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Johnson: It may be the law, but outcome far from just

By Bill Johnson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 20, 2006 at midnight

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When the deputy finally arrived to escort her to jail Monday night, the little girl with the long blonde hair did not cry.

I'd have lost that bet.

Her mother, held tightly by her father, was not so lucky, finally losing it when the girl turned and walked briskly to her, wrapping her in a big hug.

"I'll be OK. I love you," the girl whispered before the deputy gently took her by the arm and they disappeared past the metal detector.

Jessica Bralish was given a five-day jail sentence last month for possession of a concealed weapon on school grounds.

I have written about Jessica before. That she was prosecuted and is now serving time in the adult women's section of the Jefferson County jail is a patently absurd fact.

Her trip to jail started last May with a call from a now-20-year-old man she knew mostly from a youth Christian group. Could they have coffee together, he asked?

"I was just trying to be a friend to him," she said in the moments before she was locked up.

Her choir class at Arvada West High School was going to an end-of-year pizza gathering off campus at the same time. Her teacher gave her permission to skip it.

What Jessica Bralish did not know was that the man she was riding with had attempted to sell cocaine to a couple of Arvada West boys and that the cops were now looking for him.

She knew and liked the deputy who pulled them over not five miles from school. The deputy had been the resource officer at the middle school she attended.

Jessica was seated on the curb when the deputy asked about her purse. About the knife inside that purse.

Sure, she'd had the purse at school, but only in her car, Jessica offered.

The knife was a relatively small one, its blade barely 3 inches long. Her father had given it to her years earlier, after she was savagely assaulted while leaving her job at a movie theater.

"I didn't even remember I had it," Jessica Bralish said, as she sat in the jail lobby. "My dad gave it to me in case a really bad thing happened and I really, really needed it."

She had not brandished it or even taken it out to show to friends. But based upon what happened next, you would think she had waved it like a sword in the school hallway, threatening everyone.

They took the man away. They told Jessica to go back to school. She was there less than an hour before the school resource officer escorted her to his patrol car, handcuffed her and took her to a juvenile facility. She was let go hours later.

"I didn't realize then how serious this was going to be," she said.

Initially charged with a felony, Jessica Bralish and her parents agreed for her to plead guilty to a misdemeanor. The man, even though cocaine was found in his truck, was never charged and today walks free.

Jessica Bralish's probation assessment noted that she was an A student, altar server, Bible school volunteer and young adult choir member at St. Joan of Arc Church in Arvada who never once had been in trouble.

At sentencing, Judge Brian D. Boatright indicated he wasn't about to send the girl to jail, that at most he would sentence her to home detention.

Prosecutor Ely Pierson, though, argued hard for jail time.

Scott Storey, Jefferson County district attorney, in an interview, lamented the girl's confinement, saying he had personally reviewed her case.

But the law, he said, ultimately had "tied our hands," that it was unfortunate that she became an adult as the case dragged on.

"As prosecutors, though, we are bound to follow the law as passed by the legislature, which believes there should be consequences for kids who bring weapons to school. We had no discretion. The judge did not. We would be irresponsible to just ignore the law."

Jessica Bralish turned 18 on Nov. 12.

Her father, David, 49, spent part of Monday fashioning picket signs. He carried one for about 20 minutes in front of the Jefferson County courthouse and DA's office before a sheriff's deputy stopped him, saying he needed a permit.

"No, I don't believe I deserve this," Jessica said softly as we waited. "There are a lot of people out there who have done a lot worse than I have. Still, I don't hold anything against anyone. I just want this to be over with."

Her looming incarceration had been harder on her family than on her, she confided.

"I've told myself this will be a good time to do some soul searching," she said nervously, as we sat waiting. "I would like to draw if I can."

An hour passes. At 8 p.m. a deputy arrived. He was extremely nice, taking time to reassure Jessica's parents that she would be well taken care of.

"Can I draw?" Jessica asked the man. He assured her she would have access to paper and pencils.

"See, this is not going to be that bad," she tells her parents.

David and Shirley Bralish hugged each other as their daughter disappeared.

"If it seems like I'm crying, it is just my allergies," he said, looking away.

"At least she'll be home for Christmas," Shirley Bralish said, batting back her tears.

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