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Bizuayehu Tesfaye / AP, file
Mark Kerrigan sits in court during his trial at Middlesex District Court in Woburn, Mass., on May 18, 2011.
Updated 11:27 a.m. ET: A Massachusetts judge has denied a request by the brother of Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan that he be sent back to jail to finish his sentence on an assault and battery conviction in connection with the death of their 70-year-old father.
Mark Kerrigan was released early from a county jail on July 27. He was serving 2 1/2 years following his May 2011 conviction.
His lawyers told Middlesex Superior Court Judge Kathe Tuttman the terms of his probation were too expensive and time consuming. Kerrigan's probation conditions included alcohol counseling, anger management classes and mental health counseling.
He is not accused of violating probation but had asked to return to jail to serve the remaining four months of his sentence.
"It is not up to Mr. Kerrigan to decide that he wants to serve a sentence rather than serve probation," Tuttman said after denying Kerrigan's request.
She said he could talk to the district attorney about any financial issues and return to court if nothing can be worked out.
May 17, 2011: Former Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan continues to support her brother, who is accused of murdering their father. NBC's Mara Schiavocampo reports.
Before the hearing, Middlesex District Attorney's office spokeswoman Jessica Venezia Pastore said prosecutors expected Tuttman would determine "whether it is in the best interests of the community for Kerrigan to be returned to jail and then subsequently released without supervision or to be ordered to comply with the conditions of probation that the sentencing judge imposed."
Kerrigan was joined by his family during the 20-minute hearing, but his sister was not present.
Kerrigan's trial lawyer, Janice Bassil, did not return a phone call or an email seeking comment. A Kerrigan family spokeswoman could not be reached.
October 2010: Nancy Kerrigan stands up for those who can't
Heart failure
Prosecutors said Kerrigan caused his father's death while in a drunken rage at the family's home in Stoneham, north of Boston, on Jan. 24, 2010. They said he put his hands around 70-year-old Daniel Kerrigan's neck with such force that he broke cartilage in his larynx and triggered heart failure.
Jan. 26, 2010: Police say skater Nancy Kerrigan's father died after an altercation with her brother at the family's Massachusetts home. The brother, Daniel Kerrigan, has been charged with assault. NBC's Jeff Rossen reports.
Mark Kerrigan was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter. He received the maximum prison sentence on the assault and battery charge despite tearful pleas for leniency from relatives including his younger sister, Nancy, who won a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, and a silver at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
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Leave a Comment:
Goes to show that being in jail in Massachuttes is better than being in Massachuttes.
He's a bum who couldn't make it out in the real world. Of course he would prefer a Massachusetts jail. Any loser would.
"Kerrigan's probation conditions included alcohol counseling, anger management classes and mental health counseling"
If he serves his complete sentence..he doesn't have to do the above conditions..he is a big time drunk most likely.
He misses the sex.
He doesn't want to be dealing with that crap. In 6 months, he has no conditions and no cost to himself. My bet is he has thousands of dollars in fees to meet this condition.
It sounds like he would rather spend another 6 months in jail than to spend a lot of time and money on all of the counseling required for his probation. He can spend another 6 months in jail and get out with no conditions on his release and not have to go through all the counseling.
I concur with ALL of the above statements, including that he misses the sex. WTF? Who wants to be in jail?
Keeps him away from the @!$%# Obama has caused. I am working my ass off just so 47% of the people can get free money from the Government. Now who is in jail. Obama needs to be voted out.
He might be trying to find Jesus!
Obamanot, you're an idiot.
Mike277, spot on! I'm quite sure that once he's out for good, he'll find his way back to jail, much like a baby would love to crawl back to the womb. Pathetic.
Nice Herpes!
Court is not supposed to be a convenience for the defendant! If the "penalties are too inconvenient and burdensome", don't do the crime suckers
It seems if he violates his conditions of probation in some way, he could be required to go back to jail to serve out the remainder of his sentence. All he need to is to miss some of his therapy sessions and the end result should be the same. Why ask the judge?
BTW, Senior Boogie Woogie - Good one.
It doesn't specify how much the classes would cost to take. Either he doesn't have much money or those classes are prohibitively expensive for someone who just got out of jail. Aren't there supposed to be halfway houses for that kind of stuff?
