S. Tahoe man who pulled gun on bar patron going to jail
Scott Enerson of South Lake Tahoe was sentenced Feb. 25 to seven years in prison.
Enerson pulled a gun on a fellow patron at Whiskey Dick’s in June 2012.
He pleaded guilty to felony assault with a firearm and the enhancement of using a firearm during the commission of a crime.
El Dorado County Assistant District Attorney Hans Uthe said Enerson and the victim presented compelling testimony at Monday’s sentencing hearing.
“Ultimately the crime was just far too serious for us to permit anything less than a state prison commitment,” Uthe told Lake Tahoe News. “ And, although he was fortunately not physically harmed, from what the victim, a really decent guy, said at sentencing, his life just isn’t going to be the same again either, and not in a good way.”
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
Good job, Hans; you’re one of Tahoe’s good guys.
And yet a man is beaten to a point that lead to him dying from the injuries sustained in that beating at Mo’s Place and narry a whisper of even any investigation.
So my take:
Pull a gun, don’t shoot it, go to jail.
Join your friends and beat the life out of somebody, literally, and no worries!
I have difficulty reconciling the 44 month sentence given to the woman who hit Adam Rose while DUI and fled the scene with the seven year (nearly twice as long) sentence for someone who pulled a gun and made a threat but didn’t use the gun. While the victim in the latter case may have been traumatized and maybe had some physical injuries, I can’t imagine him having anywhere near the type of lifelong physical and psychological injuries Adam will have.
I appreciate, more than most, the fact that sentencing standards and decisions are based on many, many factors and public policies, and it may not be possible to understand the sentences given without knowing all the facts and all the public policies behind them, but somehow giving someone 7 years for pulling, but not using, a gun just doesn’t seem right if using a different kind of deadly weapon (a car) while drunk, hitting and maiming an innocent person, and then fleeing the scene and trying to escape is only worth 44 months.
I’m a bicyclist, so maybe my view is a bit biased, but I’d much rather have someone threaten me with a gun (or with a car – something most bicyclists have experienced repeatedly) than to be run over by a drunk driver and (if I’m lucky) nearly die.
Maybe Hans would care to comment on how he feels about the difference between the two cases and sentences.
Biggerpicture, what do you think is going on about Mo’s place and the police department not investigating it and stalling on it? Hoping everyone will just forget about it?
Mr. Enerson appeared to be in a “brainwashed” state of mind that evening at Whiskey’s.
Mr. Scott Enerson was also a defender of “Freedom of Speech”, as many people are aware of in this community.
Reader, welcome to our legal system. Notice I didn’t say justice system, which it is light years away from the legal system.
Oh yeah, another thought? Let’s ban alcohol because no worse drug exists is our society. Ask Mr. Enerson or the people involved in the Mo’s tragedy.
glad the guy is going to prison. There are no places for guns in bars or anywhere that I can think of. I hate guns and the whackos that think they are special because they have them.
I usually don’t respond to postings, in large part because we are just too busy, but I wanted to assure folks that Mos is not a done deal and also try to answer “Reader Says”. Although Mr Enerson was not able to shoot the victim, if you look at the video, and I did a number of times, it is reasonably clear that he was trying to do so and probably would have done so if he had not been restrained. The firearm actually discharged once and one can see him appear to try to recock it. Going beyond that though, any time a gun is involved, the ‘stakes’ as they might be called go up. That is how the People of the state and the legislature have both set up our laws when it comes to crimes with and involving firearms, and it is our job to enforce them fairly and consistently with the intentions of those who passed them. It is a given that like cases should always be resolved in a like manner, but when it comes to situations like Enerson and the lady who hit Mr. Rose, no two cases are alike and we have to do the best we can as DAs to appreciate and balance the various competing factors and circumstances and in that way hopefully achieve fair outcomes.
I hope above helps. We are by no means perfect, but we try hard and take our responsibilities seriously.
And I fully agree with the posted thoughts about the dangers of mixing alcohol and firearms or alcohol and driving. Alcohol has its place for those who choose to drink, but it is just insane (and I don’t mean that in a legal sense) to mix drinking too much with carrying a firearm or driving a vehicle. I have seen far too much death and tragedy caused by people who simply did not get or chose to ignore that pretty obvious reality.
-Hans
DA’s Office