Thread by @AmyReneeLeiker

Good morning. I'm in federal court today covering the sentencing hearing for convicted swatter Tyler Barriss. He pleaded guilty in November to 51 federal charges involving swatting calls and bomb hoaxes made at schools and businesses across the country.

Barriss is with his federal public defender, Rich Federico, this morning. He's dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit.

Judge is talking about some objections the defense had to supervision restrictions. They deal with Internet restrictions.

Judge is substituting alternative language in the restrictions. Neither side objects to the new language. (The changes aren't discussed in court.)

Barriss's defense attorney is arguing that Barriss should get credit for the time he spent in state custody. Attorney says he understands state case against Barriss will be dismissed after federal sentencing.

Barriss is charged directly with 28-year-old Andrew Finch's death in the state case. U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister and Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett are set to hold a joint press conference after this federal sentencing hearing.

There is a relative of Andrew Finch's in court this morning. But she doesn't want to address the court. Barriss also doesn't want to address the court.

U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister says Barriss was supposed to write apology letters to Finch's family and law enforcement for his actions. McAllister says the government agreed to not push for the maximum sentence if he expressed true remorse in letters.

He says the government didn't agree to advocate for the minimum sentence.

McAllister says he's spent a lot of time assessing the letters. "I do think the letter to the Finch family strikes me as remorseful. It's the longest of the three letters... He does say I'm not doing this because of the plea. I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do."

McAllister doubts the sincerity of the letters to law enforcement. "I cannot say with certainty that those letters are not remorseful." But he says he's not confident that they are, but he can't say that they aren't.

McAllister says Barriss's actions were a matter of Russian roulette. Sooner or later, he says, a fatal shooting like Finch's would have happened. It was just a matter of time. He calls Finch's shooting "a tragedy."

He encourages the court to "seriously consider" a sentence longer than 20 years in federal prison. But he says he won't take the position that Barriss should get the max of 25 years.

Barriss's attorney also calls Finch's death a tragedy. He says the low end of the sentencing range is sufficient punishment. He says approach in this case was not just acceptance of responsibility but also to proactively reach out to prosecutors' office in other jurisdictions...

...and give them information about other swatting incidents. Rich Federico says this is the first time in his career that he actually wrote charges for prosecutors that a client of his would be facing.

Barriss attorney: Barriss essentially has no family. His father died when he was 2. His mother abandoned him. He was raised by his grandmother, who eventually got a restraining order against him.

Federico: Grandmother wants nothing to do with him. When he was released in a California case, he went to a shelter. He really doesn't have the education and skills to care for himself. Others who knew him were scared of him because they're gamers and feared swatting.

Federico: Barriss' best friend in the world is someone he's never even met.
"As he sits here before the court, he literally has nothing left."

Federico: "Even though he's been abandoned" I hope Barriss realizes "that his life has value too." Barriss was home schooled. He sought solace in the gaming community. "He has anxiety issues ... being around people. He's very shy."

Federico: "He found the only place where he gaining notoriety and that was in this virtual world." It doesn't excuse his behavior. But online and on Twitter was where he felt like he had value.

Federico: Barriss didn't think anyone would get hurt. No one got hurt in the swattings until Finch died. So he thought, what's the harm? Now he knows better.

Federico: Prosecutors are concerned about Barriss being a serial swatter and doing this again. By the time Barriss is released from prison, technology will have changed.

Federico: "The letters were an expression that he really understands what happened."

Federico: "20 years is a long time. It's a huge number." We understand what happened in Wichita is a tragedy.

Federico asks judge to sentence Barriss to 240 months - 20 years.

Barriss now addressing the court, says he's not good at conveying emotion in spoken word. So he may not sound as sincere as he really is. He apologizes to Finch's family.

"I take full responsibility in what happened to him." If I didn't make that phone call "Andrew Finch never would have lost his life." He says he thinks about Finch's death every day in jail.

"If I could take it back I would. ... I'm just so sorry for that."

He says Finch's death "is something I truly regret and wish had never happened."

He says he said on Twitter after the shooting that he didn't kill anyone because people on social media were calling him a murderer. He didn't think that was fair. He was trying to defend himself.

Barriss: "I wasn't trying to say that I had no involvement. I know I do."

"I understand the impact that every other phone call I made across the nation." He says he realizes that he "was toying" with law enforcement and emergency services.

"I wasn't really taking things seriously."
He apologizes again. "I'm still learning."

Barriss is finished speaking.

Judge calls this a complex case, in "uncharted legal territory." There aren't comparable cases to look to for guidance.

Judge: Finch "quite logically" stepped outside of his house to see what was going on and within a matter of seconds "Mr. Finch was dead, a complete victim."

"Certainly from this community's perspective & the Finch family's perspective, they see it as the murder of Andrew Finch."

"And I'm very sympathetic to that view."

"Andrew Finch was a completely innocent victim. And no one disputes that."
Judge says the officer who shot Finch and his family, which is knows personally, was affected by the shooting.

Judge: Tragic personal circumstances "move me, but do not influence me." He refers to Barriss' upbringing.

Judge: The agreement negotiated in this case is interesting. He compliments prosecutors and defense attorneys on their work. He calls it "a huge breadth of cases" that were skillfully negotiated.

Judge refers now to Barriss' demonstration of remorse. "Remorse of course is a difficult thing to determine." Judge says he listened to an interview Barriss gave shortly after Finch's death where Barriss said he didn't pull the trigger.

