Nearly four years ago, Robin David Luevano plunged a knife into the bodies of two young men.

Friday, July 28, 2000

Nearly four years ago, Robin David Luevano plunged a knife into the bodies of two young men.

Nobody has ever disputed that.

Not only were two Austinites seriously wounded, but their families were plunged into anguish and anger at the aftermath of the cruel act.

One of the victims and one of the families is taking the incident as far as it can go: asking for a jury trial to seek civil damages from the people they believe were responsible for the actions that resulted in their son and his friend being stabbed.

For everyone involved, they are literally going in circles and returning to court, where instead of closure, the criminal justice system opened new wounds.

To be sure, Luevano was found guilty in court and sentenced to 31 months in prison only to be released after serving that time and placed on supervised probation while being returned to society.

Now, he could be back in court, where a victim and his parents are seeking some sort of revenge with a civil suit.

Joseph Donald Becker and his parents, Joseph H. and Patricia Becker of rural Austin, are suing the owners of the bar outside where the stabbing occurred.

Their suit claims the owners of the former Silver Bullet Saloon and holder of the bar’s liquor license were negligent.

Citing Minnesota’s dram shop laws, the Beckers’ suit claims the defendants "unlawfully sold and gave intoxicating liquor in large amounts" that were consumed by Luevano, who became highly intoxicated "when he was in an obviously intoxicated condition."

Those actions, according to the plaintiffs, caused or contributed to the actions of Luevano.

Luevano, then 22 of Albert Lea, originally was charged with two counts of assault in the first degree, plus two other counts of assault in the second degree and single counts of obstructing legal process and possession of a dangerous weapon.

Austin police officers were called to the rear entrance to the Silver Bullet Saloon on Fourth Avenue NE at 1:25 a.m. Nov. 9, 1996.

A altercation had occurred between Joseph D. Becker, then 21, and Luevano, when Luevano and a female companion exited the bar.

Becker and a friend, Steven W. Rogne, then 23, were stabbed by a knife Luevano retrieved from his female companion’s purse.

In April 1997, a Mower County Third Judicial District Court jury found Luevano guilty of two counts of second-degree assault and possession of a dangerous weapon. He was found not guilty of the first-degree charges.

Becker suffered a knife wound to his colon, three other wounds to his stomach and two more to his upper left arm. He had to have surgery to reconnect his colon.

Rogne’s wounds, although serious and requiring major surgery, were not as extensive as those suffered by Becker, who spent a total of 17 days in the hospital and had two major surgeries as well as a temporary colostomy.

Both young men recovered.

Weeks after the sentencing in April 1997, Patricia Becker went public with her disappointment and anger.

Not only was the mother chagrined at the verdict to reduced charges, but also the prospects that restitution, ordered by the court, never would be paid.

The Becker family incurred more than $60,000 in medical costs for their son’s hospitalization. It is unknown how much the Rogne family incurred.

When the family – mainly the mother – went public, it was with a vengeance.

"How does one politely and professionally say that basically they were screwed by the system that is supposed to serve justice?" the mother wrote in a letter to the editor of the Austin Daily Herald.

Among those targeted for the family’s criticism in the handling of the case was Mower County Attorney Patrick A. Oman and District Judge Michael H. Seibel (now deceased), who handed down Luevano’s sentence.

The Becker family’s disillusionment with the criminal justice system continued into 1998 and 1999 with public expressions of their dissatisfaction.

Then, the family decided to seek redress from Luevano, now living in Albert Lea with his mother, with a civil suit.

They retained Craig M. Byram, an attorney with the Austin law firm of Hoversten, Johnson, Beckman, Wellman & Hovey, and a complaint was filed June 14, 1999.

Named in the civil suit were RDB Inc., doing business as the Silver Bullet Saloon, and David Ellingson Inc., also doing business as the Silver Bullet Saloon, and Sharon Kaput, a former manager of the establishment and now deceased.

The defendants retained the Mankato law firm of Mascka, Riedy and Ries and through their attorneys denied all the allegations of negligence.

In their response, the defendants charged that Joseph D. Becker was the aggressor and initiated a confrontation with Luevano and his female companion.

Among the plaintiffs’ charges was that the owners of the bar and license-holder provided no security to prevent such confrontations from happening.

The suit seeks a minimum of $50,000 plus the costs of the legal action and other relief.

On Wednesday, a pretrial conference on the civil suit was held before District Judge Donald E. Rysavy.

Because confusion existed a year ago over who was the bar’s owner of record and who held the liquor license, the case was captioned with multiple names. Today, it is simply the Beckers vs. David Ellingson Inc.

Rysavy scheduled trial for Sept. 11 and said he will allow three days for the case to be heard by a jury, because of the tight scheduling still needed in Mower County Judicial District Court while the vacancy created by the death of Judge Seibel remains to be filled.

The chief issue in the case will be were intoxicating beverages illegally sold to Luevano and whether or not he was intoxicated at the time of the sale.

Luevano has indicated he will make himself available to testify.

There is new hope the ordeal, both personal and public, may be ending. Both sides have agreed to utilize the services of a court-certified mediator.