SC serial killing suspect had long rap sheet
- Thread starter Archangel M
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OK, point taken. Prior to the post that I quoted, who was asking for life in prison? I ask this, because thats what you said in your post.
Empty Hands
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Deaf Smith
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Three Strikes laws are fine as long as they target violent felonies or major crimes. No three shoplifting felonies please! But if they have robbed stores, jacked cars, committed arson, murder, etc... yes lock them up for life.
Everyone knows most crime is caused by just a few who do it over and over and over. Take them out of circulation and the crime drops like a rock. Sadly, we tend to try our best to give carrier criminals as many chances as we can.
Five people would be alive today if they had locked this guy up and thrown away the key. Five lives and the lives of all the relatives and friends of these five.
What a waste.
Deaf
Everyone knows most crime is caused by just a few who do it over and over and over. Take them out of circulation and the crime drops like a rock. Sadly, we tend to try our best to give carrier criminals as many chances as we can.
Five people would be alive today if they had locked this guy up and thrown away the key. Five lives and the lives of all the relatives and friends of these five.
What a waste.
Deaf
IMHO, if the crime is bad enough, ie: rape, murder, violent crimes, then I'm all for life in prison. I'm willing to, depending on the crime, let them off with comm. service, a fine, etc., but if they're not getting the message, and they're constantly getting in trouble, then they need to spend time in jail/prison. How much time? Well, that depends. If they have 30 arrests racked up, a few years is in order.
Aw, c'mon... Another try will rehabilitate them... You're just being mean and stereotyping the guy!
Deaf Smith
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Surely you mean 30 convictions, right? To be arrested but not convicted is to be innocent.
And if you have 30 CONVICTIONS, you don't belong on the street cause the message they are sending seems to be they will let you go again and again and again.
Even 30 convictions for shoplifthing deserves a few years in jail for sure.
30 robberies? Life in prison (and long before they hit the 30 mark!)
Like I said before, Three Strike laws are ok if it's for serious felonies. They had three chances. Times up for them.
Deaf
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Archangel M
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What are 30-40 prior arrests that were plead out to lesser offenses without trial...which is routinely done as part of a process vs. any ability to convict? He's "innocent" then? There comes a point where a persons record, convicted or not, should come into play during sentencing when he/she IS finally convicted of something. 1...2...3...arrests...no. BUT 20....30...80 ARRESTS???
Come on...
Come on...
For the sake of clarification....
arrests: being arrested and either brought to the PD or given a summons in the field.
convictions: actually spending time in jail/prison.
No, I mean they were brought in front of a judge and the charges were either nollied, it was a suspended sentance or very little time in jail. Lets see, a recent example...this past Sat., the 4th of July, a girl, a regular, was brought in for prostitution. There were 18 priors...all for, you guessed it, prostitution, drugs, and larceny. Why is this girl still on the street? Her *** should be locked up in the womens prison, here in CT, for a few years. She isn't getting the message, and its like a revolving door. She gets arrested, charges get dropped, back on the street. Repeat this 18+ times.
Exactly!!! Its pretty funny. The courts in CT are broken down into what they call geographical areas, followed by a number. So you can have GA1, etc. GA9 is the court that is used by the dept. where I dispatch for. The running joke amongst everyone is nolle 9. What fear, for lack of better words is there, if every charge is getting dropped? There is none. The judge should be looking at the rap sheet, see all the priors, and take that into consideration, but it doesnt seem to happen.
What's a serious felony?
By definition, a felony is a serious criminal offense, punishable by a year or more in prison or death. Under the Old Common Law, all felonies were capital offenses.
Today, it's not uncommon for a felony arrest to be pled down to a misdemeanor conviction. An honest appraisal of a subject's criminal history looks at the arresting charges as well as the convictions, because that'll sometimes tell you a heck of lot about the person. A guy arrested several times for grand larceny (felony), but convicted only of misdemeanors probably pleading a lot. Other times, the fact that a charge is pled down may well indicated that the subject has worked off the charges... Or that they picked the right victim, and the plea was the best that could be done, either because the victim was very unsympathetic or uncooperative.
In the instant case... you got a guy with a major criminal record who was able to be free and go on a killing spree. Sure seems like someone missed a chance to incapacitate him by locking him away...
Deaf Smith
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A felony is a crime whose punishment MAY carry more than one year in prison. That does not mean the person got a year or more in jail but the sentence could be more than a year.
You can get felony convictions for an awful lot of crimes that are not life threatening or such. You can dump paint cans along the road in some states and get a felony. You can fib on bank loans and get a felony conviction. You can lie on an affidavit you sent to another person and you get a Federal Wire Fraud conviction.
Here is a list of non-violent felonies in NY.
http://www.new-york-arraignments.com/Dnonviolent.htm
aggravated criminal contempt
auto-stripping in the first degree
bail jumping in the first degree
bribe giving for public office
bribe receiving by a juror
bribe receiving by a labor official
bribe receiving by a witness
bribe receiving for public office
bribe receiving in the third degree
bribery in the third degree
bribery of a labor official
bribing a juror
bribing a witness
burglary in the third degree
coercion in the first degree
computer tampering in the second degree
conspiracy in the third degree
criminal diversion of prescription medications second degree
criminal mischief in the second degree
criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree
criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree
criminal possession of forgery devices
criminal possession of marijuana in the second degree
criminal possession of public benefit cards in the second degree
criminal possession of stolen property in the third degree
criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fifth degree
criminal sale of marijuana in the second degree
criminal solicitation in the second degree
criminal tampering in the first degree
criminal trespass in the first degree
criminally using drug paraphernalia in the first degree
disseminating indecent material to minors in the first degree
endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person in the first degree
escape in the first degree
forgery in the second degree
fraudulently making of an electronic access device in the second degree
grand larceny in the third degree
hindering prosecution in the first degree
impairing the integrity of a pari-mutuel betting system first
insurance fraud in the third degree
obscenity in the first degree
obstructing governmental administration by means of a self-defense spray device
patronizing a prostitute in the first degree
perjury in the first degree
promoting a sexual performance by a child
promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child
promoting prison contraband in the first degree
promoting prostitution in the third degree
rape in the second degree
reckless endangerment in the first degree
robbery in the third degree
sodomy in the second degree
sports bribing
stalking in the first degree
tampering with a witness in the second degree
tampering with public records in the first degree
unauthorized use of a vehicle in the first degree
vehicular assault in the first degree
vehicular manslaughter in the second degree
welfare fraud in the third degree
Some of these class 'D' felonies ARE what I consider serious, but some are not. Especially if the circumstances miligate (like lieing to protect ones family.)
Also most states have laws that enhance misdemeanors to felonies if the person commits more than one misdemeanor. That is a Class C misdemeanor is enhanced to a class B if you have a conviction for a class C misdemeanor already. And a B becomes an A if you have a B conviction already.
Deaf
