By Catherine Hamilton
RIVERSIDE, CA – A man’s probation was reinstated after he violated it with an alleged assault on his mother. But, first, the judge gave him a long lecture in Riverside County Superior Court this week.
The man was charged with a misdemeanor of driving under the influence in May 2019. Sometime during his probation period, he allegedly assaulted his mother after having a large amount of alcohol, according to prosecutors.
After hearing the terms of the assault, Judge Otis Sterling, III, asked broadly to the courtroom “how people can get to the point where they think verbal abuse and physical abuse is okay?”
When told by the deputy district attorney that the man’s mother was in the courtroom, Judge Sterling admonished him by saying “she gave you life and she loves you unconditionally… she’s still here because she wants to see what happens to her son.” 
Judge Sterling continued on about the importance of family support, and how the accused “wouldn’t be sitting up here if not for [his] mother” in an attempt to emphasize the betrayal the mother must feel after he abused her physically.
He stressed how the man needed to make it up to his mother, especially by not drinking anymore. He also said that if the man ever did anything to abuse his mother again, Judge Sterling would put him “in a position where [he] wouldn’t see [his] mother for a while,” meaning that he would put him in jail especially because another assault charge would lead to a felony.
“No one deserves to be physically abused,” Judge Sterling said. He told the man that he did not want to see him in court again and so he has to be in a mindset to make up for his mistakes to his mother.
Judge Sterling additionally addressed the mother, telling her that if she thinks she’s in another dangerous situation with her son again, to immediately leave or call someone. He said, “Don’t let it get out of hand and don’t get hurt.”
He added that the assault had likely come from a drunken rage, a presumption that the accused agreed with. While reinstating the terms and conditions of the man’s previous probation, Judge Sterling also ordered him not to drink or consume alcohol until he had completed all of his AA classes.
He told the man to get off of alcohol or get away from his own mother, to which the son said that he had already stopped drinking because she asked him to do so.
Judge Sterling finished the reinstatement of the young man’s probation by saying, “Good luck to you.” 
