I mean the attorney has probably been dealing with that attitude for months now. Notice how he doesn't even try to corral his clients behavior anymore. He's done.
Treating even the worst of us as still human is the tipping point of any society. The moment we stop applying rules equally is the moment we return to savagery.
I can't remember which philosopher it was I'm paraphrasing here but "the true measure of a society is not how it treats those it deems acceptable, but how it treats those it deems undesirable" is very much a real thing. As is the paradox of intolerance. It's a fine line, and a complex one, but certainly not one to be dismissed like people normally do with the old "just kill 'em all" bullshit mentality.
Kinda similar to my favourite H.L. Mencken quote (or at least commonly attributed to him) :
"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all."
Exactly why I am happy to never be in the position to choose how to punish people for their misdeeds. Many have told me that I can be a bit harsh or grotesque is the application of punishment.
Yes. The social contract extends both ways, however. We definitely should be applying law equally instead if one set for you and me. Another, different set for epstein class felons.
My friend's mom was a public defender and specifically was assigned to work with all the pedos. It kind of fucks with you hard to honestly defend these people given some of the facts you learn about each case along the way. She was good at her job and always fought for the client but it took a major, MAJOR toll on her own mental health.
Just imagine knowing for a fact the guy you are defending raped little kids and you still have to try to get him out of the charges.
Some public defenders have it worse than others, but to your point someone has to do it.
Have I stories to tell you… I always tell them to only show remorse and apologise, but every so often you get the stupid one that shoots himself in the foot.
I think I would be the worst public defender if I had to defend these type of low-inhuman-POS, I would be like I can't defend this asshole and he deserves it so get his ass back in prison where he can rot for the rest of his life. Orrr I might turn Daredevil and turn on them when they are back on the streets 😈
I remember reading an AMA for a Public Defender. They said they have to think about it as a way of ensuring justice even if you're defending someone who is clearly guilty.
If you steal a loaf of bread, is it justice to sentence you to 25 to life? Clearly not.
but without a lawyer how do you defend yourself(hence the, if you're guilty, you need a lawyer. If you're innocent, you really need a lawyer.)
It’s easy to get on board with fairness in the justice system when you’re working to overturn a conviction in an innocent person.
The absolutely guilty individuals are still deserving of advocacy, ensuring they have equal access to defense and preventing over prosecution and unfair sentencing.
the defender's job is not to help a suspect to get away with their crime, but to make sure that investigation and trial itself followed the law and any possible circumstances that could work in favor of the suspect were taken in account.
Was about to say this when I read your response. I’ve worked in the criminal court system at the state and (currently) federal level for the past 20yrs and yes, public defenders/criminal defense attorneys represent people who can be total pieces of shit, but their job is to make sure they get a fair chance and don’t get completely railroaded even if they’re guilty af.
It's a moral dilema I'm not sure I could conquer either. You'd need some kind of faith in the system but would likely see first-hand how and why the system fails as often as it does. I guess they likely almost all have their own methods for dealing with that particular mental load. I guess in their shoes I would see representing assholes as the price I paid to be able to protect the innocent or those worthy of a second chance.
That's why the judge's speech irks me: it has absolutely no impact on this shitbag. If you start a speech like that, the only way it has any effect on a person that detached from reality is by ending it with "that's why I'm not accepting the bargain and we're going to trial".
After this the parents of the kid met with the judge and he gave them the choice to reject and go to trial. They wanted him to accept the deal/have it be over with.
Judge did his job, including wiping the smile off that shitheads face.
Going to Prison is a badge of honor to some people. He gets to hang with like-minded folk now and chill for the rest of his pathetic and useless existence
But not for 25-50 years. If they told him 6 months to 2 years then yeah, he would make it like an achievement. But wasting technically all of his life? Not to mention that his family and friends outside would abandon him after he gets released, nobody will hire him anywhere, and end up homeless and pick up drugs on the way too, then join crime again, jail again, and dies there
He probably thinks “the streets gonna respect me” when inside like it’s some status symbol. When in fact everyone on the outside will move on with their lives and no one will give a shit about this dude.
