How would you handle this?

I tend to get defensive when a reader comes at me swinging. But the more I think about this, the more I would like to take a look at the court documents. I talked to a few people in the know about the kid in question, and they say he "is a good kid that got into a bad situation." But if this assault is bad, like head-stomping, put-a-classmate-in-the-hospital bad, it could be worth a story, asking why is he playing? So while I can't offer this woman any solace right now, I would like to take a look at the documents and examine exactly what happened.

 

Are juvenile records not routinely sealed in your state?

 

Totally get that; I was never great with it, either. But I was talking about something like this once with a friend who is a therapist, and she said people who are upset mostly want their problem to be acknowledged, and something like "I understand why you're upset" can go a long way. You don't have to act like you agree with them, just give them a sense that you're listening and not dismissing them out of hand.

On those occasions when I was composed enough to try it, it did seem to help, at least some of the time.

 

They are, but the mom says she has all of the court documents. I wouldn't be getting them from the state.

 

Wrong.
You absolutely DO have legal restrictions from stating what he did, depending on the laws of your state. If you can't get anyone on record - not the mother of the victim - or a copy of the criminal complaint or a legal document with his name and charge on it, you can't print dick. And even if you do, you still may be allowed to print it.

I had a similar situation. Only, I had a copy of the criminal complaint, testimony and the judge's verdict. All of which named the underage perp. I was given this by victim and got additional copies from the judges's office. The day before my story was print - when I called the kids' parents for comment - they lawyered up. He showed up less than two hours later with a injuction against paper barring it from going to press. The story was killed - despite the fact I had confirmation of everything in my story from the court. No dice.

 

Proceed at your own risk.
And, honestly, it's not worth it.

 

Wow. I'm not ready to jump on this story. I just want to see the court documents to see the scope of the assault. If it's just a "boys being boys" thing, then I let it go. But if it's a head-stomping-type thing, that could sway things, and certainly might sway our decision on how to handle covering him this season.

 

I'm in agreement with others here. No feature, because you are omitting a huge part of the story.

And if he's high enough profile, I think it's arguable that you should report it.

 

Have you talked to the aggressor -- about basketball, school, the incident, anything? I would try to establish a professional relationship with him beyond the postgame hero quotes.

Assuming that relationship develops, try to find out about the incident -- just off-the-record talking at this point. Try to emphasize that you're trying to see things from his side of things, and all you've heard are the "Kid should be locked up!" stuff. That relationship could develop into a story or come in handy for the POY story.

And -- maybe this isn't a sports story -- perhaps the victim is the subject of a story. It's worth contacting him, too. And if he starts to go nuclear on you, blame your interest on his mother, who had made the whole thing an issue.

This reminds me of two things:
A great lead about a college basketball player who returned after being kicked off the team for assaulting a convenience store clerk or pizza delivery man or something: (Paraphrase): "To some people, James Smith's re-appearance on State U.'s basketball team is a miracle. To others, it's a crime."

A story about a player who was voted state POY but wasn't even district POY as voted on by coaches who knew him best. Turns out there was one or more incidents where he was, let's say, unprofessional (not violent or anything, but really immature and/or self-centered). I was the assigning editor, and despite some resistance, I insisted the reporter deal with this aspect of his POY-ness. Turned out to be one of the better "glory" stories I've been involved with -- balanced, nuanced, showing the player warts and all.

 

I'd be a little leery of any "official documents" the woman produces, unless you can see them from a more-official source. Obviously, she has an axe to grind.

 

Have you talked to the managing editor and got him involved in this yet? He should be the clearinghouse on juvenile records-related things plus if you would ever do a feature on the kid he might be involved in this at some point.

 

That's simple enough. Go the court clerk And request the documents. If you are told no, because the kid is a juvenile and the records are sealed your job is done. Period.
It's - very likely - not worth additional pursuit and headache.