BULLHEAD CITY – A Mohave County judge objected to the punishment component when he rejected a plea agreement proposed in a deadly shooting in Bullhead City. There is no dispute that Robert Logan, 40, shot and killed Hans Peterson, 56, after the Bullhead City residents got into a fist fight for unknown reasons outside a laundromat early last March.
During the Thursday, Feb. 29 hearing, Judge Billy Sipe said he could not accept the 15-month prison term stipulated in the deal convicting Logan of negligent homicide.
Judge Sipe rejected the agreement crafted by Deputy Mohave County Attorney James Schoppmann and defense attorney Jake Baldridge. Schoppmann told the court that the attorneys thoroughly vetted the case and determined the lenient prison sentence was appropriate given that a jury might acquit Logan.
Schoppmann said the trial outcome would be a close call because the jury could determine that Logan acted in self-defense. Judge Sipe said he understood the victim was the aggressor and had a high level of methamphetamine in his bloodstream, but he countered that Peterson was unarmed and more than 25 feet away when Logan shot him during a break in the altercation.
Judge Sipe noted letting a jury decide the case might be produce an outcome more appropriate than any plea deal.
Schoppmann said he respectfully requested the court to “lay this at our feet” and accept the lawyer’s work product and case outcome. “This is what I believe is a just result in this case, given the risk of what could happen at trial,” Schoppmann said.
Sipe said he simply could not justify a 15-month prison punishment in a case involving death by violence. “Ultimately, I’m the gatekeeper for justice,” Sipe said noting he did not take the bench to be popular.
“I’m not going to be a rubber stamp and make everyone happy,” Sipe said. “If I wanted to be liked, I’d be a fireman rather than a judge.”
Sipe withdrew from the case that will be reassigned to another judge by Presiding Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle.
