Miladin Kovacevic, Serbian basketball player, gets 2 years. Is this fair?

It was recently announced that Miliadin Kovacevic was sentenced to two years for the 2008 assault on Bryan Steinhauer. Kovacevic pled guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence to the attack that put Steinhauer in a coma for two months, and left him still recovering almost two years later. The plea was offered in exchange for Kovacevic's testimony against two Serbian Diplomates who provided him with fake documents when he fled the United States after the encounter.

We heard from a umber of opinions on this case, ranging from a harsher sentence is needed to it depends on the intent of his actions.

Now we ask you: Is this a fair sentence? Was this a depraved crime? What, if any, items from the depravity scale can be applied in this case?

http://www.depravityscale.org

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• basketball
• player
• serbian
• Miladin
• Kovacevic
• coma
• assault
• attack
• beating
• depraved
• depravity
• scale
• plea
• deal
• guilty
• sentence
• justice
• intent

[qwexas]

I think words like "fair" & "deserve" are overused. I don't think we should use the justice system to punish. I think it should be used to make society safer. This is one event in his life. Is it part of a pattern of aggression? Or one of those things that could happen to anybody? If he has aggressive tendencies and this is only the most obvious example, he should have treatment. I don't want to punish people beyond what is necessary for protecting the innocent.

[mastaace604]

well its 2 years so suck it up.

[Stdea01]

not a regular barfight he was stomping the kids skull while he was down

[matedruml]

It's hard to tell. People get into bar fights all the time and for the most part don't intend on putting people into a coma. When you mix a party, alcohol, a bad mood and testosterone the end result usually isn't good if an argument ensues. I doubt the serbian man intended on putting the kid into a coma but rather it was a fight that got out of hand. It's hard to pass judgment when you don't know the feelings of adrenaline and the 'heat of the moment' emotions that play a role in fights...

[theresa923]

I'm torn on this one....here you have two men who fight..unfortunately, one ends up in coma....however, the circumstances following the fighting seem to show disrespect for the victim, a want to remove himself from penalty and a lack of remorse. Was the sentence too light? Yes, I think it was, considering the medical woes of the victim and the illegality of the defendants fleeing. Was this crime more depraved than others? I don't think the act itself was more depraved, but the consequences were.