(Our hearing video starts with the victims speaking to the judge)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
We’re at the King County Courthouse again this Friday afternoon, a popular day/time for sentencings. This afternoon, King County Superior Court Judge – soon to become state Supreme Court Justice – Steven González has just sentenced 42-year-old John Novotny to 8 years – short of the 10 years the prosecution had asked for, but one year more than the upper end of the “standard sentencing” range.
We reported in October that Novotny, described by authorities as a “prolific burglar,” had pleaded guilty to 16 felonies, including burglary, forgery, identity theft, and “taking a motor vehicle.” Among the crimes with which he was charged in April were multiple break-ins victimizing elderly residents at the Arrowhead Gardens complex in southeast West Seattle. He had a unit at a nearby storage facility in which investigators say they found loot from other West Seattle burglaries.
In court for the sentencing: Five of Novotny’s victims, as well as the two lead detectives on the case, and several of Novotny’s family members and friends.
Prosecutors sought an exceptional sentence of 10 years, almost double the low end of the “standard sentencing range” for what he did. Prosecutor Mafe Rajul explained that his history merited it: He “went on a crime spree between January and March of this year, when he was arrested” and pleaded guilty in February – then committed the Arrowhead Gardens crimes after that. “An exceptional sentence is appropriate in this case, because if the court (does not), at least 12 of the crimes he has committed will go unpunished.” The defense had sought a drug-treatment sentence (DOSA) but prosecutors said he shouldn’t be eliglble for that because instead of committing a crime to feed his drug use, he committed crimes “as if it was (his) job” and “liked to use drugs.” When he ran out of space in his storage unit, so stuffed it was with stolen property, Rajul said, he asked his parents to pay for something bigger: “All of the defendants’ actions were calculated.” He even cleaned out entire houses, and was arrested wearing one of his victims’ clothing and watch.
We have the hearing on video from the victims’ testimony through the judge’s decision (added, it’s now atop the story). Here are the details:
The first victim who testified – a retired police officer – said that Novotny’s actions forced him to undergo surgery. “He walks among us, he acts as though we are nothing to him,” he said, of the type of criminal he perceives Novotny to be, one with a “cavalier” attitude: “He did this because he chose to – it was his job, it was his career.”
The second was a woman who said she was one of the first victims at the senior complex, and described how unsettling it was to realize the people were being victimized “by someone who could move in and out of the building at will.”
The third to speak was Arrowhead Gardens’ assistant manager. She described the age and vulnerability of residents at their “affordable-housing” complex. “This situation was devastating to our residents, traumatic” – and that went for even the residents who weren’t directly victimized, she said.
Fourth to speak, a woman whose storage locker was targeted, and lost irreplaceable Japanese vases: “That is my joy to arrange flowers, but I am unable to do it, I cannot afford to buy new vases.”
A fifth victim made a statement through the prosecutor – an artist who also lost irreplaceable items, including tools of her trade, gifts from her family, items purchased abroad. Then she read a statement from a sixth victim who lives out of state and wrote about what it was like to have discovered his townhouse ransacked and his car stolen: “I was shaking so badly … trying to describe to the policeman what had been taken,” and then he realized, so much was gone, he couldn’t even describe it all. He too lost sentimental “items that money will not replace.” His car was finally recovered – with damage and vandalism that took five weeks to repair. He decided to move out of state.
Lead detective Shayne St. John: then spoke “This has been by far the most extensive pattern case that I have been involved with and investigated. … Everybody thinks of burglary, auto theft (etc.) as a property crime. It is much more than that because of the impact it has on the victims. … ” Even for police, search warrants and cataloging the extensive amount of loot took many long days, which took them away from investigating other cases, he said. Besides Arrowhead Gardens, he reminded the judge, there were other West Seattle victims, and even victims as far as downtown and Tiger Mountain whose belongings were found in Novotny’s storage unit. One victim whose property they recovered has died since the burglary, Det. St. John said. He spoke about the questions asked by Arrowhead Gardens victims – why is this happening? how are the items being disposed of? (They discovered some of it was fenced by being sold at garage sales.) “I think this crime spree in and of itself definitely meets the standards to have the maximum sentence allowed by law,” he concluded.
Novotny’s lawyer argued for the drug-treatment sentencing, saying the burglaries were not violent crimes, and saying that without treatment, the crimes would recur. He showed accountability, Novotny’s lawyer said, by pleading guilty to all the charges against him. The lawyer said his client hit rock bottom after his business failed and marriage went on the rocks. Then – unusually – the lawyer became emotional and said he knew Novotny better than almost anyone else, as they grew up together in Bellingham.
Novotny himself then spoke, apologizing, saying he “devastated these people’s lives” out of “selfishness” and “struggl(ing) with addiction … (but) it’s not who I am. … I need help. I am a drug addict.”
Judge González asked what the longest sentence Novotny ever served had been. 30 days, was the reply from his lawyer. He also asked whether Novotny had been treated for a prior drug conviction that his lawyer described as “two pills of Vicodin.” Answer: An 8-hour program. The same line of discussion also revealed that Novotny got a “first-time offender waiver” when sentenced for the burglary “spree” earlier in the year.
“These were calculated crimes,” said the judge, in imposing the 96-month sentence, still exceptional but not the 120 months the prosecution wanted. He said, “There is a very short period in which most of these violations occurred,” in explaining why he didn’t go all the way to 10 years.
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