Overview
- Patrick Brice was convicted in February on two counts of second-degree assault and two counts of reckless endangerment after surveillance video showed him tackling 84-year-old Richard Schaefer into a planter and beating 73-year-old Mark Crosby outside a Planned Parenthood clinic.
- Judge Bryant acquitted Brice of first-degree assault charges and imposed one year of home detention followed by three years of probation instead of the 10-year prison term sought by state prosecutors.
- Victims Crosby and Schaefer endured serious injuries including a fractured facial bone, permanent blindness in one eye and head and neck trauma, yet they have since returned to protesting outside the same facility.
- Prosecutors and the victims’ families criticized the sentence as overly lenient and argued it undermines efforts to deter violence driven by political or religious differences.
- Under his sentence, Brice must remain at home except for approved work or medical travel, avoid abortion and pro-life clinics and complete court-mandated therapy, anger management and substance screenings.