Thread by @AndyElders

THREAD: I want to share a story about SB 5007, which ends mandatory jury sentencing in Virginia. Mandatory jury sentencing denies ~80% of those accused of crimes in Virginia a jury trial by coercing them into unfavorable plea agreements. But not everyone gives up that right. 1/x

I had a client about seven years ago who was charged with a robbery, which carries a five-year jury minimum in Virginia. He didn't do it, but an eyewitness identified him. Despite there being no other evidence that he had done this, he was arrested and held pretrial. 2/x

Multiple witnesses confirmed that he was home at the time of the robbery. He had been home with his family watching President Obama's second inauguration. It was a memorable moment for a Black family. But that defense didn't get his charges dropped - he had to go to trial. 3/x

My client chose a jury trial, believing that they were more likely to listen to him than a judge would be. He thought the judge might be inclined to trust the police and think they had found the right guy. He wanted his community to decide whether or not he was guilty. 4/x

When I told him that a jury would have to start at five years if they convicted him, and couldn't sentence him to less, he was scared. He had little to no criminal record, and the thought of going to prison for five years was terrifying. But he wanted his jury trial. 5/x

When the case went to trial, the judge informed him during his plea colloquy, ON THE RECORD, that if the jury gave him five years, she would not reduce it. She told him it was a "policy" of hers not to do so, and that she would abide by the jury's sentence, no matter what. 6/x

This was a tactic the judge used to try to scare people out of having jury trials. It almost worked - he was even more scared than before after she told him this. But he was in his early twenties and felt like his life would end if he was convicted of a felony at that age. 7/x

The trial wasn't a very long one. The evidence showed that nothing else linked my client to the case, and that the police had used an identification procedure that encourages people to make bad IDs. Along with the alibi evidence, the jury found him not guilty in a few hours. 8/x

He and his family were relieved, to say the least. It was one of the most harrowing things that had ever happened to him. Oh, and he spent over 6 months of his life in jail for nothing, because he was held without bond before trial. That's another bill for another day. 9/x

When I think about this case, and when I think about this young Black man whose life was put at risk with so little concern, I always think about two things. Both of them relate directly to mandatory jury sentencing, the Trial Penalty, and to the urgency of passing SB 5007. 10/x

First, I think about how many of my clients have plead guilty under this kind of pressure. How many took a plea to avoid the risk of going to prison? How many of those people also would have been acquitted by a jury? How many innocent people has this law put in jail? 11/x

Second, I think about what this client would have done if he had gotten a better plea offer. He never got a misdemeanor offer, but if he had, I bet he would have taken it. Just to get it over with. Just to protect himself from a system that, he felt, wanted him in prison. 12/x

Thomas Jefferson said a jury trial is "the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution." No protection compares to a jury trial for protecting Virginians from having their lives destroyed by the system. 13/x

This young Black man, like so many thrown into the system, needed a chance. He needed someone who would listen. take his defense seriously. He needed a jury trial. No one should have to risk so much to have a jury hear their case. Juries are rare. They should be the norm. 14/x

This is why we need SB 5007 (without a reenactment clause!) to restore the right to a jury trial in Virginia. For many people, a jury is their only trial option. Mandatory jury sentencing penalizes Virginians who want their case heard by their community. We can end it today. 15/x

Help us get the word out - SB 5007 needs your voice today.
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