Letter to the County Attorney
11 June, 2005
Ms. Susan Gaertner
Ramsey County Attorney
Courthouse
St Paul, MN 55102
Dear Ms. Gaertner:
As you and your staff prepare to charge Mike Lemay, I hope you will give this and other letters due consideration.
What charge and what punishment will make Mike Lemay a better citizen? Holding him over the weekend is cruel and unusual enough.
Surely he should have been put in the care of his parents after booking.
Surely as well, he must face legal consequences.
But surely – SURELY -- your office has enough discretion to do the least damage possible to this kid.
Misdemeanor aggravated assault and underage drinking and pot use. That's what the crime is.
The resulting death was a tragic accident.
Mike is blessed in having all the support systems he could possibly need to somehow deal with this.
I have plenty of personal experience to tempt me to think that this will fall on deaf ears.
But I am still enough of an idealist and optimist to believe that true justice is still to be had in this increasingly rigid system you oversee.
Thank you very much for reading this letter and I hope and pray for you to do the right thing.
For everyone like me, there are thousands that feel the same way about this.
Yours Very Truly,
Paul F. Kuettel
1879 Simpson Street
Falcon Heights, MN 55113
651-646-7099
posted by PK at 6/14/2005 04:43:00 PM
1 Comments:
As a Roseville Area High School teacher who had Mike in class and knows he is an easy-going kid who would never in a million years mean to kill someone, I appreciate your comments. I also appreciate that you would take the time to write a letter expressing your opinions to Susan Gaertner.
A question I haven't seen come up yet - although I didn't hear the KSTP radio show you referenced - why are the St. Paul police allowing 100 teenagers (some of whom were using alcohol and drugs) to party at Como Park at 11:30 p.m. in the first place? The police had spoken with the group earlier in the evening, so were aware of the very large party going on. The park apparently closes at 11:00. The police should have been there at 11:01 to send the kids on their way. Granted, this unfortunate incident could have happened at any time, any place, but our students routinely go to this fire pit to party (in fact, the seniors gathered there into the wee hours the week before), and are well aware they will be allowed to do so without the party being broken up. Can't we make it more challenging for groups of 100 teenagers to gather IN PUBLIC to drink and smoke?
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