, 11 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
Late last year @amajlaton, his girlfriend, and I were robbed at gunpoint in Baltimore (intersection of S Hanover St and W Lombard St, ~10 pm on a Sunday night) by a man and a woman. The woman was arrested within a week or two and charged with armed robbery (she held the gun).
Occasionally I got calls from an Asst State's Atty with prosecutor-side updates, mostly postponements. Last Friday he called and told me that on Tues, May 7, the case was before a judge for either a guilty plea or another postponement (prosecutor had another trial starting).
I said I had gotten notice of my victim rights (and a victim compensation fund!) and had written a victim statement I wanted to submit if I still could. He was enthusiastic about me submitting a statement, and much more respectful than chagrined when I described it to him.
Here's the statement. (I disavow any typos or cliche turns of phrase, I wrote it quickly and from the heart)
Today he left a voicemail saying the defendant pleaded guilty, with a sentence of 6yrs imprisonment (with 6mos already served)---except that the judge found my statement moving and gave the defendant PBJ ("Probation Before Judgment") wherein she is not yet found guilty...
...but gets 2yrs probation; if she successfully completes it she serves no jail time and can have this expunged from her record (which state pledged not to oppose), plus apparently in the meantime she can truthfully omit it from job applications because she hasn't been convicted.
I have no guarantee she has the end-date circled on her calendar and will approach the next 2yrs with seriousness/hopefulness. I super hope she does though. In any case, she gets a full sentence if she doesn't reform, and if she does reform then we shouldn't want her in prison.
I highly recommend this to others. It's not sexy like jury nullification, but it does subvert assumptions about victims retribution. And even if I didn't have a dim view of how prisons are run, I'd rather put my faith in, and the responsibility on, the person, not the system.
It also feels really good to give in to optimism and empathy when all I usually hear about criminal justice and arrests and courts and prisons is terrifying. (I tried not to be haughty and magnanimous in the statement but if it might improve someone's life I hope I get a pass!)
Finally, thanks to @radleybalko @Popehat @greg_doucette @skinnerpm for criminal justice system perspectives that I find very influential and helpful.
Addendum: one omitted fact is that it's my understanding from the prosecuting atty that the weapon was a BB gun that looked like a normal handgun (though it appeared light in her hands, it was convincing enough at the time to not really invite risky behavior)
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