Here's the story for question 5 of the midterm.

Teen given 28-year term Florida judge goes lenient on student in
teacher's killing 

Chicago Tribune; Chicago, Ill.; Jul 28, 2001; Jon Burstein and Shana
Gruskin, South Florida Sun;

A stoic Nathaniel Brazill stood before a Palm County judge Friday
and learned he could get out of prison someday. The 14-year-old who
killed his English teachergot one of the more lenient possible
sentences: 28 years.

Brazill had tried to brace himself for a life term for killing Barry
Grunow onthe last day of class a year ago. But in the moments
before Judge RichardWennet announced his fate Friday morning, the
teenager repeatedly told his attorney he was so nervous he thought
his stomach would explode.

Wennet offered no clues about how he determined Brazill's punishment,
but he was bound by a state anti-gun violence law to impose at least a
25-year sentence for shooting Grunow at Lake Worth Middle School.

  Wennet also ordered that Brazill serve 2 years of house arrest after
completing his prison term and spend 5 years on probation. The
teenager mustalso earn a high school equivalency diploma and enroll
in an anger management course while in custody.

Brazill will be kept in a juvenile corrections center until he turns
age 18, when he will be sent to an adult prison.

Except for quiet weeping by Brazill's mother, PollyPowell, there
was almost no courtroom reaction when the sentence was handed down.
Brazill wore the same blank expression he had throughout the trial,
and Grunow's family members and friends sat tensed and almost motionl
ess.

The victim's widow, Pam Grunow, did not attend the sentencing.
Instead, she spent the day at a park with her children--Sam, 6, and L
ee-Anne, 1, relatives said.

The sentencing ended another chapterin a case that focused attention
on Florida's practice of trying violentyoung teenagers as adults. It
also was the second time in less than fivemonths that a South
Florida teenager received a lengthy prison term.


In March, Lionel Tate of Broward County was sentenced to life for k
illing a 6-year-old playmate.

But Brazill's parents vowed to continue the fight with an appeal.

"A 28-year sentence is a lot less than we were expecting," said his
father, Nathaniel Brazill Sr. "We'lllive with it, but it's not
over."

Prosecutor: In cold blood
Brazill admitted pointing a stolen .25-caliber semiautomatic
handgunat Grunow to scare the teacher into letting him speak to two
girls in his classroom on May 26, 2000. He had been suspended that
day for throwingwater balloons.

Prosecutor Marc Shiner argued that Brazill was atroubled teenager
who was empowered by the gun, knew how to use it and pulled the
trigger in cold blood.

A Palm Beach County jury convicted Brazill of second-degree murder.
Wennet later ruled that the anti-gunlaw applied to the teen.

Kay Nichols, Grunow's sister, said Brazill deserved a life sentence.
"Barry's life was worth much more than 28years," she said through
clenched teeth.

The rest of the Grunows, who Thursday implored Wennet to put Brazill
in prison for life, did notspeak

State Atty. Barry Krischer, who watched the sentencing, said he
thought 40 years was a fair sentence but would not criticize the d
ecision. Despite the judge's leniency, he said he would continue
prosecuting violent young teenagers as adults.

The Brazills, meanwhile,thanked God and Wennet for having mercy on
their son.

Polly Powell at first found it difficult to express herself and
family members stepped forward to help.

"It's been a long journey for us since thisstarted and we are so
glad that this is over," said Brazill's aunt, Tanga Brazill. "We're
just going to pray for everybody involved. We're a victim just like
they are because we lost Nathaniel."

Nathaniel Brazill Sr. said he was looking forward to seeing his son
at the jail.

  "I love him. I'll always love him," he said. "I tried to prepare him
for this day to let him know that whatever the judge gives him,
we're going to accept that and we're going to move on."

But after waitingmore than year for what they viewed as justice,
little could mollify Grunow's friends and family members.

While Brazill's parents spoke of the future, Pam Grunow's brother,
Nick Hlawka, watched in a daze a fewfeet away.

"I expected it would be a lot more," he said of the sentence.

Brett Packard, a Lake Worth Middle School teacher who cradled Barry
Grunow's head as he bled to death, also was unsettled by the
sentence.

"I hope it doesn't cheapen life," he said.

Mixed emotions

Parents, teachers and school staff watched the sentencing with mixed
emotions. Some were torn about whether the sentence was too lenient,
but most said they are glad it's over.

"I feel that this has brought closure to the whole thing," teacher
Idalia Zaldivarsaid. "It's been a tough year. A day hasn't gone by
when I have thought about Barry and his family."

Math teacher John James, who faced the gun-toting Brazill for a
moment as he fled the shooting scene, said hestayed neutral as the
verdict and sentence were debated. He wouldn't sayFriday whether he
felt it was fair. "I hope and pray Nate gets the helphe needs,"
James said.