Originally posted by: Soybomb
Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
Originally posted by: Soybomb
Despte the sob story I have about zero sympathy for anyone who takes part in armed robbery. Thinking its okay to point lethal weapons at people should land your butt in jail for a very long time. Continue to show willingness to break the last and you can stay in jail. To me this is a "awww poor under privileged black guy story" and I'm not seeing it.
"life in prison for smoking a joint ? that's harsh in any case."
The man has life in prison because he continued to disregard the law after taking part in an armed robber, not because of smoking a joint.
So we should just quit...let everyone do all the drugs they want
I agree, we should.
Yeah I agree that armed robbery should carry a high penalty, but this is really about the disparity in the sentencing of 2 people of differing social classes.
Armed robbery is bad, but it doesn't warrant life in prison, especially when the person who commited the crime was only 17. The point is that NEITHER of his crimes warranted a life sentence, yet somehow they culminated in one. While the other guy repeatedly commited crimes which were ALL much worse than any that Brown committed (especially the one that got him on probation in the first place) and GOT AWAY WITH IT.
I'm not sure that I'd agree. People talk about wanting tougher gun laws all the time and whine about criminals with guns but then they want to give people a slap on the wrist that use them in crime. Would it really be so terrible to say that if you stick a gun in someones face during the commission of a crime you're going to prison for life? Threatening someones life is a really one of the worst things a person could do to another person, to me at least. So no I really don't have a problem with armed robbery giving someone a life sentence. If you show that much disrespect for the lives of others you can stay in jail.
I'd want to read far more about the others guy's case before I comment on it. The author of course will have his own spin on the topic and I would be surprised if the difference in sentencing as sinister as its made out to be.
Apparently you turned a blind eye like the judge. Did you even read the whole story? You didn't even have to read the whole story to get the point. The topic is that there was another man, who shot and killed someone else, and got off easy while this man pointed a gun and robbed someone without even harming them and got life in prison. Here are some excerpts from the article:
Mr. Hathaway, the robbery victim, knew nothing about the case's outcome until contacted recently by The News. He, too, was astounded.
"Goodness gracious," he said in a phone call from Virginia, where he now lives. "You have got to be kidding me. ... Nobody touched me at all."
The Wood crime
John Alexander Wood's journey toward Judge Dean's courtroom began on a March evening in 1995. He picked up a 22-year-old hustler named Larry Clark on an Oak Lawn street, and they went to Mr. Wood's nearby home.
Police reports, citing Mr. Wood's statements and physical evidence, say the two men had sex, for which Mr. Wood paid $30. Afterward, Mr. Clark asked for a ride home, but Mr. Wood balked and demanded his money back. A fight ensued.
Mr. Clark ran into the back yard, which was enclosed by a high fence. Mr. Wood, using a small semiautomatic pistol, fatally shot him from behind and took the money from Mr. Clark's pocket.
Mr. Wood, who had no criminal history, initially pleaded not guilty to murder and went to trial in 1996. As jurors were about to conclude deliberations, the prosecution and defense cut a deal that Judge Dean approved: The defendant pleaded guilty to murder in exchange for 10 years of deferred-adjudication probation.