(Update) Judge Facing Difficult Decision in Sentencing of Rosemount Car Wash Murderer

Update (4:20 p.m., Jan. 4, 2012) Dakota County District Court Judge Karen Asphaug is facing a difficult decision in sentencing convicted murderer Jonas Grice after attorneys for the prosecution and defense made compelling arguments Wednesday afternoon.

Grice faces sentencing after being convicted on Oct. 26, 2011, of second-degree murder for a July 2010 incident in which he shot and killed a 22-year-old Apple Valley man in a Rosemount car wash.  

Prosecuting attorneys in the case are asking for the maximum sentence in the case—40 years in prison—arguing Grice was the first aggressor in the incident. 

The state pointed to two separate witnesses that testified during the trial to seeing Grice argue with the victim and a friend prior to a pushing exchange that led to the shooting.

They also cited witness testimony that veins were bulging in Grice's neck and that he looked angry, not scared nor confused during the confrontation. 

"Mr. Grice did not lack substantial capacity or judgement at the time of the offense," prosecuting attorney Jessica Bierwerth said, undermining the defense argument that Grice was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic in 2005.

The prosecution also highlighted prior incidents of stalking—pattern of harassment (2001), fifth-degree assault (2003) and third-degree criminal sexual conduct (2004) to establish of Grice's pattern of violent behavior.   

"(40 years in prison) is the only sentence that ensures public safety for a continued amount of time ... and the only sentence that is appropriate for this senseless killing," Bierwerth concluded.

Defense attorney Rickie Leonard Petry, on the other hand, urged Judge Asphaug to consider the consequences of sending Grice to prison rather than to psychiatric facility. 

First, Petry told Asphaug, it was unlikely Grice would take his medication on a regular basis in jail and, as a result, his condition would deteriorate. Grice would then be subjected to a "large number of people, many of whom are violent and many of whom are predators," which could constitute cruel and unusual punishment. 

Petry then argued that Minnesota does not condone capital punishment and Grice's crime does not warrant life in prison. "(Grice) won't be in prison for life. He is gonna get out sometime. And when he does, after not taking his medication regularly, he's gonna do it again and again."

Petry cited testimony from an expert witness that confirmed if psychiatric patients fail to take their medication on a regular basis, their conditions worsen, their behavior can become more eratic and they can become more more violent.

Petry's final argument was for sentencing Grice to an extended stay at St. Peter Regional Treatment Center. 

"St. Peter is a very very secure facility. It houses some of the most dangerous people in Minnesota. In fact, it is not much different from a prison. Nobody's going anywhere (in the facility) if they're not supposed to," Petry argued.

Perhaps most importantly, Petry concluded, is that Grice would receive the medication and psychiatric treatment he needs at St. Peter. "One thing that allows people like (Grice) to succeed in life is a support network outside the family." 

Judge Asphaug made no comments to the court after hearing sentencing arguments other than to say she would issue her sentence Thursday morning at 9 a.m.

Update (12:45 p.m., Jan. 4, 2012) Just prior to breaking for lunch, Dakota County District Court Judge Karen Asphaug listened to impact statements from the mother, father and girlfriend of slain Apple Valley man Anthony Hartman. 

Jonas Gerald Grice, 28, of Burnsville, was convicted of shooting and killing 22-year-old Hartman at a Rosemount car wash on July 12, 2010.

"I'm still waiting for my son to come home," Karen Hartman said during a tear-filled address to the court. "I'm waiting to wake up from this nightmare ... I knew he'd leave home someday but he was supposed to come back with a wife and kids."  

Mrs. Hartman also talked about her reluctance to watch television or listen to the radio because the former is a constant reminder of the tragedy, while the latter represents something to which she and her son would spend hours singing together.

She concluded by saying, "I'm sorry but 40 years is not nearly enough" to pay for the defendant's crime against her son.

Longtime girlfriend of Anthony Hartman looked Grice in the face when asking why he was given the right to see Anthony in his final moments of life.

"No sentence would ever satisfy me," she said after talking about the family she and Hartman planned but would never have.

Hartman's father talked about his feelings of failure "for not protecting (Anthony)" and the uselessness he feels when looking into his wife's "empty eyes." 

"He has a history of extreme violence," Mr. Hartman said referencing Jonas' 2004 conviction which was reduced from rape to third-degree sexual assault. "If (Grice) would not have gotten off easy once, my son would still be alive."

Mr. Hartman also asked Judge Asphaug for the most extreme penalty she could give.

Patricia Grice, Jonas' mother, addressed the court and the Hartman family through her son's defense attorney and expressed her condolences for what her son admitted doing.

She spoke of Jonas' mental illness and epxressed her hope that he would be incarcerated in a facility that employed specialists to help him deal with his lifelong issues. 

Speaking through his defense attorney, Jonas expressed his "sincere sorrow in causing the death of Anthony Hartman." 

Asphaug is prepared to listen to oral arguments for sentencing this afternoon.

Asphaug did say that she will be prepared to hand down Grice's sentence first thing Thursday morning.

Update (Jan. 4, 2012) Sentencing began at the Dakota County Courthouse in Hastings Wednesday for a 28-year-old Burnsville man convicted of shooting and killing a 22-year-old Apple Valley man at a Rosemount car wash on July 12, 2010.

Dakota County District Judge Karen Asphaug announced that Jonas Gerald Grice was found guilty of second-degree intentional murder on .

During today's hearing, Asphaug listened to testimony from a victim of a sexual assault that Grice was convicted of in August 2004. Asphaug would like to give a "judicial consideration" in the sentencing of Grice for the murder of Anthony Hartman.

Grice's sentencing will continue Thursday morning.