Two brothers who roughed up their grandmother and urinated on her and her clothes were sentenced to a year in jail Monday after a judge repeatedly asked why the two men did what they did.
Michael Levi Hansen Jr., 20; and Christopher Eugene Hansen, 22, previously pleaded guilty to abuse of an elderly adult, a class A misdemeanor; and lewdness and criminal mischief, both class B misdemeanors.
Third District Judge Robin Reese sentenced the pair to a year in jail, with 95 days of credit for time already served. The judge imposed 180 days of jail time for the other two offenses but suspended the time behind bars.
Reese also imposed a year of probation with orders to get mental health and substance abuse evaluations and whatever counseling is recommended. He ordered no contact with the grandmother until a probation officer permits it, directed the brothers to get either a high school diploma or GED, and required a fine and payment for restitution.
Beyond that, the judge had a question.
"How do you explain this?" Reese asked. "It's hard for me to understand why you behaved the way you did toward your grandmother."
Christopher Hansen said he wasn't thinking clearly because he was distraught over the recent death of his mother, who died of a drug overdose, and Hansen said he also was drunk at the time.
"My grandmother was just there," he said "My anger just got the better of me."
Christopher Hansen teared up as he apologized to his grandmother, Rita Avery, for what he did.
"I love her — I didn't mean it," he said, tearfully.
Michael Hansen also apologized to Avery: "I know I love her, and I'd like to have a relationship like we used to."
Michael Hansen said he originally blamed Avery for his mother's death, but he should not have done that. He mistakenly thought Avery somehow had answers for what caused his mother's death but said he was wrong to do what he did. "There is no excuse."
Meanwhile, Rita Avery sounded a conciliatory note during her victim impact statement.
"I regret what happened, but I want them to know I love them and I forgive them," she told the judge. "I really feel like we can go forward in this relationship."
Reese asked if there had ever been episodes like this in the past, and Avery replied, "There had been other things before but not to this extent. They've always had explosive tempers, but so have I."
The guilty pleas that the Hansens entered in August as part of a plea bargain stemmed from a July 1 incident in which police said Christopher Hansen burst in on his grandmother, who was taking a shower in her home, and began throwing bottles of shampoo and baby powder at her. Police said Hansen hit his grandmother in the face and shoved her, causing her to fall and hurt her head.
He then urinated on her.
After that, he went into the living room and damaged a cabinet, court documents say.
Police said Michael Hansen shoved and hit his grandmother as she was leaving the bathroom, then urinated on her clothes and began punching holes in the walls.
e-mail: lindat@desnews.com