It was a cold night in March 2011 when two cousins robbed a Cortez store clerk at gunpoint. The masked thieves nabbed $117 in cash and several packs of cigarettes.
Sebastian Tutt of Shiprock, N.M., 18 years old at the time, and Jim Bryan of Waterflow, N.M., then 22, were found guilty in separate jury trials of aggravated robbery, menacing and theft.
Tutt, who actually possessed the .22-caliber pistol used in the robbery, was sentenced to six years at the minimum security Youthful Offender Services program in Pueblo. Bryan received a stiffer penalty: 14 years with the Department of Corrections.
In rare and perhaps bold judicial moves, both Chief District Court Judge Doug Walker and District Court Judge Todd Plewe recently agreed in separate hearings to reduce both sentences. Both Walker and Plewe declined requests for interviews.
In January, Deputy State Public Defender Kielly Dunn filed a motion for the court to reconsider the sentence imposed against Tutt. Likewise, private criminal defense attorney Leslie Goldstein made a similar request on Bryan’s behalf in March. Both motions were granted and hearings held in recent weeks.
Tutt hearing
Appearing in custody, Tutt pleaded his case before Walker on May 19. Represented at the hearing by Durango public defender John Moran, Tutt was portrayed as a vastly different, more responsible young man.
“My client is a changed human being,” said Moran, with Tutt’s family sitting a few feet away.
Tutt told the court that he had taken nearly every course offered at YOS, reporting that an associate’s degree was only a few credits away. He added he had plans to earn a bachelor’s degree upon his release.
According to court records, YOS drill instructors selected Tutt as the most improved graduate following the program’s orientation training phase, describing him as polite and respectful.
“I want to stay in school,” Tutt told Walker.
Moran added that he was concerned that Tutt could succumb to various pitfalls at YOS, because he had exhausted nearly all the program’s academic offerings.
“Mr. Tutt has a plan, an idea, a path to follow,” said Moran. “Let’s take the YOS stumbling block from out in front of him.”
In response, Walker credited Tutt’s exemplary performance while incarcerated, but he raised concerns that Tutt might not receive all of the benefits that YOS offers if released early.
In the end, Walker agreed to cut Tutt’s sentence from 72 months to 41 months.
Opened in 1994, YOS houses violent offenders between the ages of 14 and 21. Since its inception, 73 percent of offenders have completed the program. Only 4 percent of all YOS offenders have ever had their initial sentences reduced.
Bryan hearing
Also appearing in custody, Bryan pleaded his case for resentencing before Plewe on June 12. Goldstein said her client was deeply remorseful for the pain he had caused on the night in question.
“Mr. Bryan deeply regrets his actions,” said the Steamboat Springs attorney with nearly a dozen of Bryan’s family members in attendance.
According to court records, Bryan arrived at the Bent County Correctional Facility in late December 2012. Within his first year of confinement, he successfully completed the prison’s 19-course life skills program – scoring perfectly on conflict, aggression and stress management; interpersonal and intrapersonal development; and self-discipline and emotional control. He also completed two substance abuse treatment programs, vocational training and a 136-hour self-improvement course.
Addressing the court, Bryan stood, apologizing to the victim, the community and his family.
“I did the wrong thing,” said Bryan.
Bryan’s uncle, mother and both grandmothers also made emotional pleas to the court for leniency.
“He knows what he did was wrong,” said Bryan’s mother.
“He’s learned his lesson,” his grandmother added.
In response, Plewe admitted that the initial 14-year prison term was “too harsh,” adding that defendants who had faced similar charges before him had received lighter sentences. He agreed to reduce the sentence to the minimum allowed, 10 years.
“I’ve never done this before,” said Plewe.
The victim speaks
At Tutt’s initial sentencing hearing, the victim, ordered to lie on the floor during the robbery, said he relived the incident every time someone entered the store late at night wearing a hooded sweatshirt.
“I felt like I laid there for an eternity, waiting to die,” the clerk said.
In court records, District Attorney Will Furse said the victim’s attitude toward the defendants had since changed. According to Furse, the victim wasn’t opposed to reducing the sentences,.
“The victim says that he has moved on with his life, dealt with the trauma associated with the defendants violence and now offers his optimism that the defendants are able to lead successful, productive and law-abiding lives,” Furse said.
Prosecutors supported both defense requests to modify the sentences.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com