Parents Held Accountable-Found Guilty
Many parents who did not agree with the charges and the trial, believed the couple did not commit a crime. But, those same parents did not loose their children. Parents must remain vigil in knowing where their children are, what they are doing, and with whom they are with at all times. Saying there is a party at a friends house and the parents will be home, could also have consequences to your teenagers well being.
Parents who allow parties with underage teens in their homes, exhibit very poor judgement, and now a jury agrees. Will parents think twice before stocking their home with alcohol because they would rather have their kids drink at home? How about no alcohol, period!
Today's headlines:A Deerfield husband and wife accused of turning a "blind eye" to underage drinking were convicted Saturday of allowing teens to guzzle beer and rum at their home in the hours before a drunken driving crash killed two young partygoers.
Jeffrey and Sara Hutsell were also found guilty of endangering the life of a child and attempted obstruction of justice for furnishing false information. They were acquitted of an attempted obstruction of justice charge that said they were trying to hide beer cans and liquor bottles after the Oct. 13, 2006, party.
In a bizarre twist, minutes after the verdicts were read, Deerfield Police Chief John Sliozis announced that three young witnesses in the case were arrested at another Deerfield home for alleged underage drinking Friday night.
RELATED STORIES As the verdicts were announced in the jammed Waukegan courtroom Saturday night, the Hutsells sat calmly but showed little emotion.
The seven-woman, five-man Lake County jury deliberated for seven hours before reaching a verdict after four days of often-contradictory testimony about what happened during the gathering in the Hutsells' upscale Deerfield home.
Prosecutors said they were satisfied with the convictions because they hold the Deerfield couple responsible.
"This is a tragic case when you have two people like the defendants in this case that are found guilty ... who certainly before last October had never been in trouble with the law. But it's an even greater tragedy that two young men died as a result of the bad decisions of the defendants," Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller said.
Surrounded by backers, the Hutsells, both 53, left the courthouse without commenting on the verdicts, which leave them facing a maximum one-year jail sentence. Defense attorneys Robert Gevirtz and Elliot Pinsel also declined to comment.
Nearly 30 teens, including several 2006 Deerfield High School grads returning from college, attended the homecoming weekend gathering at the Hutsell home near the high school. Source:DAN ROZEK AND MONIFA THOMAS www.chicagosuntimes.com 
(Chris Sweda/Sun-Times)