Judge says he didn't feel like Barriss was denying that he had involvement or responsibility. Judge found letter to Finch family to be remorseful. "He doesn't speak with the eloquence of Robert Frost" but he's remorseful.

Judge says he's surprised it took so long for someone to get hurt. "It was inevitable that something like this would happen." He says it's tragic that it happened to the Finch family and the Wichita community.

Judge says "it's glaringly obvious in this case" that the law isn't up to date with technology. But he says the charges Barriss plead to are appropriate.

If Barriss was charged separately in all cases, he'd have faced maybe 10 years in prison - not the 20-25 he's facing now.

Judge says he quickly came to the decision that the maximum sentence was not appropriate in this case. But, he says, Barriss is charged with offenses that may not accurately reflect what happened under the law, he thinks 20 years is appropriate.

He says he encourages the powers that be to write law that keeps up with technology.

He calls events "tragic but foreseeable."

"Barriss should have anticipated that someone would get hurt by what he did ... (but) the fact that someone died was not only beyond his intention but beyond his comprehension."

He says it's his intention to sentence Barriss to 20 years in federal prison.

Sentences:
150 months on Kansas cases
90 months on California cases
30 months on DC cases

First two consecutive, last one concurrent.

Judge says he struggles with the sentence but in the total scheme of things that sentence reflects the interest of justice.

He'll be on five years of supervised release after he serves his prison sentence.
He has to pay restitution in Kansas case of $5000 to victim's fund, which paid out to Finch family.

A relative of Andrew Finch said on the courthouse steps that the family's focus now is on the federal civil lawsuit that's been filed against the City of Wichita over his fatal police shooting.

U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister and Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett about to start their joint press conference.

McAllister reiterating that Barriss was sentenced to 20 years in prison for swatting - the longest sentence for such a crime that's known of. "Swatting, as I've said before, is not a prank." He calls for the end of the practice in the gaming community.

McAllister: I hope the resolution of this case brings peace to Finch family.
The cases resolved today involve charges from three districts: Kansas, California and Washington D.C. The Kansas case involved three people's actions - Barriss and two gamers.

McAllister calls the result of the cases "incredibly successful." He thanks those involved in investigating and prosecuting Barriss.

Bennett now speaking.

Bennett: In first meeting with law enforcement where they reviewed the case and possible charges, federal prosecutor was there. State prosecutors and federal prosecutors have worked together on this case throughout.

Bennett says they knew early on that Barriss had been in trouble in California for bomb threats and other matters. At the time Barriss was charged in state court, prosecutors thought he'd be looking at a 10-year sentence. That changed in March.

The Supreme Court, though, said in March that out of state convictions have to be the same or narrower to count in Kansas. Bennett said the state statutes in California weren't similar enough to Kansas for convictions to count toward his criminal history for sentencing purposes.

Bennett says the ruling meant that Barriss would likely only face a couple of years in prison - 22 months or so - if convicted on the state court charges. He said he felt it was appropriate to dismiss state charges against Barriss in light of the federal plea agreement.

Bennett says formal paperwork dismissing the state court charges will be filed later today or Monday.

McAllister says Bennett's agreement to drop the state case was instrumental in Barriss agreeing to plead guilty in the federal cases.

McAllister: "It took a significant amount of time" to reach plea deal. Three districts had charges. "It took several months" to work with California "because he had so many charges because Mr. Barriss resided there."

McAllister also commends Barriss' attorney, Rich Federico. Federico approached the case with a global resolution in mind.

"I think it's a fair and an appropriate resolution" that avoids making the system conduct several trials. "The global solution was not easily achieved"...

But was fair and appropriate, he says.

McAllister says he thinks Barriss's letter to the Finch family seemed remorseful. But the letters to law enforcement were short. Barriss is willing to take responsibility. But is it all his fault? "No I don't think he thinks that."

McAllister doesn't know how many calls total Barriss made. But he thinks the charges cover about all of them.

McAllister says Kansas "was in the driver's seat" in terms of the prosecution.
He says "frankly I don't think he can even remember" all of the swatting calls Barriss made. There is evidence Barriss was paid nominal amounts. One time he wanted a ball cap.

McAllister: "It was never really about the money. It was about the notoriety."

Bennett now addressing Finch family's continued calls to charge officer who fired shot that killed Finch.

He says Kansas has an immunity law that protects those who act in self defense or in defense of another. "What I'm looking at simply is, is there a crime that was committed." He says he doesn't use the term justified in police shooting decisions.

"I am very much sympathetic to the Finch family. But at the end of the day my determination on any case has to be grounded solely on what the law allows" and the facts of the case. "There was not sufficient evidence to move forward with a case against the officer" under KS law.

McAllister talking again. He says they always treated the case as serious and thought they'd be seeking a significant amount of time for Barriss. He says he thinks the longest sentence he's seen in other swatting cases was about 44 months.

"So we thought we would send a strong message with this prosecution."

McAllister: Two of Barriss' charges could have resulted in life sentences. This case "is not a run of the mill criminal case" in Kansas. It has nationwide implications.

Bennett clarifies that Barriss in state court would've faced about 44 months total if convicted. With good time credit and time served, he would've spent about 22 more months in prison, if convicted.

What's next? Two gamers, Casey Viner and Shawn Gaskill, still have federal charges pending. Viner has a change of plea hearing scheduled for next week, where he'll likely plead guilty to charges, McAllister says.