Teen burglar sentenced

‘Mercy tempered with justice' for 19-year-old

August 29, 2006

By MARY AMES/Frontiersman

PALMER - A man arrested in February after alert neighbors nabbed him leaving a Meadow Brook home with a television was sentenced for burglary Thursday in Palmer Superior Court.

Casey J. Donn, 19, was given a three-year suspended sentence and ordered to perform 300 hours community service for one count of first-degree burglary. As part of a plea agreement made in May, the state agreed to dismiss charges of second-degree theft and fourth-degree criminal mischief. Donn was to pay $3,407 in restitution.

The state and the defense also agreed Donn should serve six months of the suspended sentence. Josh Fannon, Donn's defense attorney, requested the court allow 30 days to file a motion allowing Donn's time out on bail on an ankle monitor to count toward those six months.

Judge Beverly Cutler, saying she was familiar with Donn from his juvenile history, needed clarification about the state's recommendation.

&#8220You agree to six months and the state can't say he has good prospects for rehabilitation?” Judge Cutler said.

Richard Payne, assistant district attorney, said Donn's youth mitigated the offense.

Fannon said the new sentencing guidelines had no case law to support them.

Judge Cutler noted Donn's presentence report indicated Donn had many juvenile charges that would have been felonies if he were an adult, but Payne corrected her, saying the charges were adjudicated as attempted second-degree burglary.

Payne requested Donn receive a mental-health assessment within 30 days, make the results known to his probation officer and follow through on treatment recommendations.

&#8220The defendant is no stranger to the criminal justice system,” Payne said, adding if Donn didn't take advantage of treatment, he would serve the rest of his sentence in prison.

&#8220It's mercy tempered with justice,” Payne said.

Fannon said the bottom line was Donn had the support of his parents.

&#8220So the only thing to implode is Casey,” Fannon said. &#8220The court can't protect Casey from Casey.”

Donn had completed high school, took vocational training as a heavy-equipment operator and worked with his father as a mechanic while he was out on bail, Fannon said.

&#8220It's all in Casey's hands,” he said. &#8220I told him that a thousand times. As long as he does what he's supposed to do, he'll be fine.”

Donn said he was sorry and he wouldn't get in trouble anymore.

&#8220And I'll pay him back for his TV,” Donn said.

Judge Cutler said Donn represented the nightmare of everyone who has been involved in the juvenile justice system.

&#8220The juvenile justice system dealt with you over and over and over again,” Judge Cutler said. &#8220You were back on an almost identical felony on almost the day you turned 19.”

Judge Cutler accepted the agreement and set Oct. 2 as the date for Donn to begin his jail sentence, noting Donn would serve a little more than 30 days if he received Nigren credit, which equates time on bail on an ankle monitor to time in jail.

After a series of burglaries hit their neighborhood, two alert residents watched Donn and a juvenile girl who lived nearby knock on doors on Feb. 25, according to a report from Alaska State Troopers. Donn asked people who came to the door if they wanted their driveway shoveled, although he had no shovel and wasn't dressed for the cold.

When one man saw Donn inside a home, he contacted a friend, called police, and the two men chased Donn down. When troopers arrived, they found Donn with two sets of audio/visual cords on his body. When the homeowner returned, he found his 42-inch plasma television, and numerous other items, along the side of his house near a fence to the front yard.

According to Donn's disclosable juvenile records, he was charged with first-degree burglary on Nov. 29, 2004, a charge adjudicated to attempted burglary in March 2005.

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.