00:00Anything other than a prison sentence
00:01would demean the seriousness of the offense.
00:03Prison system is no place for kids and your kid.
00:05This is a kid mistake.
00:07When this young defendant evaded police
00:08at 100 miles per hour through busy traffic,
00:11the judge was offered 36 months in prison by the prosecution
00:14but called it a kid mistake
00:15and sentenced him to 90 days in jail.
00:18Next is the case of the state of Ohio
00:19versus Jeffrey Meester, case number 26, CR 43298.
00:23The defendant driving his motorcycle
00:25at speeds of greater than 100 miles per hour
00:27through busy traffic area in Springboro.
00:30The court saw video of the defendant doing lane splitting
00:33and boring other traffic devices.
00:35Anything other than a prison sentence
00:36would demean the seriousness of the offense.
00:38The defendant took no responsibility for his actions.
00:41The court had an opportunity to hear his testimony in the case
00:44and found him to not be credible.
00:46I think that he has not taken responsibility,
00:48has shown no remorse for his actions,
00:50nor understanding of the seriousness of the danger
00:53to the community at large, to the officers that pursued him,
00:56and most significantly himself, given how dangerous his conduct.
01:00The state's recommendation is for a prison sentence of 36 months.
01:03Chase is a hard-working young man himself.
01:06He's got two full-time jobs.
01:07He works as an RV technician and then he's self-employed as a landscaper.
01:11He has no criminal history.
01:13He's supported, he's loved, that he deserves a chance.
01:16I believe he is a good person who made a very bad judgment decision
01:21on the night in question.
01:22I would ask that you be lenient in your sentence, recognizing that Chase
01:26has a bright future ahead of him.
01:29Mr. Meester, you get the last word in all of this.
01:31What do you want to tell me?
01:32I'm sorry, I do take full responsibility for what happened that night.
01:35It was never my intention for any of this to happen.
01:37The people that sit in that seat, Mr. Meester,
01:39generally fall into one of three categories.
01:41You got good people who do stupid things,
01:43stupid people who do bad things,
01:45and bad people who do really evil things.
01:47And you don't come anywhere near falling into the second two of those categories.
01:52I think I generally agree with Mr. View that it is impossible for you at your age
01:59to understand the seriousness of what happened and all the things that could have happened.
02:04You know, the sad reality that we live in right now is, you know, everybody runs from the cops.
02:09Everybody drives their cars at a speed that is not safe.
02:12And the legislature is attempting to correct that behavior by giving the statutory factors
02:18that would encourage me to send folks like you to prison.
02:21I'm not going to do that, Mr. Meester.
02:23Prison system is no place for kids and your kids.
02:25Even though, you know, technically you're an adult,
02:27and I don't mean to insult you in this, but this is a kid mistake.
02:31But it does require an adult consequence.
02:33I'm going to put you into my community control program for a period of three years.
02:36You're going to serve 90 days in the county jail.
02:38I will allow you to do either work release or litter pickup,
02:42and I'm going to order that you serve 80 hours of community service,
02:45and I'm going to suspend your license for a period of three years.
