Kartchner granted second chance at probation

Kartchner granted second chance at probation

December 27, 2001

By Aspen C. Emmett
Journal Staff Writer

A Dolores man convicted of providing alcohol to minors nearly a year ago and ordered not to drink as a condition of his probation got a second chance last week from District Court Judge Sharon Hansen after he was allegedly caught drinking this summer.

Hansen ruled Thursday that 22-year-old Kevin Kartchner was not in violation of his probation, due to confusion over what his sentencing entailed and his limited ability to comprehend and read. However, Hansen strongly advised that he would be punished to the maximum if he violated his probation again.

Kartchner was acquitted Feb. 1 on charges of first-degree sexual assault on a helpless victim and sexual assault on a child, but was found guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor charge of providing alcohol to minors, entered at the last minute by his own defense attorney.

In April he was sentenced to 60 days in jail, two years of supervised probation, $1,050 in court costs, and 200 hours of community service. He was also ordered to write letters of apology to the minors involved and to stay away from all young girls, according to court records.

However, during a traffic stop on June 30, Kartchner reportedly appeared to be "extremely intoxicated" and told a sheriff’s deputy he had consumed four beers.

"I have reason to believe his probation requirements were not met," said probation officer Tom Cole at a hearing Thursday.

Cole relayed the deputy’s observations and contact with Kartchner at the time of the alleged offense.

Cole told the court that Kartchner blew .147 grams on a preliminary breath test.

However, defense attorney Lauren Wolpin argued that PBTs are inadmissible in any court action.

The PBT was suppressed and Kartchner testified that a statement made by Hansen during the sentencing contradicted what he understood to be his probation requirements. A transcript of the hearing confirmed the discrepancy.

At the sentencing in April, Hansen referred to Kartchner’s legal right to consume alcohol on public land but said that he should immediately leave if minors were to arrive.

"I am distressed because I knew what I meant, but I see that I said it," Hansen said.

Although Kartchner had been advised of his probation requirements by Cole, he said he weighed the judge’s words over Cole’s and did not have the ability to read the court’s order.

Kartchner told the court that he had been in special-education classes since the first grade and had the reading comprehension of a third-grader.

"I don’t understand stuff too good," Kartchner said.

Kartchner further claimed he had been drinking a non-alcoholic beer.

Upon dismissing the probation-violation charge, Hansen told Kartchner if he doesn’t understand something, he should seek clarification immediately because there wouldn’t be a third chance.

During Kartchner’s April sentencing, Hansen verbally reprimanding him in relation to the charges he was acquitted of in February.

"I think it’s unacceptable for a 21-year-old to be consorting with 13- and 16-year-olds," Hansen told Kartchner then.

Two girls of those ages were in town for spring break in March 2000 when they went to a party, became intoxicated and ended up at the defendant’s home.

The 13-year-old testified that she and her cousin, the second alleged victim, had been drinking alcohol provided by Kartchner at a party at the "power lines" near Totten Lake.

The older girl reportedly became extremely intoxicated and Kartchner offered to take them to his home on County Road 27 for coffee.

The youngest girl later said Kartchner sexually assaulted her and her incapacitated cousin there.

Kartchner denied the allegations and no physical evidence was found to support the girls’ claims. He was acquitted on the sexual-assault charges and found guilty of the misdemeanor charge — which the district attorney’s office called a "strategic" charge on the defense’s part.

"He was convicted of what he did do," Kartchner’s defense attorney at the time, Suzanne Carlson, told the Journal in February.

Then-Assistant District Attorney Katy Cabot disagreed, stating that the circumstances surrounding the offense were "aggravated facts," and that Kartchner should be sentenced within the presumptive range of three months to a year and not given credit for 30 days he had already spent in jail.

"One of the girls was lying in her own vomit. . . and he didn’t make any attempt to help," Cabot told the court.

Although Kartchner was not sentenced to the maximum penalties, Hansen stated that he would not be given credit for the 30 days served and that she would be holding him strictly to the sentencing stipulations.