: Brittany Lawonn on 10/30/2008 at 10:06 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Couple observations from Carlson's appearance on escape charges
The last time Sergei Isaac Carlson appeared in court the entire room was packed with onlookers. Family and friends of the sister he killed filled the gallery and courtroom personnel with a free moment stopped in to watch the 16-year-old boy be sentenced to life in prison for killing his then 16-year-old sister.
Tuesday was a little different. Several people were in the courtroom for initial appearances, but most seemed unaware of the high-profile inmate's pending appearance. There were also no Carlson family members present.
Carlso appearaed via interactive television from the Cass County Jail -- his first such appearance. He was out of sight until the clerk called his name, but he quickly walked up to the camera, appearing to smirk. As the judge asked him questions about whether he understood his rights and had received the charges against him, Carlson shifted his feet a bit and appeared to look down at a sheet of paper in his cuffed hands spelling out the charges against him. His only responses were "yeah" and yep" during the less than five-minute appearance.
His next appearance is set for Nov. 26 on charges that he assaulted a correctional officer while trying to escape from the Cass County Juvenile Detention Center on Sept. 25.
Posted by: Brittany Lawonn on 10/30/2008 at 9:45 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Jury selection begins in attempted murder trial
Jury selection is underway in the attempted murder trial of a 19-year-old accused of trying to kill a Fargo man in August 2007 in West Fargo by stabbing him with a 7-inch kitchen knife.
LaSamuel Richardson III does not dispute stabbing Andrew Gregerson, but argues he did so in self defense during a fight. Prosecutors say he was trying to kill the Fargo man, who is expected to testify this week.
This is the second time the case has gone to trial. The first trial ended in a mistrial Aug. 1 after a juror read a story in The Forum about the trial and a prior stabbing-related conviction for Richardson. Eight potential jurors told defense attorney Jeff Bredahl that they were familiar with the case and had read previous stories about it, including one today. Some have said they also know about Richardson’s prior conviction for stabbing a man in the head in October 2006 in Fargo.
Three females have already been dismissed from the pool. One was dismissed after she said she knew too much about the case and did not believe she could be fair. Another was dismissed because her mother is ill and another was dismissed because she suffers from anxiety and panic attacks.
The potential jurors are currently being questioned by attorneys in Cass County District Court who will then whittle the pool down to 13 jurors, including an alternate.
Posted by: Brittany Lawonn on 10/28/2008 at 11:32 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Observations from Sergei Carlson's sentencing for killing his sister
With less than 10 minutes to go before the start of Sergei Isaac Carlson’s sentencing for killing his 16-year-old sister Whitney, the hallway in front of the courtroom became impassable.
The doors were still locked as family members began streaming out of the elevator to wait with reporters, friends and students sent to watch the hearing for a class.
As soon as the doors opened, the courtroom quickly filled with a sea of purple, as those in attendance donned shirts with Whitney’s favorite color.
The children’s older sister Amanda clutched a sheet of paper with her prepared statement as she waited for the hearing to begin.
The ding of the elevator could be heard and the rustling of Carlson’s shackles announced his arrival.
Wearing an orange jumpsuit and shackled at the waist and ankles, Carlson stared straight ahead as he walked up to the defense table.
His older sister glanced in the direction of his chains as he passed her.
The hearing was over in less than hour.
Amanda Carlson, Sergei's older sister, gave the lone victim impact statement, saying she will always love her brother but he has forever lost her trust and respect.
She glanced at him once during the minute-long statement. She never referred to him by name.
Carlson’s attorney was the only one to say his first name during the hearing and spoke at great length about the abuse he suffered before he was adopted from Russia.
Carlson appeared to become emotional as his attorney spoke of how his mother cut him so badly he has scars on his torso.
Carlson's voice was soft and sounded shaky as he apologized for his actions, saying “I didn’t want any of this to happen.”
There was no reaction in the courtroom when District Court Judge John Irby handed down a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
Carlson’s mother and older sister had recommended such a sentence to prosecutors. His father had recommended he serve two years for every year Whitney was alive.
The courtroom was silent as Carlson exited. He soon will be transported to the Youth Correctional Center in Mandan, N.D., where he will remain until he graduates from high school.
Assistant Cass County State’s Attorney Tracy Peters said both Carlson’s parents plan to maintain a relationship with him.
“They’ve both expressed their desire to still be parents to him and I expect that in their own way and in their own time they will do that,” Peters said.
For more details about the hearing, see Friday’s Forum and check out www.inforum.com.
Posted by: Brittany Lawonn on 10/23/2008 at 12:37 PM | Comments (7) | Permalink