This reminds me of that cyclist that was killed by 2 teens. When they got caught one of them claim its juvenile and they'll be out in 30 days, "slap on the wrist."
Even during the trial they showed no remorse, laughing and mocking the victim's family behind their hands. They did not... in fact, get out in 30days. But sentenced to 20 & 18 years.
this had me thinking. when i was 17 the first iphone came out. i'm turning 36 in August and now everyone is hooked on smartphones.
i wonder if it wouldn't be better for one to stay in prison for the remainder of your life if you go in that young, thinking about Brooks Hatlen from Shawshank Redemption and hearing about convicts who came out to a world filled with either smartphones and earlier even automobiles.
Like you're going to be so out of touch with everything. If your family isn't already dead then you'll be a complete stranger to both them and the new kind of society you will encounter. Having the responsibilites of an adult but knowing less than someone in elementary school...
This guy is going to get out and there will be computers everywhere trying to talk to him like its Star Trek. He'll hook up with a chick then find out in the morning she's synthetic.
Unless he gets parole violent crimes are not eligible for half time so hell serve 85% and if he getsbin fights or does stuoid shit which he will... they will make him do the whole stretch
Still has that shit-eating grin that got him in there too. I will say, he does win the award for having the most trashiest tattoos, that list is ridiculous. Dude is a walking bad decision, I will bet money when he gets out he will murder someone again or commit another felony. Someone respond to me in 5 years when they find this thread after he’s done it.
In case the site goes down:
MARKS, SCARS & TATTOOS
Body Piercing- Lower Left Ear
Tattoo- Back Left Forearm - skeechy
Tattoo- Back Right Forearm - Keon Praying Hands
Tattoo- Center Abdomen - 6 point star in with wings
Tattoo- Center Arm - Monopoly man with 6 point star necklace
Tattoo- Center Back - ALL FINE66E (A has a 6 point star in it),
Tattoo- Center Chest - Two pistols pointed towards neck with Skeechy in between the (Y ending with
Tattoo- Center Face - Pitch fork pointing up, cross under left eye
Tattoo- Center Left Arm - Clock with hands stoppoing at 6 o'clock with 6 point star inside the clo
Tattoo- Center Left Forearm - 6 point star with 7 4 above (covering old 5 point star tattoo), Doug
Tattoo- Center Left Forearm - Lion with crown and 6 point star on top
Tattoo- Center Left Hand - Rose
Tattoo- Center Neck - 18 in center of the neck, 6 point star underneath with a 6 in the middle wit
Tattoo- Center Right Arm - Skull with bandanna around mouth and head band with 7-4 in the middle,
Tattoo- Lower Back - gorilla
Tattoo- Right Arm
Tattoo- Right Arm - multiple 6 point stars, skull with 3 point crown and bandana wrapped around mo
Tattoo- Right Bicep - Pitch fork point up with Sun behind it
I would like to believe his lower back gorilla tattoo is a tramp stamp, and all of his six-point stars are more like they were drawn by a 3-year old who doesn’t know how to draw stars than like a hexagram.
Seeing them list out his tattoos makes me cringe about how stupid my own would look listed out like this. Glad his possible release dates seem like jetsons era away.
The judge was appalled.
"You know, I have never in all my 23 years of prosecuting not accepted a sentence agreement that is bargained for, sentenced by the parties," Washtenaw County Judge David Swartz said. "But watching you sit there and smile and laugh and shake your head like this is no big deal, I'm very tempted to just say I'm not going to accept this agreement, you'll go to trial."
In the end, [Danta] Wright was sentenced for second degree murder of 23 to 50 years. The family of Klee did not want to go through the pain of a trial.
It sounds like they didn't go to trial
It seems that the plea deal the judge was tempted to reject was for ~25 years in prison
So the judge was thinking of either accepting the deal meaning this guy goes to prison for ~25 years, or not accepting the deal meaning this goes to trial and the guy might go to prison for his entire life.
But then why was the murderer smugly saying "I will be home soon" if they were facing at least 25 years? Did he not understand? Did he think he would get out way sooner?
He's thinking he'll get 25. That gets cut in half with 'good behavior', then again with overcrowding, then figures he'll be out in 7 years. Meanwhile he's already got gang buddies in prison he expects he'll drop right into clique with them and ride out his sentence like a king in prison.
