Thursday, Oct. 02, 2008

Benton City man gets nearly 10 years in prison in death that followed '07 beating

Kristin M. Kraemer, Herald staff writer

A Benton City man sentenced Wednesday to nearly 10 years in prison for the death of an acquaintance was told it was "a cheap price to pay for a life."

"You went to the house uninvited and, regardless of whether the victim swung first or not, you were in his house uninvited," Judge Robert Swisher told Johnathen Lee Harmon.

"But you won't get the maximum (sentence) because you're entitled to some credit for standing here and pleading guilty."

Swisher opted to go with Prosecutor Andy Miller's recommendation of nine years and nine months for the first-degree man-slaughter case.

Defense attorney Norma Rodriguez had asked for a term somewhere in the middle of the standard range, which was almost eight years to 12 years and five months.

Harmon pleaded guilty last month to the reduced charge, saying he repeatedly beat Jarrin Collins on Oct. 27, 2007, triggering the 60-year-old man's death days later.

"I'd like to again apologize to the family and friends of Jarrin Collins," Harmon said Wednesday. "I apologize for my actions that day. There is no way I can take it back."

The fight reportedly started over claims that Harmon stole a necklace from the Collins' Benton City home -- a necklace Harmon said his mother gave him as a birthday present just weeks before. Harmon then "became very sensitive" to the accusations and went to Collins' home to confront him, Rodriguez said.

"He basically wanted to set the record straight that he was not a thief," she said.

Harmon tapped on the open door, then announced his presence and walked into the house, Rodriguez said.

Harmon claimed Collins started swearing toward him in a threatening manner and hit him first. But Miller said Harmon repeatedly struck Collins and quickly rendered the older man defenseless as he fell to the ground with multiple injuries. The attack was unprovoked, Miller said.

Harmon had to be pulled off Collins, who still was conscious but a short time later was described as being incoherent.

Rodriguez told the court that the amount of alcohol in Collins' system was four times over the 0.08 percent limit that someone is considered too drunk to drive, and had that not been a factor that night the fight "might not have happened because they were friends before."

Collins died at a Richland hospital from pneumonia that was caused by a stroke after he was hit on the head and neck, according to his autopsy.

His daughter, Angel Slater, made the trip from Montana on Wednesday to address the judge about what she viewed as a "brutal, inhumane attack on a defenseless senior citizen."

"My dad started and ended every conversation with 'I love you and I'm proud of you.' Even into adulthood, that unconditional support from him was priceless and now ... it's lost," she said. "We no longer can see him smile or hear his laugh."

Slater said her father was looking forward to spending his well-earned retirement and his golden years with his kids, grandkids and friends. He also was excited to meet his great-grandchild, she said.

"My father was attacked in his home, the place where he was comfortable and relaxed, where a person normally feels safe and secure," Slater told the court. "He was 60 years old -- a grandpa -- and certainly not a person in any condition to defend himself against such uncontrolled brutality."

Slater, who said she would give anything to hear her father's voice again, asked the judge to give the maximum punishment available by law.

Attorneys earlier thought Harmon had no felony convictions before this case, but Rodriguez said her client reminded her as they prepared for sentencing that wasn't true.

He has three convictions while a juvenile for intimidating a witness, residential burglary and second-degree malicious mischief, and a 2000 conviction for possession of a controlled substance.

Harmon was given the option Wednesday to withdraw his guilty plea because the criminal history meant his standard range would be bumped up a bit. He said he wanted to go forward.

"The overriding concern about this case is the senseless act it was. A man's dead because of a senseless act. A man sitting in his own home is dead. It's not illegal to sit in your home and be drunk, to have a 0.33 (blood-alcohol level)," Swisher said.

"Nothing that I do here and nothing that Mr. Harmon can do will lessen the pain that the Collins family suffers. They'll suffer that for the rest of their lives, suffer the pain knowing that their father suffered."

Harmon also was ordered to pay $2,185.91 to the Crime Victims Compensation Program in Olympia.