Brian Deneke Speech, by Rosie Maynard

Justice is full of power. In itself, it has the power to decide weather someone lives or dies. In many cases, and hopefully most, our justice system makes the right decisions and sets the standard of how things should be. American citizens in the form of juries are given the power to change peoples lives for the better, but sometimes it ends up being for the worse.

Brian Deneke was a teenager from Armarillo, Texas. He was highly looked up to in their local punk scene, and he was loved by all of his friends and family. Over the years the 'punks' in Armarillo became more and more teased. They were mocked and bullied by the "White Hats," a group of kids named for the baseball hats that they usually wore. The punks weren't perfect, but no one deserved what happened on that regular Friday night, December 12th, 1997. The whole thing started out as a petty fight between two groups of teenagers in Armarillo: the Punks, and the Jocks. The Texas Monthly sums up the reasons for the fight as so: "The previous weekend there had been a fight between the two groups outside a coffee shop on Western Street, at which 17 year old Dustin Camp...had gotten into an argument with several punks.....He returned to the coffee shop that Friday to see how the rematch would unfold."

Brian Deneke was one of the punks that showed up that night. No one should have been there; there shouldn't have been any fight at all. Unfortunately there was a fight, and a horrible thing came of it. Dustin and two friends, Elise and Rob, drove to the scene of the fight. Elise was alarmed when she saw how bad the fight was, and she thought that Dustin would take her and Rob home. Instead, he turned his Cadillac toward the action, weaving through different clumps of people fighting. Elise later recalled that it was when Dustin saw his good friend, Andrew McCullough, being beaten by several punks that he "snapped." Driving toward the crowd he knocked a punk off his feet and onto the hood of his car. When the punks friends started hitting Dustin's car with bats and fists, Dustin started driving toward the exit. He then changed his mind, circled back around, jumping a median and picking up speed. Spotting another punk, 19 year old Brian Deneke, he picked up speed and drove steadily toward him. With a thud, Brian rolled up onto the hood before sliding beneath the car. "Elise closed her eyes and prayed that it was only the median that she had felt underneath the wheels. "I'm a ninja in my Caddy," Elise heard Dustin boast....Elise looked over her shoulder and saw Brian crumpled on the pavement in a pool of blood." That night, Elise and Rob decided to go to the police station. Their accounts of what happened were undeniable evidence against their friend. At dawn the police arrived at Dustin's house and arrested him. He would tell the police many stories, and then decide that he had been helping his friend that was being beat by Brian and that Brian had slipped on ice and under the wheels of his car. A trial was unavoidable, and what a trial it would be.

Dustin Camp's trial was one that shocked the community of Armarillo. Even the people that weren't punks were outraged. The jury was shown all of the evidence. Elise and Rob testified, and punks from that night identified Dustin's car. Another punk, John King, testified to fighting Dustin's friend in the parking lot, not Brian. The main thing was two of Dustin's close friends testifying against him. There were two first hand accounts, and Dustin had no alibi. When the defense attorney stepped up, his case was a sad one. Not sad because it was weak, sad because it shouldn't have even been allowed in a court room. "Another officer, at the request of the defense, held up for the jury each item of clothing that Brian had been wearing the night of the fight--camouflage pants, combat boots, chains, and a ratty shirt--as well as a photograph of him with a mohawk." Even though this had nothing to do with the case, the defense attorney wanted to remind the jury that Dustin was an "All American" boy, while Brian was a "threat to society."

After hours of deliberation the jury finally convicted Dustin of manslaughter, meaning that he hadn't intentionally killed Brian, even though it was shown that he hadn't tried to hit the brakes when he saw Brian in front of his car. Manslaughter carries a 2-20 year sentence, but the jury was given the chance to only give Dustin probation since he had a clean record. The prosecution attorney hit the jury hard in his closing argument. He pointed out that young people ". . . need to be told by the twelve of you that what you do carries consequences . . . whoever you are, no matter what you look like, no matter how you dress." He told them that he didn't expect them to be happy about sending Dustin to jail, but he felt that they would do the right thing. "I ask you to send a message to this community that all young people, all of them, will suffer the consequences of their actions, and that you are holding Dustin Camp unconditionally responsible for the death of Brian Deneke." Even after the prosecutions speech, the jury decided not to be swayed. Almost 3 hours later they sentenced Dustin to 10 years probation and a 10, 000 dollar fine that he didn't have to pay of he was "on his best behavior."

So what did the jury do with the power that they had to influence teenagers around the world? They threw it away by letting Dustin off almost scott free. What does this say to any younger siblings that Dustin or his friends might have? "Oh, it doesn't matter if I run over someone that I don't like because I'm a good kid and I'll get away with it." I'm sure that's not a message that people want sent to their children, not in America, not anywhere. Also, what did this tell the punks of that community? It told the punks of their society what they had known all along. It told them that teenagers deemed "good kids" would enjoy an allowed sense of 'wildness' in Armarillo and go without being punished. They, on the other hand, did not have that freedom. "If all you get for murdering someone with your car is 10 years probation with a felony free record, then I can only ask Mr. Camp not to let me see him walking around," wrote one television viewer in an e-mail that was read on the air.

Last, but most certainly not least, what about Brian's family and friends? If they had any trust in the legal system of our country in the first place, then they obviously don't have any left after this trial. Brian's fellow punk friends who felt that the government would never do anything for them before only felt that reinforced now. Brian's mother will live every day knowing that the man who killed her son walks the same street that she does, and stops and the same stores as she. His father and brother will live every day knowing that maybe one day Dustin will stop in at their work, or maybe even apply for a job there. I'm sure that the 12 jurors in Brian's case never thought of that, or why would they have let him go free?

The 12 jurors in Brian's case abused the power that they had. What power was that? The power to avenge Brian's family, and the power to positively affect an entire nation. How could they have affected an entire nation? By proving that it doesn't matter what you look like or who you are, everyone is equal, and everyone will receive what they deserve. They didn't though. American citizens in the form of juries are given the power to change peoples lives for the better, but sometimes it ends up being for the worse. In Brian's case, it was definitely the worse.