Teen gets 30 months for beating

PALMER -- A Wasilla teen-ager has been given two and a half years in prison for the beating of another teen that left the victim with permanent brain damage.

Superior Court Judge Beverly Cutler sentenced Ricky Shivers Thursday on the first-degree assault charge. She also gave Shivers two years on a related charge of second-degree assault, with the terms to be served concurrently.

Shivers was 17 when the April 28, 2002, incident occurred. He was angry because the other teen-age male, a friend with whom Shivers lived, had sex with his ex-girlfriend.

Shivers stabbed the boy with a knife and hit him an estimated 50 times in the face, causing multiple fractures, according to court testimony.

Shivers was tried in adult court, where the presumptive sentencing for first-degree assault is five years. However, Cutler cut that amount in half -- the most lenient sentence possible after a three-judge panel ruled that a lesser sentence could not be imposed.

"Mr. Shivers lost his mind," Cutler said Thursday. "In his emotionally immature state, he just completely lost it. This wasn't pre-meditated."

She also imposed 10 years' probation and ordered $2,694 in restitution be paid to the Violent Crimes Compensation Board.

Assistant district attorney Rachel Gernat argued for a sentence of eight years with three years suspended. She said the stiffer penalty was warranted because Shivers' juvenile history includes a burglary, and because the beating constituted "deliberate cruelty."

Gernat said the victim suffers permanent damage from the attack and is "cognitively impaired."

In an interview after the court session, Gernat said, "I feel he should have gotten more. I tried this case and I was appalled by his actions."

Defense attorney Eugene Cyrus noted that Shivers confessed to the crime and was cooperative with police. He added that Shivers probably saved himself more prison time by driving the victim for treatment soon after the beating.

"My client did one smart thing," Cyrus said. "He got that kid to the hospital."

Shivers has been in jail since April 29, 2002, and the law requires his sentence to be cut by one-third if he displays good behavior. That means the 20 months he must serve would end in late December.

Shivers' father, Ricky Shivers Sr., spoke to Cutler before sentencing.

"I know this is bad," he said. "I'd like to get him back into sports. I don't want to see him locked up forever."

Shivers spoke, too, saying he regretted the incident.

"I feel bad for what I did to him. I'm sorry. That's all I can say."

Cutler said the teen's rehabilitation can occur outside prison walls. Terms of probation include taking a victim impact course, breath or urine tests when ordered by his probation officer, no use of alcohol, and an evaluation for treatment of drug and alcohol abuse.

"We're asking for true adult behavior," Cutler told Shivers. "No more crazy youthful behavior."