Ogden teen released from prison in surprise order

OGDEN — "Feels awesome" is how 17-year-old Cooper Van Huizen described his newfound freedom Wednesday after he was released from the Utah State Prison.

"Awesome to finally get out of incarceration and be back on my own, and back with my family."

Van Huizen was 16 when he was convicted in adult court of two counts of second-degree felony robbery and was ordered to serve two concurrent terms of one to 15 years in the Utah State Prison.

The case gained national attention because after the case was moved from juvenile court to adult court, 2nd District Judge Ernie Jones went against pre-sentence report recommendations and a plea agreement between defense attorneys and prosecutors. The two sides had agreed to recommend a sentence of some jail time followed by probation, and then his crimes would be reduced to misdemeanors once probation was completed.

Instead, Jones sent Van Huizen to the Utah State Prison. His father said the boy had never even been grounded before.

On Tuesday, the South Ogden teenager had his first hearing before a member of the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole. Typically, it takes the full, five-member board up to two weeks to vote on whether to grant parole to an inmate.

But in a highly unusual move, the board told Van Huizen just an hour later that he would be released on Wednesday.

"At the prison this morning that's what they said as well, (that) they've never had this happen before. It is my belief, and others, that the prison and the Board of Pardons don't feel that's the place for a young boy. He doesn't belong there," said his father, Marc Van Huizen.

Van Huizen was released from prison about 9:45 a.m. Wednesday. He had spent 44 days in a Roy juvenile detention facility before he was convicted in the adult system. He had been serving time in adult prison since May 9.

When Van Huizen first arrived at the Point of the Mountain facility, he was placed in maximum security "for his own safety and well-being while his needs were assessed and a proper placement decision was made for him," prison officials said.

"It was the safest place to hold him given his age. He was in a single-inmate cell and was checked regularly by medical and mental health staff," said Utah Department of Corrections spokeswoman Brooke Adams.

Van Huizen stayed in maximum security — meaning he had to be in his cell 23 hours a day — for two weeks, before he was transferred to the Daggett County Jail and housed in general population.

During his time in prison, his father said he worried he would be harmed by adult inmates while he was there.

"I'm happy to know that he is safe, that no harm will come to him by way of rape or assault or anything that can happen. I know that he's safe. I can watch over him and I can help him move forward with his life and get over this," a relieved Marc Van Huizen said Wednesday. "It's a very happy day."

On Nov. 4, 2013, Cooper Van Huizen and four others committed an armed robbery at a Roy home. The group held two people at gunpoint and demanded drugs and money. One of the guns was supplied by Van Huizen, who took his father's weapon, according to the parole board. The gun, his father claims, was unloaded and "broken."

When Chyleen Arbon, the board member who conducted Tuesday's hearing, asked Van Huizen whether he knew the plan was to commit a robbery that night, the teen said he was advised by his attorney not to comment.

Marc Van Huizen said his son did not hold a gun on the victims that night and was not an instigator or organizer of the robbery. He was hanging out with the wrong crowd, he said.

Of the four others arrested and convicted for that robbery — three of whom were 18 years old — two are still in the Utah State Prison serving sentences and two others served less than a year in jail and have already been released.

During Cooper's parole hearing on Tuesday, Arbon noted the many letters the parole board has received in support of Van Huizen as well as the many friends and family members who attended to show their support. Based on his record in prison, she said he had done what he could to better himself.

"You seem like a delightful young man, quite frankly, very respectful. It sounds like you've put a lot into this experience," she said.

When Arbon asked him why he believed he was sentenced to prison, Van Huizen replied, "Ya know, I really don't know. Neither one of my attorneys really defended me at all. It was in the juvenile court hearing, my attorney did not say one word to the judge.

"I don't think it ever should have left juvenile court. I never really knew anything about court systems or how it worked," he said.

Van Huizen had to pause to collect himself when asked how much of an impact being in prison for six months had on him.

"It's had a really crazy impact. I was really depressed and really sad," he said before stopping to wipe tears. "This has honestly made me a completely different person. … I never want to come back to a place like this."

Van Huizen noted that he was never really threatened by another inmate, yet said he was still "scared to death."

Before learning that he would be released, Van Huizen told the parole board that during his time in prison, he thought a lot about what was really important in life.

"My parents always told me when I was younger, 'Go achieve what you want in life before you go and have fun with your friends.' Don't get me wrong, I like to hang out with my friends … (but) I'd rather be with my family or at school doing something that motivates me to do better in life," he said.

"I want to graduate in an actual school and walk. Senior year is a big year and I don't want to miss out on it."

Arbon said one of the conditions of his release will be that he no longer have contact with his four co-defendants. Van Huizen said that won't be a problem.

"I don't plan on ever talking to them ever again," he said.

When making its decision, the parole board goes over a list of more than 30 factors and decides for each inmate whether they are "aggravating" or "mitigating" factors in the decision whether to grant parole. On Van Huizen's sheet, the board found no aggravating factors, or reasons against granting parole.

The board also acknowledged in its report that Van Huizen's parole was "not a regular release date."

Marc Van Huizen said he doesn't believe prison has scarred his son for life.

"His heart is the same, he has not become hardened that way. He gained an experience just what his freedom means to him, and I'm certain a decision in his life not to return to an environment like that again. It's called, 'I know how to make good choices now.' And to listen to his gut and his instinct, to have good friends, good peers, make decisions for himself," he said.

Marc Van Huizen said he will continue an appeal of the judge's decision and attempt to have his son's record reduced to misdemeanors back in the juvenile system.

"I think some people should have to answer to the fact the truth didn't come out in this case. A courtroom is based upon the truth," he said. "The truth is how I live. And that's what I would expect from the justice system as well."

Cooper Van Huizen said after six months of "processed" food at the prison, real food was high on his agenda when he got home.

"I'm probably going to go eat something. I'm pretty hungry. And I'll probably be with my family the rest of the day," he said. "I will never, ever be incarcerated again. That was a pretty bad experience."

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