A statue of Themis, an ancient Greek goddess of justice. (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/ AFP via Getty Images)
(KRON) — Outraged by what she believes are lenient settlements with defendants in the kidnapping and murder of her late brother, the victim’s sister on Wednesday asked an Alameda County Superior Court judge to reject the settlements and move the cases to a jury.
Laurie Hensen claims District Attorney Pamela Price failed her family. “Today I am here to charge you with first-degree murder. Your Honor, I am here to ask you to reject this deal,” Hensen said.
Sitting just feet away from two of the four defendants convicted in the murder of her brother, Ben Hemmann, Henson approached Judge Scott Patton before Wednesday morning’s sentencing in Alameda County Superior Court, making a last-minute attempt to convince Judge Patton to drop the plea deals made by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office that dropped kidnapping charges against all four defendants.
“My brother was not in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was at home when these people broke into his house, tied him up and took him out of his house,” Henson said.
Nearly three years ago, Hemmann was bound, gagged, then strangled to death and left on the side of the road in the Oakland Hills.
In court, one defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison. The second defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Judge Patton says he has sympathy for Henson and her family, but adds that if these cases went before a jury, there might be no plea deal or even no conviction.
“I think it’s a reasonable solution,” Judge Patton said.
Defense attorney Steve Defilippis agrees. “I think the outcome would have been roughly where we are now,” he said.
Henson claims she learned from a press release from District Attorney Pamela Price that none of the defendants were charged with premeditated murder or kidnapping. “I have not heard a single word from Pamela Price,” Henson said.
In a statement earlier this month, Price said the crimes were “heinous” but the confessions ensured the defendants faced “appropriate consequences,” which Henson said was heartbreaking. “We cannot continue to release these violent criminals and allow them to reoffend and repeatedly harm our community,” Henson said.
The third defendant, who pleaded guilty to home invasion, is due in court next month and faces more than six years in prison. The fourth defendant faces home invasion and identity theft charges, but her case is pending and a trial date has not yet been set.
