2 given probation for attack described by judge as ‘morally shocking’

Two men received probation Wednesday for doing nothing to stop an unprovoked attack on a veteran journalist, a crime a judge called “morally shocking.”

The victim, Carl Schoettler, sustained severe head injuries and was hospitalized for a week after the February 2006 beating. The resulting permanent memory loss forced Schoettler, now 75, to retire from his job as a feature writer for The (Baltimore) Sun.

Schoettler had been involved in a minor car accident with Gregory G. Kulla near City Hall and was arguing with Kulla about who was at fault when Phillip G. Carter, then 18, approached Schoettler from behind and punched him in the head, then stomped on the older man when he fell to the ground.

Carter pleaded guilty last year to two assault charges and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, the maximum allowed under his agreement with prosecutors.

Latar C. Bradshaw, who was standing next to Carter before the beating, encouraged Carter after the attack to comb through Schoettler’s pockets for cash and Kulla agreed to drive the two men away from the scene, prosecutors said.

“This is a case that’s morally shocking,” Baltimore Circuit Judge John M. Glynn said, asking the two to explain themselves.

Bradshaw responded that he didn’t help Schoettler because it was cold outside and he had his young son with him, adding that he was scared because he had never been in trouble before. Bradshaw had no previous criminal history.

“I felt sorry for what I did,” Bradshaw said.

Kulla’s attorney, Leonard Shapiro, explained that his client was also frightened by Carter and that when Carter and Bradshaw jumped into his van, he felt compelled to drive them away. Pressed by the judge, Kulla said he should have stayed and tried to help Schoettler.

Schoettler, who did not attend the sentencing, has no memory of the beating, said Assistant State’s Attorney Rita Wisthoff-Ito, who read impact statements from Schoettler’s son and sister.

“Gregory Kulla … is simply a coward,” James Schoettler said in his statement. “He stood by and watched my father get beaten, then had the gall to give the attackers a ride.”

Bradshaw, 24, received a 20-year suspended sentence and three years of probation for first-degree assault and conspiracy to commit robbery. Kulla, 38, got probation before judgment for second-degree assault and conspiracy after the fact. The convictions will be erased from his record if he completes three years of supervised probation.

“If such a thing should happen in the future,” Glynn said, “I hope you should remember this and behave with more nobility than you did here.”

- Associated Press