ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The man who beat a high-school student nearly to death with a shovel, and remained free for nearly a decade after the attack, will now be getting more than a year shaved off of his sentence. Justin Hansen was given 18-years in prison, back in 2018, for attacking Brittany Marcell.
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Her family is outraged after recent developments. The state tried to fight the appeal but was denied by the New Mexico Supreme Court, especially since his house arrest allowed him to go out on dates.
“He almost killed me,” said Brittani Marcell, she says she still lives in fear, after being beat nearly to death with a shovel at her Westside home back in 2008. “He broke my security, and my trust,” said Marcell.
Investigators used DNA to link Justin Hansen to the crime nearly 10 years later. Hansen spent more than a year on house arrest leading up to the trial, and in 2018 he was sentenced to 18 years behind bars.
Last year, Hansen appealed his sentencing asking for credit for the 371 days he served on a GPS monitor. The state tried to fight the appeal, taking it all the way to the New Mexico Supreme Court, but this week they denied the case. Now, the Appellate Court is approving Hansen’s request.
“He’s crying again,” said Diane Marcell, Brittani’s mom. “He’s crying again, and he’s getting his way once again. Justice is not really being served,” she said.
However, the Marcells say he shouldn’t be given credit for time served, because his house arrest was not strict enough. You’ll remember Hansen was caught on camera, on a date at an Albuquerque Isotopes game, while he was on that monitor.
“Technically he wasn’t on house arrest,” said Diane Marcell. “House arrest is staying home unless he’s going to court, or a doctor’s appointment,” she said.
They say they’re disappointed in the system, and their disregard for victims. “I’m very overwhelmed with this,” said Brittani. “I’m not going to get credit for the last 13 years almost,” she said.
This is not the first time Hansen has asked for a shorter sentence. Back in October 2018, he asked the judge to reduce his time behind bars, because his family was suffering. The District Attorney’s Office says there will not be a formal resentencing hearing, rather the time served will be deducted from his original sentence.