I don't know the laws in Mass. concerning probation. I do know Fl. laws and many states have similar laws.
Offenders are sometimes offered a choice at sentencing. I will offer an example. Let's say a particular offense merits a 6 month jail sentence. The judge may offer the option of a 3 month sentence followed by one year of probation. Jail overcrowding or exemplary behavior (for those not given that option) may also be grounds for offering probation while incarcerated.
The terms of probation are always strict. You must pay for all of the terms of probation( rehab., classes, mental treatment, etc., and even the cost of supervision by the probation officer). Depending on the particular offense, there will be certain places and people that you must NOT visit. If a forbidden person unknowingly even speaks to you in public by chance, you have violated probation. If you are arrested for anything, innocent or guilty of the charge, you are charged with violating your probation.
Violating probation is always an offense in itself. You will serve the remainder of your original sentence and an additional sentence of jail time for violating probation. Many see probation as a trap to get even more jail time and refuse it. That may be the case in this instance.
Wet Willy, it is my understanding if he violates his probation he could get worse than the 6 months. Here in Florida the costs for probation are huge. I have wondered how some minor offenders right themselves.
He met his probation officer and she looked like Tanya Harding, jail is better than broken legs........
obamamanot,
Massachusetts is your boy Mitt's state. Probably some pretty nice jails those Massachusetts tax payers are supporting.
Wetwilly.
He obviously doesn't really want to go back to jail, or he would just blow of compliance with probation. He was really just trying to get the terms of his probation lightened up and the judge saw through him.
Nice herpes. Probably got it from sis.
I was going to say the same thing! EEEWWWWW
Right, Like you never had a cold sore.
It's JUST a VIRUS, for crying out loud! The vast majority of people have it.
It's also just a joke.
In my opinion, he should not be sent back to jail to serve the 6-months left on his conviction. He needs to get a hold on his drinking, anger management, etc., and that can only be done if a judge includes these demands as a part of his probation. He wants to go back to jail, only so when he's released he will have no probation demands to follow, thus is open to another anger attack on someone else, also can drink till he's overly drunk. If he can't help himself (which he can't), then let the courts help him.
Nancy, your brother needs help, hon. He isn't (with all the promises he may make) going to get himself the help he needs. Addictions are extremely hard to overcome and he has at least two addictions -- alcohol and anger. Your brother isn't capable of looking out for himself, so please Nancy YOU help him by letting the courts help him. If you just let him finish his 6 months, guaranteed he'll be back on the streets drinking and throwing his anger around, and maybe the next time will be 1st or 2nd degree murder. Try and let the courts try to save him from such aftermath. Love you, Nancy.. please be brave.
Nice sentiment, and probably true, but unenforceable. Even if the judge doesn't allow him back in jail all he needs to do is show up for his first alcohol class drunk. That violates his probation, at which time he is sent back to jail to serve his term.
As an aside, if a sausage was sentenced to prison, would that be "a term for the wurst?"
We are all responsible for our actions. Mark Kerrigan decided to put his hands around the neck of his father and as a result, his father died. Many years ago, my business law teacher was talking about people who break into homes. He said (paraphrased), "If someone breaks into a home with the purpose of stealing and they have a weapon (their weapon can be their hands as well) then their intent was also to use that weapon".
You see, Mark had a lot of anger/hatred against his father and he could have just tried to get help on his own or just move out of the area. He decided to stay and live in the same house. He asked his father to use the phone and his father said no? What was going on there?
Mark's ACTION caused a REACTION and unfortunately, that reaction was death. Mark is guilty. Guess he didn't understand the commandment to 'HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER'? Oh well...
Just wish some parents had the commandment : "Honor your children."
Too bad Moses didn't include that in the 10.
He doesn't want to pay for counseling, says it's too expensive for him.
But he expects us the public to pay for his jail cell. Whats the cost? I think I read it's $60,000 a year to house a prisoner. So rather than him paying $5,000 for counseling, We pay.
I think prisoners really need to be put back on the rock piles making gravel. If he wants to go back to jail fine, But his last 6 months should be hard labor.
Whay happened to all the rehab that we tax payers pay for while they are in jail???
