Family of Bryan Stow confronts Dodger Stadium attackers in court
Feb. 20--The sister of San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow, severely beaten outside Dodger Stadium in 2011, addressed his attackers in court Thursday, calling them "despicable" for not showing even a "tiny bit of remorse."
Marvin Norwood, 30, and Louie Sanchez, 31, faced charges of mayhem, assault and battery, and inflicting great bodily injury in the beating of Stow, a 44-year-old father of two.
The March 31 attack left Stow, a Northern California paramedic, with serious head trauma and a permanent disability that means he will need care for the rest of his life.
His sister, Erin Collins, addressed his attackers in court after they pleaded guilty to charges related to their roles in the attack -- Sanchez to one count of mayhem, Norwood to assault causing great bodily injury.
"Being here, I'd hoped to see a tiny bit of remorse to not think you both are that despicable," she said, before pausing to look at them seated behind a table. "But I don't."
"I feel sad for us and I feel sad for your families," she added. "I hope you understand what you did."
Stow was attacked as he and three other Giants fans, all Bay Area paramedics, walked through the parking lot after the Dodgers' opening day win against the Giants. Witnesses at a preliminary hearing in 2012 described boorish, drunken and profane behavior by Sanchez against Giants fans.
According to witnesses, Stow said he hoped that two men who had launched a verbal assault would "code," paramedic slang for having a heart attack, and that one of the men, later identified as Sanchez, shoved Stow. The paramedics took off to avoid a confrontation but a few minutes later the two assailants accosted Stow and his friends.
Witnesses said Stow was sucker-punched, falling to the ground and fracturing his skull. Once on the ground, Stow was kicked in the ribs and head, they said.
In sentencing Sanchez to eight years in prison, Norwood to four, Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli called the attack "absolutely brutal, absolutely vicious."
"In my opinion, cowardice," he added.
As he addressed the men, Sanchez smiled, looked down and shook his head.
The judge continued: "You not only ruined the life of Mr. Stow, the obvious victim, but his children, his spouse, his family, his friends. One day you'll be released ... and Mr. Stow will be forever trapped in the medical condition you caused him. Only because of the love of his family may he be able to manage this."
Stow's sister also read a statement on behalf of his ex-wife Jacqueline Kain, who said that while the former paramedic still cannot get out of bed, "you get to get up every morning and live. Even if it's behind bars.
"We live in a completely different world than you, but my children had to learn early on that horrible, mean people exist," Stow's ex-wife wrote.
Bryan Stow's father, David, faced Sanchez and Norwood, saying the attack was "so mean and vicious, it has left Bryan unable to even care for himself," adding that his son now has a "lifetime of pain, therapy and hard work, daily, that he must endure."
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