Howie Yu sentencing hearing held Thursday, decision expected Friday

Monroe County Circuit Judge Teresa Harper accepted former IU student Hai “Howie” Yu’s guilty plea and will decide on a sentence Friday, after an emotional three hours in court Thursday.

Yu pleaded guilty to sexual battery and criminal confinement of a female IU student in an incident that occurred in the spring of 2010. Video surveillance shows Yu dragging a heavily intoxicated and mostly naked female into and out of the laundry room at Foster Magee and outside of the building.

Witnesses asked if Yu needed help and he responded by saying “no” and that she was a friend of his. The witnesses called the police, and an ambulance arrived shortly after.

The female victim spoke during the hearing in an un-sworn victim impact statement.

“I know I drank far too much. But me drinking far too much does not constitute me waking up with police officers and nurses around me and me not knowing what had happened,” she said.

According to hospital records, the victim had a blood alcohol level of 0.4 the night of the incident.

She said that she woke up with bruises all over her body — including her genitalia, thumb marks on her thighs and shoulders and bite marks on her back.

The victim said that the incident had changed her relationship with her friends and caused significant problems with her parents.

“Honestly, they think it’s my fault because I drank. The fact that I had drank should never give someone the power to make a decision for me,” she said as she fought back tears. Her parents did not attend the hearing.

She asked for the maximum sentence possible for Yu. Yu has been under home surveillance for 448 days since his 2010 arrest.

IU Police Department Sgt. Leslie Slone gave a minute-by-minute run-down of the video surveillance as the judge watched it on the prosecution’s laptop.

While Sgt. Slone was showing the video footage to Judge Harper, Harper at one point gasped at the images being depicted on the tape. This was when Sgt. Slone indicated that the victim was being dragged outside mostly naked. Only the judge, the prosecuting attorneys, the defense attorney and Sgt. Slone could see the video.

She also gave her version of what happened during her investigation. She said Yu gave her three different versions of what had happened with the female victim during a one to two hour interview.

Yu’s mother spoke at the hearing. In an emotional plea, she said that she and her husband, who are Chinese, immigrated to the United States to give a better life to their only son. She offered her apologies to the victim of the crime and to the victim’s family.

Yu’s mother said that she had given up a job as a pediatrician in China to come to the United States. Yu’s father could not attend the hearing as we was in China on business, but he did send a letter to the court. Yu’s mother brought numerous certificates that Yu had earned from school and volunteering and talked about all of the organizations that he was involved in, from sports to student government.

After giving her testimony, Yu’s mother sat in a corner of the courtroom, crying softly.

During Howie Yu’s testimony, he said “I have to be held accountable for what I did. I dug myself into this hole, and now I have to fill it up.”

He also offered an apology to his parents. “My parents have sacrificed so much for me. I can’t believe how much I have let them down,” Yu said.

He gave a direct apology to the victim.

While looking directly at her, he said, “I hope you can get over this and move on and live your life to the fullest. I sincerely apologize. I can’t believe you’re going through this because of me.”

He said that he has been working at Wendy’s since a few weeks after he was put on home detention, and the management had to take him off of the cash register because of how many complaints they were getting. He is currently attending Ivy Tech Community College.

Yu told his attorney, Joseph Lozano, before the hearing that he was nervous. He appeared calm throughout the hearing.

He must wear an ankle bracelet and GPS tracking device at all times and must give probation officers a weekly schedule to be approved by them each week. He was subject to daily checks from the police during the first 365 days of his home surveillance and now is subject to weekly random checks.

Ted Barry, the officer in charge of him, said that Yu has had only minor violations and Yu would be fine on probation.  

Regardless of his sentence, Yu will automatically be placed on the sexual offenders registry for 10 years.

The prosecuting attorney and the defense attorney will continue arguing mitigating and aggravating circumstances in a hearing Friday, which will reconvene at 10:15 a.m. A decision on the sentence is expected to be given at that time.