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Man mistakenly released from prison asks judge to reduce his 98-year sentence

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kmax

Member
Meanwhile, there are rapists who get a slap on the wrist and get to spend their summer vacation in jail.

The justice system is terribly broken.
 

Atolm

Member
When I read "98 years of jail time" I thought "serves him right, he probably is a double-murderer or a rapist & murderer". I didn't expect this. Holy shit at those judges you have in the US.
 

TaterTots

Banned
This guy bought a house and started a family in 5 years? He must of done some serious work. Wtf am I doing with myself? Let them out. 98 years is bananas.
 

Trey

Member
This guy bought a house and started a family in 5 years? He must of done some serious work. Wtf am I doing with myself? Let them out. 98 years is bananas.

He really is the model of what we'd want the justice system to be. New chance at life with renewed vigor.

Shame we have the justice system we do.
 

NastyBook

Member
98 years for a crime where the gun wasn't loaded and nobody got hurt is insane. Hopefully the judge isn't an asshole and lets this man get on with his life. Throwing him back in jail after he's set up a life on the straight and narrow would serve no parties involve any justice.
 

JP_

Banned
He should be pardoned. And his accomplice (assuming he's been doing well in prison). Perfect example of our broken criminal justice system.
 

Palmer_v1

Member
Let this man go free, FFS. He's spent 5 years being a good citizen. It would be an injustice to his wife and kid's to put him back in jail now.
 

Verelios

Member
This is insane. I'm trying to understand how heartbroken, confused and scared he must have been when the police showed up at his door to take him back to prison.

That's almost nauseating.
 

Wanderer5

Member
What did he get 8 sentences for? 98 years is quite insane for a robbery that no one was even killed. Is there more to this?:|
 

pikablu

Member
5 years of no crime committed after serving all that time and then to be sent back is totally bs. Set him free.
 

RinsFury

Member
Obama needs to pardon this guy RIGHT NOW. That sentence is insane, let him get back to his family and live a normal life.
 

RinsFury

Member
The President can only pardon for federal crimes. It would be up to the Governor.


Damn, I had no idea. Fuck that sucks :(


One key thing to keep in mind: Presidential pardons only apply to federal criminal acts against the United States.

So, the president cannot pardon a person for violations of any federal civil laws or state criminal or civil laws. For example, if a person commits armed robbery at a local gas station and is convicted under state law for armed robbery, that person cannot receive a presidential pardon. Why? Because that person committed a state criminal act, not a federal criminal act. However, if that person also robbed a U.S. post office (a federal facility), then he or she could petition the president for a pardon of the robbery at the U.S. post office.


http://www.legalflip.com/Article.aspx?id=61&pageid=321
 

Boss Mog

Member
I'm a guy who wants really tough prison terms for violent criminals and even I find the 98 years totally ridiculous when you consider it was only two robberies and nobody got hurt. If the guy has been a law abiding citizen since his release then really they should just let him resume his freedom.
 

Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
WTF, 98 years for two robberies where no one was hurt? What kind of dumbfuckery is this? He should be released if just as an excuse for such an incredibly dumb sentence.
 
Can you really categorize a crime as violent if it doesn't involve physical force?

Dennis Reynolds, is that you?

Dennis: The whole purpose of buying the boat in the first place was to get the ladies nice and tipsy top side, so we can take them to a nice comfortable place below deck, and you know, they can't refuse...because of the implication.
Mac: Okay you had me goin' there for the first half. The second half kinda threw me.
Dennis: Well dude, think about it. She's out in the middle of nowhere, with some dude she barely knows. She looks around and what does she see? Nothing but open ocean. "Ah there's nowhere for me to run! What am I gonna do, say no?"
Mac: Okay. That seems really dark.
Dennis: It's not dark, you're misunderstanding me, bro.
Mac: I think I am.
Dennis: Yeah, you are. Because if the girl said 'no', then the answer is obviously 'no'. But the thing is she is not gonna say no. She would never say 'no', because of the implication.
Mac: Okay, now that's the second time you've said that word, what implication?
Dennis: The implication that things might go wrong for her if she refuses to sleep with me. Not that things are gonna go wrong for her, but she's thinking that they will.
Mac: ... But it sounds like she doesn't want to have sex with you..
Dennis: Why aren't you understanding this?
 

Takuan

Member
The clerical error isn't this man's fault. He spent 10+ years in the clink, and is somehow a contributing member of society with a family. Let him free.
 
Assuming there aren't any important details that we don't know about, he should obviously go free.

At first I started thinking about all the legal implications this may have, but I realized that the law is not what is really important. The law exists to enforce reason and safety, it is not a purpose in itself. His sentencing was without reason and any chance to correct that should be taken. He's already proven that he learned his lesson and can be a productive member of society, and isn't that the whole point in the first place? The law is not the goal, the law exists to achieve a goal. It has been demonstratively achieved.
 

Jme

Member
Is it normal for prosecutors to randomly check on the status of people they convicted many years later? Like, what's the thinking there?
 

Zaph

Member
Dude spends the first 10 years of adult life in jail, comes out, somehow gets his shit together with nothing to his name, and becomes a tax-contributing citizen. And there's even a question?

98 fucking years. That clerical error was probably someone who saw his bullshit case and 'accidentally' filed some paperwork.
 

Syriel

Member
Man mistakenly released from prison asks judge to reduce his 98-year sentence

original.jpg


I remember hearing about this man on NPR a while back. I have no idea what the judge will do in this case. It obviously seems the man has reformed-but it does seem unusual that the other two men would continue to serve their sentences.

State screwed up and he's been a model citizen ever since?

Let him be. Dude obvs learned his lesson and is being a great role model to his kids.

It's not his fault the state screwed up and he relied on them knowing what they were doing. He's got a family to provide for, and it sounds like he's doing just that.
 

slit

Member
There are murders and sexual predators that don't get that much time! The poor and minorities in this country should be receiving humanitarian aid from the UN at this point.
 
98 years. NINETY. EIGHT. YEARS. For a robbery with an empty gun where no one got hurt. Meanwhile we have rapists and people who have killed others with their negligence getting less than 20 (probably some less than 10 even). Fuck that, let him out. He proved that he's changed.
.
 

Walshicus

Member
The charge is bank robbery. Now, my caddie's chauffeur informs me that a bank is a place where people put money that isn't properly invested. Therefore, robbing a bank is tantamount to that most heinous of crimes, theft of money.
 
A boy gets sent to prison for life, effectively,

is set free "early" through no fault of his own,

finds love, starts a family, becomes a contributing member of society,

and the state yanks him from his life, his home, his wife, his children, his community,

and locks him back up when it realized its "error?"

That's cruel and usual, if you ask me.

Fuck this entire country.

And free the other guy, too. 98 years!
 
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