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New Orleans man locked up nearly 8 years awaiting trial, then case gets tossed

theadvocate.com

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Re: New Orleans man locked up nearly 8 years awaiting trial, then case gets tossed

#11

Post by solotronics »

derefr wrote: post #8
gozur88 wrote: post #5

While I agree it's unconstitutional to park someone in jail for eight years without bail or a trial, this particular guy is probably ecstatic at how it all worked out: >As a parolee with a previous drug charge to his name, Smith was looking at a sentence of 20 years to life if convicted as a habitual offender, according to one of his lawyers.

Previous drug charge ? Does that mean that he wasn't convicted the first time, either? The only thing "habitual" there, then, would be the police's desire to arrest him.

it's pretty standard in the US for the district attourney to offer a plea bargian of parole in exchange for pleading guilty. This results in high win rate for the attourney and they look at it as most of these parolees end up making a mistake during parole and going in for longer sentances.

Re: New Orleans man locked up nearly 8 years awaiting trial, then case gets tossed

#12

Post by dragonwriter »

gok wrote: post #4

There are many cases of defendants' right to a speedy trial being trampled. I'm not completely convinced this is a particularly great example of that. He was arrested while on parole, which is why he didn't get out on bail. Many of the delays came from his side. If it had gone to trial, the prosecution would have only had to prove he was guilty by a preponderance of the evidence. So the long time in detention could h…

> Many of the delays came from his side. If it had gone to trial, the prosecution would have only had to prove he was guilty by a preponderance of the evidence

No, that would be true if it was just revoking parole on the prior charge (it's kind of odd that that didn't happen, but it's possible that the original sentence ended to soon after the arrest to bother), but this was a new criminal charge which would have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Re: New Orleans man locked up nearly 8 years awaiting trial, then case gets tossed

#13

Post by praet »

bdamm wrote: post #6
nickthemagicman wrote: post #2

The court system claims it doesn't have enough money while over half the criminals/defendants are in for drugs. Theres a very simple solution here.

Am I to assume you mean to legalize drugs?

I'm pretty confident he's not suggesting a rapid death-penalty for drug-offenders

Re: New Orleans man locked up nearly 8 years awaiting trial, then case gets tossed

#14

Post by dragonwriter »

solotronics wrote: post #11
derefr wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Previous drug charge ? Does that mean that he wasn't convicted the first time, either? The only thing "habitual" there, then, would be the police's desire to arrest him.

it's pretty standard in the US for the district attourney to offer a plea bargian of parole in exchange for pleading guilty. This results in high win rate for the attourney and they look at it as most of these parolees end up making a mistake during parole and going in for longer sentances.

Unless some jurisdiction uses “parole” to include what “probation” usually means, that's incorrect, and even if that's true in some jurisdiction it's not in Louisiana, where (as is generally the case) you can be sentenced to probation, or released from a prison sentence on parole.

So, as a parolee, he had previously been sentenced to prison and released under supervision.

Re: New Orleans man locked up nearly 8 years awaiting trial, then case gets tossed

#15

Post by Zaheer »

gozur88 wrote: post #5

While I agree it's unconstitutional to park someone in jail for eight years without bail or a trial, this particular guy is probably ecstatic at how it all worked out: >As a parolee with a previous drug charge to his name, Smith was looking at a sentence of 20 years to life if convicted as a habitual offender, according to one of his lawyers.

Uhhh what ever happened to Innocent until proven guilty? The case never went to trial so he was never even proved as guilty - for all you know he could be completely innocent regardless of his past convictions.

Re: New Orleans man locked up nearly 8 years awaiting trial, then case gets tossed

#17

Post by jopsen »

sergers wrote: post #7
gozur88 wrote: post #5

While I agree it's unconstitutional to park someone in jail for eight years without bail or a trial, this particular guy is probably ecstatic at how it all worked out: >As a parolee with a previous drug charge to his name, Smith was looking at a sentence of 20 years to life if convicted as a habitual offender, according to one of his lawyers.

From the article, he potentially had a plea deal to get out in 2015, but turned it down. > “He could have come home as early as January of 2015,” said defense attorney Martin Regan, whose firm handled the case from the start. “There’s a man who just steadfastly said, 'I don’t care, you can keep me. I’m not guilty, I want a trial.' ” I am thinking it was strategy to wait it out, perhaps not initially. Or thinking abou…

Or maybe he was just innocent?

Re: New Orleans man locked up nearly 8 years awaiting trial, then case gets tossed

#18

Post by jopsen »

warent wrote: post #10
nickthemagicman wrote: post #2

The court system claims it doesn't have enough money while over half the criminals/defendants are in for drugs. Theres a very simple solution here.

The simple solution being what? You left a cliffhanger

look to Portugal, the legalization is not the main thing. (shorter sentences, because prison doesn't work, and treatment above all)

It's no cliffhanger - really any action would do wonders. Instead we see systemic failures at multiple levels.

Re: New Orleans man locked up nearly 8 years awaiting trial, then case gets tossed

#19

Post by nezzle »

praet wrote: post #13
bdamm wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I to assume you mean to legalize drugs?

I'm pretty confident he's not suggesting a rapid death-penalty for drug-offenders

Hey it works for Singapore, Indonesia, and probably the Philippines.

I think people are easier to control, but less productive when they have drugs. So it's really a question of what your nation is optimizing for at the time.

Of course having a sub-class of previously convicted minor offenders, who as a result struggle with work/life, can also be fairly effective. It's not exactly slavery - that was mostly their ancestors.

https://ramio1983.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/image1df.jpg

Re: New Orleans man locked up nearly 8 years awaiting trial, then case gets tossed

#20

Post by eropple »

phil248 wrote: post #16

I would hope that these days no rational individual could support jail time for any non-violent drug crime, with the possible exception of cross-border smuggling, which treads on some different areas of the law.

Crime of consumption or mere possession, I fully agree. Even distribution of something like pot, sure. But at the same time, I'm not sure that a rational individual has to agree with the proposition that somebody who's peddling fentanyl should not be put in jail.

(I don't think, from what I know, that distribution of crack would be in that latter group.)

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