It wasn't a matter of guilt or innocence, but rather how bad would the punishment would be.
All you needed to see is the YouTube video of a group of young men dragging and beating a defenseless homeless man to know William Sleight, Nicholas Bakum, 19, Bradley Wunderlich, and Brandon Edwards were guilty of an inhumane crime.
But Monday, the producers of "Beating Up a Crack Head" learned they will be spending some time with people who know a thing or two about defending themselves.
Wunderlich and Edwards will each spend 364 days in a Broward County jail for their roles in the 2008 attack on 54-year-old James Cunningham. Sleight was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and a year's probation while Bakum, who eventually turned in the rest of the crew, was sentenced to 100 hours of community service.
The men, whose ages range from 22 to 19, had faced kidnapping and felony battery charges before cutting a deal.
Prosecutors may not have pursued a trial because of the victim's inability to remember what happened during the attack.
Cunningham, who appeared to be drunk when he was being harassed by the boys, could not remember what happened even after attorneys showed him the YouTube footage. He never reported the assault to police.