November 24, 2004
Couple who took kids at gunpoint want reduced sentences
KATU TV
ROSEBURG, Ore. - A couple convicted of taking their three daughters at gunpoint from state child welfare workers and fleeing to Montana are asking a judge to reduce their prison sentences.
Brian and Ruth Christine have filed motions in Douglas County Circuit Court arguing that his sentence of 12½ years in prison and her sentence of 7½ years in prison were improperly enhanced by Judge William Lasswell, disregarding that all the crimes stemmed from the same incident, according to court documents.
The couple's convictions for robbery, custodial interference and auto theft were upheld over the summer by the Oregon Court of Appeals.
After coming before Lasswell on Wednesday, Brian Christine's motion was rescheduled for Friday, said prosecutor Rick Wesenberg. Ruth Christine's motion was to be heard Dec. 6. The couple are representing themselves.
Brian Christine is claiming that he should have been sentenced to no more than five years in prison. Ruth Christine argues her sentence should not have exceeded three years.
Brian Christine was given an extra five years for holding a .357 Magnum revolver on two state child welfare workers at an Interstate 5 rest stop on Aug. 1, 2001 before driving off in their state van with his three daughters, then aged 5, 3 and 2. After switching cars nearby, the couple drove with their children to Montana.
Brian Christine was later arrested for speeding in a rented car, and authorities tracked down the rest of his family living outside Missoula, Mont.
The children had been put into state custody in 2000 after an anonymous caller reported they appeared malnourished while living with their parents in a converted city bus parked at the public library in Grants Pass. The girls told police the eldest had suffered a cut on her forehead after her father swatted her on the head, knocking her down the bus stairs, for wetting her bed.
The Christines' three children have since been adopted by Ruth Christine's parents and live on their dairy farm in England.
Lasswell denied a motion from the couple that they be allowed a one-hour visit to discuss legal issues before they appear in court.
Nov 29, 2004
Couple in gunpoint kidnapping case ask for reduced sentences
KMTR NEWSSOURCE 16 Eugene
ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) - In 2002, an Oregon couple was convicted of robbery, after taking their three children at gunpoint from Oregon child welfare workers and fleeing to Montana.
Now, Brian and Ruth Christine have asked a judge to reduce their sentences.
The trial judge sentenced Brian Christine to 12-and-a-half years in prison, and Ruth Christine to seven-and-a-half years.
The couple is claiming those sentences were improper, because the judge disregarded that all of the crimes stemmed from the same incident.
Brian Christine claims he should have been sentenced to no more than five years in prison. His motion is set for Friday.
Ruth Christine argues her sentence should not have exceeded three years. Her motion will be heard December sixth. The couple is representing themselves.
Nov 29, 2004
Judge denies sentence reduction for Brian Christine in child custody case
KMTR NEWSSOURCE 16 Eugene
ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) - A man convicted of taking his three daughters at gunpoint from state child welfare workers and fleeing to Montana will remain in prison facing his full sentence of 12 1/2 years.
On Friday, a Douglas County circuit judge refused Brian Christine's motion to reduce his sentence, and the Oregon Supreme Court declined to review his and his wife, Ruth's, 2002 convictions for robbery, custodial interference and auto theft.
Dressed in blue jail fatigues, his blond hair in a ponytail, Brian Christine argued that Judge Robert Lasswell had acted improperly when he imposed consecutive sentences on two robbery counts and enhanced the sentences because a gun was involved
Though there were two victims of the robbery, the act should be considered one crime, Christine argued. He added the extra five years imposed for using a gun was improper.
Prosecutor Rick Wesenberg complimented Christine on his legal research, but said the fact that there were two victims clearly allowed for two separate convictions.
Lasswell said he agreed with Wesenberg's interpretation.
Christine is serving his sentence at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton.
Mrs. Christine, who is serving a 7 1/2-year sentence at Coffee Creek Correctional Institution in Wilsonville, is scheduled to be heard Dec. 6 on a similar motion.
Brian Christine held a .357 Magnum revolver on two state child welfare workers at an Interstate 5 rest stop near Myrtle Creek on Aug. 1, 2001 before driving off in their state van with his three daughters, then aged 5, 3 and 2. After switching cars nearby, the couple drove with their children and a friend to Montana.
Brian Christine was later arrested for speeding in a rented car, and authorities tracked down the rest of his family living outside Missoula, Mont.
The children were put into state custody in 2000 after an anonymous caller reported they appeared malnourished while living with their parents in a converted city bus parked at the public library in Grants Pass. The girls told police the eldest had suffered a cut on her forehead after her father swatted her on the head, knocking her down the bus stairs, for wetting her bed.
The girls have since been adopted by Ruth Christine's parents and live on their dairy farm in England. A fourth child, born after Ruth Christine was arrested, is being cared for by Brian Christine's mother in Indiana.