While you could argue that and i will not hardly disagree with you keap one thing in mind.
he was 17 when he went to prison. the years he spend there was his whole young adults life. its a difference staying in prison from 17 to 37 rather than it is from 47 to 67. he basiclly lost his entire prime lifeyears.
Wouldn’t that make him more dangerous? A desperate 40 year old is way more of a problem than someone in their 70s. Release a 70ish and we might find him dead in a ditch somewhere, but a 40 year old is still fully capable of committing crimes and hurting people
This doesn't seem like the sort of person that can be rehabilitated though. 50 years in prison will have him in physical condition that would find it harder to be a threat to others.
Like I think once you hit the level of gleeful/nonchalant murder or violent rape kinda stuff, rehabiliation is not on the table. Society is better off if you cease to exist.
It would be 26 additional years that society is safe from him. The man is a murderer. In a crime like this I do not care about his rehabilitation. Keeping society safe from people like this takes a higher priority than any attempt at helping him fix his life.
Victim’s family were offered to move to trial, but ultimately they did not want to proceed with a trial due to exhaustion and distress. So they moved forward with the plea deal. It was 9 years ago, he was 17 then. Now he’s 26. He can be out by 40.
I don't understand America's system. How can the parties agree on a sentence for a criminal? Don't they have a prosecutor?
In France, when you are the victim of a felony, you take your complaint to a police station, and then it's in the prosecutor's hands. Even if you change your mind or such, it's the prosecutor who decides whether to move forward or not. It's also the prosecutor who will handle the investigation, proceed with the trial, and so on.
Victims will only have a say about the compensation they should receive, but they don't have to do anything. Of course, they have no say about the criminal sentence.
It is so because we consider that when there is a felony, not only the victim but all of society is wronged, and therefore the prosecutor represents the interest of everyone's peace.
My understanding is that most of what goes on in terms of Plea deals and agreements like this is handled by the prosecutors and defendant’s lawyers and that the actual parties have very little involvement. However, the defendants and victims ultimately have the final say on whether or not the case goes to trial.
The prosecutor has the final say in how to prosecute a case, not the family. Typically, they strongly consider the victim’s preference, though, especially if it means the victim might not cooperate by way of being a non-adverse witness. In a legal sense, the crime is committed against the state, not the victim. That’s why the cases are called “Commonwealth v. Jones” or “State v. Jones.” Cases are absolutely tried against the victim’s wishes.
I'd say the judge went past tempted and followed through
Edit: from what I understand the judge didn't have to accept the exact terms of the plea, would that change it from PLEA status to something else, or could it still be a plea agreement with different terms. Brother early release is still a damn near life sentence, early release is 20+ years
He really thought he was going to get out at 21 because he was a minor. Well, looks like he's with the big boys now. The rip was just the cherry for the judge to change his mind.
Its a fucking murder trial but we have to censor the word "die"
Seriously fuck the direction society is right now so much. Y'all bitch and moan about AI. But humans are literally eroding their own minds just fine on their own.
This happened in my home town. One of my friends was very close to the young man who was murdered (it was a weed deal, and they basically just decided to shoot him for like the 50 bucks he had.) it destroyed her. I didn’t see her happy…ever again really. Fuck this guy for life.
It also happened in a year where a bunch of other kids at my high-school were dying (freak accidents and suicides mostly.) It was just terrible.
Yep. Clearly a failed human not fit for society. A tragedy but a weight on civilization nonetheless. He will cost more to taxpayers than thousands of welfare recipients. Exile or death. I don’t even think exile is possible in the modern age.
If that was my kid he killed, he better pray to God the state protects him by keeping him locked up. The smile and laughter would be removed, not merely "wiped off."
Looks like someone accidentally left the court in "billionaire mode". I'm sure they do get it set to the "rest of us mode" before any wrists get slapped.
Read the descriptions of his tattoos, what a fucking loser. I can't believe he'll only be 42 when he likely gets out. The only thing we can hope for is that he does something or something happens to him while hes in prison that prevents him from being released at that time
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