WHAT
Barbii, you are so right. He couldn't handle those issues before and they resulted in his conviction. Going to prison does not cure anyone of addiction and it is going to take a lot of hard work on his part and hopefully, support from the right people. As long as there is life there is hope and I hope he will take advantage of the counseling out there and be able to change his life without going back to prison. There are agencies out there that work on a sliding scale or are subsidized.
People are so willing to think the worst of people and I read a lot of mean spiritness in this and other groups. All I can say is that what you wish for others will come back to you one day and you will be looking for mercy!
He needs to be let out to hit the drunk bottom. Counseling right now will not mean spit. He will never change without a feeling of hopelessness. Right now he is trying to figure it out for the easiest solution to drink again. Hopefully he does not kill anyone when he goes back out.
Barbii, anger is NOT an addiction. Failure to control/manage one's anger is a character flaw.
I agree with UTTrailrider, prisons should return to hard labour programs...idle hands are the devil's workshop, afterall.
I agree with Bill, because I'll bet he'll violate his parole to get tossed back in jail.
Barbii, anger is NOT an addiction. Failure to control it is a character flaw.
I agree with UTTrailrider, prisons need to return to the days of hard labour. Idle hands are the devil's workshop, afterall. And there is nothing like hard labour to detox a body.
Anger is an addiction. Addictions are character flaws.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/08/13175392-official-nancy-kerrigans-brother-wants-to-go-back-to-jail-over-dads-death#comments
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/255098.html
Plus he needs somewhere to sleep?
In Arizona Dept. of Corrections an inmate is allowed to serve their time until their SED (Sentence Expiration Date) they only have to refuse their conditions of probation. As easy as signing a piece of paper no asking a judge & they never set foot outside the prison in the first place.
As far as getting help for his drinking & anger problems in Arizona there are many programs & classes available to the inmates (some are voluntary & some are ordered by the court to be attended while in prison) as they are doing their time.
Arizona now has a "touchy-feely" prison system now instead of a "you are in prison for doing a crime". Free education, recreation all day if you want, minimal fees for doctor, dental, hospital you name it. When was the last time you went to the doctor for $3 or for that matter free?! When was the last time you thought "I don't think I'll do crap today besides exercise". What a joke.
My daughter pays thru the nose for a college education. Not inmates!
Hey Nancy still has a little hotness about her.
Remind me not to cruise for chicks with you.
BFD...she has a horse's mouth! NOT HOT AT ALL!!!
LOL!! So right you both are...LOL!!
Oh Lord - she's far from hot - she's about the same temp as her skates. She scares me - reminds me of a wicked witch!!
wow that one picture of her made me throw up in my mouth.
Grow up boys.
BFD, you remind me of a short conversation me and my old printing boss had in San Francisco. His shop was next to a bank so we saw all the bank tellers come in around 8:00am. Me; "Hey, she's not too bad". My boss; "Yeah, but she has kind of a horse face". ME; "Yeah, but it'd not a BAD horse face". :-)
This will not have a good outcome no matter what happens. If he returns to jail and then is released without conditions he will likely return to the behaviors that got him there to begin with. On the other hand, there is no point in him taking up a spot in rehab programs if he denies his problems and doesn't want to change. The fact that no matter what, he is no longer under supervision in six months means whatever decision the judge makes is meaningless. In six months, he will be out on his own doing whatever.
If the judge decides not to send him back to prison and tells him to complete the probation conditions for how ever long it takes..he has to do it. If he doesn't do it and thinks he will go back to prison he is correct..but the judge can also give him five more years in prison now for breaking the probation conditions.
If he breaks the conditions of his 6 month probation sentence, then he serves the rest of those 6 months in jail. Not 5 Years, unless he is charged with another crime that constitutes another 5 years.
Sentencing practices and conditions of release, probation and parole are different in many states. In my state a sentence is imposed to serve jail time but the person can be placed on probation with the jail sentence underlying it. Probation however can be indefinite depending upon whether the offender complies with conditions. If probation is revoked, the jail sentence is imposed but has a definite end date.
should have gotten a life sentence for murder....
OK MSNBC are you going to tell us WHY he asked to go back? Nice reporting!
