Bound by the parameters set out in the statutes, Carson City Judge Jim Wilson this week sentenced 18-year-old Brandon Hicks to 10 years to life in prison for the rape of two girls.

But Wilson made it clear to Hicks that he wished he could sentence him to more.

“You don't think you did anything wrong, and that makes you especially dangerous ... then when you're out and have an opportunity again, you're potentially not going to understand if a woman doesn't want to have sex with you,” Wilson said Tuesday. “The only sentence I can impose I have imposed, but I can include in the judgment of conviction my intent regarding the sentence so that the parole board in the future would have that information. My intention, based upon the information I have about you, is that you would serve at least 20 years before they release you on parole. I think you're a dangerous person.”

The mothers of both victims spoke during the half-hour sentencing hearing, as did an 18-year-old girl who thought her longtime friend Hicks was giving her a ride home after a party. Instead, Hicks took her to the river and raped her on the ground, according to police reports.

“At this point I can't even go outside without getting sick. I can't even be around people I want to be around,” the victim said through tears. “No one in (my) house is the same. I can't even sleep at night, and I know that (my parents) know. I know that they have been woken from me being woken up from nightmares.”

That girl's mother talked of the changes she has seen in her daughter since the October rape.

“My daughter has not been the same since this occurred. Every night she's screaming and crying. She's afraid. It's made our whole household do everything differently,” she said. “She was an 18-year-old kid who's trapped in her house now in fear. ... For the past nine months, she's become a completely different person. Brandon, why?”

The mother of Hicks' 16-year-old victim, whom Hicks assaulted in November at his home while his father slept in another room, read a letter to the court from her daughter, who she was said too afraid to face Hicks.

“I feel like I am no longer safe. I have not had one night where I can feel comfortable in my own home. I have terrifying nightmares about Brandon raping me ... sometimes even killing me or my loved ones. Any time I try to spend the night at a friend's house, even if it's right down the street, I get scared to where I cry or I end up having my parents come and get me,” the tearful mother read. “I used to be the girl who always had a smile on her face, and now I am the girl who never makes a sound. ... I feel that Brandon has not only ruined who I was, but has also ruined my life.”

Her mother echoed that sentiment.

“You pretty much destroyed our entire family for what you did to her, and I could never forgive you for that,” she said, “and honestly I don't think 10 years is long enough for you.”

Hicks declined to speak on his own behalf, and because the sentence was indisputable, his attorney didn't offer any mitigating factors in an attempt to get the sentence reduced.

But after Wilson noted that Hicks had been jailed for threatening to shoot an officer in the head in an unrelated case, the judge constructed a creative way to let the parole board know what he wished he could do.

“The harm that you did to these young women and their families and your own family is tremendous,” said Wilson.

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20110721/NEWS/110729994/1007&parentprofile=1058



I have known Judge Wilson for years, before he was a Judge. I even worked on his campaign for District Court Judge. He is a good man and very fair. I have NEVER seen him this upset before and have never seen him make comments like he did in court. It was really clever how he got it thrown in there that it's his reccommendation that he does 20 years beofre the Parole Board even consider him for Parole. You know that will stick. Damn im impressed, that was so clever!

This punk will definately re-offend. Hell, he has other cases pending, one where he threatened to kill a Sheriff's Deputy!

Honestly I wish this was a capitol offense, since this punk killed a part of each of his victims and they will never be the same. With that said 10 years to life is way to light. It should be a minimum of Life in Prison, people like this will NEVER change.