The Path Not Taken

Dear Editor,
    From someone who doesn't know Brandon [Threet], the situation brings many questions to mind [“Justice or Vengeance?,” News, Nov. 4]. Within my hometown, Salem, N.H., a similar case has put a friend in jail for only a few years. However, the boy who was hurt is still alive, and the punishment for his actions seems fair. The fight broke out the same way, during a high school party, after many drinks. It didn't matter what the kid said or did, the fact of the matter was the alcohol kicked in. This is something that occurs more than we may know. The question remains, who is to blame? Who truly knows how the fight started. And as seen in Brandon's case, I don't believe it's been considered. When hearing about my friend's case, his friends had a hard time taking the stand to defend the boy who was hurt. Their reason – it comes back to the fact that the one who was punished was not at total fault. But because he was the one who came out of the fight without many injuries, the fault was then taken. However, for Brandon it seems clear that what he did wasn't intentional. Although the actions got out of hand, they could've been reversed. Now every day Brandon runs that vision through his head like a bad dream, but it did happen. The severity of his punishment seems harsh. Although he did take away the life of a friend, he took part of his own life away as well. For Brandon, I would hope that his case is reconsidered to help understand that his actions were unintentional and his sentence to jail is severe. Life takes many turns and different paths, paths we aren't expecting, but with an outcome such as Brandon's, the path was wrongly directed.