Significantly, Richard felt terrible about what had happened. Almost immediately, he publicly expressed remorse and wrote a letter of apology to Sasha. It was also clear that Sasha and Sasha’s family were open to creating a healing process and a public dialogue about what had happened.
Sasha’s mother went to the District Attorney to ask that a restorative justice process be pursued but was refused. In a media statement at the time of sentencing, Sasha’s mother expressed relief that Sasha would not have to go to trial, but also said “…we really feel for Richard and his family. Because of what seems like a childish, impulsive, tragic lack of judgment on the part of Richard, he and his family are going to be suffering from this.” She went on to say, “A 16-year-old’s actions — however severe the results — don’t have any place in the adult judicial system.”
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