There's a hearing tomorrow where he will have to explain why. The lawyer and family did not respond to a reporter's question. Nice reading!
Hmmmmmmmmmm. Wants to stay in jail. That doesn't happen everyday. Let him
WHYYYYY!??!?!??! WHYYYYY?!!!?!?!?!!
So many bars of soap to pick up from the shower floor..... so little time. <<<<sigh>>>>
LOL - Tampa you are bad. But really funny, too.
If he wanted to remain free, you'd all scream "Send him back to jail!" If he wants to go back to jail, you all scream, "Make him go through the counseling!"
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (Diagnostic Code 313.81, DSM-IV)
It seems we make rules just for the purpose of opposition. Cut and dry would, in the long run, save money and reduce corruption. Everyone knows the saying, "If ya can't do the time, don't do the crime". I add, if your unwilling to pay for incarceration don't build the prison. Or even don't make the Law. When treatment of citizens who break the Law is based on revenue, then corruption will follow.
So, for instance, you choke your Dad (or anyone) we open the book, look up choking Dad (assault) and sentence accordingly.
If we can't afford to keep people convicted of assault for five years in prison then make assault three years, if we don't believe three years will be enough to send a message to other people thinking of breaking the Law then we add probation, thinking by putting people convicted of assault in a situation where restrictions are put on them, is a deterrent to those thinking of committing assault and cost less then prison yet protects the public from the assaulter for a longer period. But expected to otherwise be living normally, which with the restrictions usually creates more problems since they weren't living a normal life (respectful crime free) in the first place and probably what lead up to the assault in the first place. Yet we see with carrier probationers who usually at some point begin to pay financially for their probation, probation becomes a business which creates employment and is a lot more fiscal then prisons, because the assaulter in financially paying for their sentence, rather then the public paying for their incarceration.
Everyday of probation should be equal to every day of incarceration. So breaking probation leads to incarceration but doest change the length of the sentence. You can't make breaking probation a crime to add on more time.
Probably if he is out of jail, he has to pay for all that court-ordered counseling and therapy. But if he is incarcerated, it is free.
We are such a screwed-up country. Criminals get free comprehensive health care (including dental and vision) while hard-working average Joe's can't even afford to buy health insurance, let along dental care! No other developed country in the world treats its people so shabbily.
If I remember right, When you serve your full time in jail you will not be on probation or parole. That's what he's trying to avoid. He doesn't want to have to report or test for alcohol. Six more months and he can get out no strings attached. Maybe he knows he'll violate probation. This way he'll be able to tie one on just as soon as he walks out of jail.
You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink. If he does not wish to take therapy or to get counseling, the best the system can do is to let him go back, why waste money? Sadly, the next time his unresolved issues arise, the may be in a situation where it is a strapping younger man , who could kill him. Unless, of course ,he is a violent predator that picks on the weak and helpless. So very sad, that killing your father does not make you reflect on your flaws.
No Tampa, the story doesn't say any of what you wrote at all! Where does it say "hearing tomorrow where he will have to explain why"? It says there's a hearing tomorrow but doesn't say he will have to explain why. DUH! Nice reading yourself!
What do you think a hearing is, Omaha? A judge "hears" the reasons for the motion or the plea. In other words, he has to explain 'why'. Nice thinking.
Sorry for Nancy, family is ruined. Losing father and brother. Plus being national news for wrong reasons.
He wants to be a CAN-BEERY not a CRANBEERY
He should have been tried for murder!
Why? Because he needs the 3 meals and a cot? Or does he miss his boyfriend? This story says nothing.
This has got to be a first get jail time get out early for good behavior no probation violations and now a request to go back to jail. The reason has to be because he will not have to complete his probation requirements if he is locked up.
So lock the idiot back up and make him the queen of the cell block! Who cares about this moron. I bet he is a liberal
If he is supposed to serve 2 1/2 years from May, 2011, then to serve his full sentence, he would need to stay in jail until November, 2013. I guess though, they allow you to serve most of it, based on good behaviour? The law when imposing sentences, should make every person serve their entire sentence, it shows consistency. If they intend to let them out early, then only sentence them for that amount of time only!
Damn, I thought our family get togethers were bad.