Surprise surprise, AssLEE Todd will not be charged with crime!

[Heather MC]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It figures
they waited to the smoke had cleared and they let her go. With a promise she will get mental help

I am really sick of them deeming people not guilty without a trial or Judge

[jakem]

1. wtf?

i say, :wtf:?

[Parche]

2. Isnt filing a false police report a crime?

I'm being charged with a crime? I'm--
that's what this is--










I'm being charged with a crime? I'm-
that's what's happening? This--I'm-this
is funny, you know that, this is--


I'm gonna tear your eyes right outta your
head and piss in your dead skull. You
f*cked with the wrong Republican.

You f*ckin' people.

You have no idea how to defend a nation.

All you did was weaken a country today,
. That's all you did. You put
people in danger. Sweet dreams, America.

[depakid]

3. She's essentially going into a diverson program

Her criminal record will be expunged after if she stays out of trouble and gets mental treatment on probation. Most people spend a year on probation in the program, which is for first-time, nonviolent offenders.

"Our focus was really, 'This is somebody who appeared to have some mental issues,'" said prosecutor Chris Avetta. "And we wanted to make sure she doesn't hurt herself or anybody else."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/30/america/Attack-McCain-Sticker.php

I know some of the punishment obsessed, hang 'em from the nearest tree types aren't going to like that, but it's a pretty standard disposition in many jurisdictions.

[David__77]

6. Because she's a white girl.

That's about it.

[zbdent]

7. and she's for a repuke ...

that plays VERY HEAVILY in the weighting ...

[depakid]

9. No, it's STANDARD DISPOSITION

that anyone gets offered in cases like these.

[endthewar]

16. "cases like these"

Yep, nothing special here, move along folks. :eyes:

[depakid]

17. Diversionary probation is used all the time for non-violent first offenders

as it should be.

If she doesn't complete the terms and conditions, the court will "violate" her probation and issue a warrant. In jurisdictions I'm familiar with, if they pick her up on the warrant- or she goes willingly back to the court, she'll get an extension and maybe a fine- and another chance to fulfill her obligations.

If she still doesn't comply, eventually, she'll see some jail time.

What else would you have the DA and the court do?

:shrug:

[endthewar]

18. 200 hours of community service, minimum

This sentence has no real deterrent to it. All it says is that if you need help and commit a crime, we'll just make sure you get help. Community service at a minimum is in order, as well as letting her stay in jail a little bit longer to think about what she did.

Remember, this would have taken off big time if she would just have carved the "B" correctly.

[depakid]

19. That's way out of line for this type of case

Large blocks of community service to complete within a short time- a year in this case, set the defendant up for failure, which means she'd in all likelihood be back in front of the courts, wasting time and money. A lose/lose for everyone involved.

Ask any DA, PD or court clerk if you don't believe that's how it works.

That said, the A.R.D. (Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition Program) often does include community service- though the papers haven't said one way or another about whether she got, say 40 hours- but it wouldn't surprise me, if she did- and she'll have some fees to pay as well.

http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/234/chapter3/chap3toc.html

As to jail time spent- she's been in custody since last Friday. I reckon that's ample time for someone who's never been in jail before (or possibly a mental health ward) to reflect on her mistake.

Over-reactions as to sentencing are why some states are now spending more money on jails and prisons, than on higher education. Not a very sensible set of priorities, IMHO.

[endthewar]

20. I've seen many more hours given for lesser, non-violent crimes

Justice isn't blind in this country.

[depakid]

25. DUI's are typically 40 hours- maybe 80 depending on how the defendant behaved

Programs like these tend to be pretty blind- they're aimed at processing a LOT of people through the system, and getting (and keeping) files off the DA's desk.

Of course, not all judges are fair and enlightened, and defendants all too often are set up to fail in certain places.

Think about it. For a working person, 40 hours is over a month's worth of weekends. 200 hours is about 6 months of weekends, usually picking up tash on the road or scooping poop at an animal shelter!

Realistically, a lot of people aren't going to complete that- which will cause more heaaches for everyone involved.

[endthewar]

26. They offered her an expungement

Not sure how familiar you are with the legal system, but that is actually a very BIG deal, especially for a college-age student. And there are easy ways to make sure those community service hours are completed. Normally what's done (especially to minorities) is you overcharge them with a felony that you weren't planning on prosecuting them on, offer them a plea deal with community service hours in exchange for dropping the felony charge and expunging whatever misdemeanor charges there are. I don't know the details of her probation, but I'm not sure if it even includes drug testing, which is usually included even with crimes not involving drugs.

The sentence focuses exclusively on rehabilitation and is not punitive in nature. You should read up on criminology and you'll learn that these kinds of crimes need to include punitive aspects as well to be successful in deterring future crimes by the individuals who commit them.

[depakid]

29. I'm aware of overcharging

and might know a thing or two about how things actually work in the trenches...;-)

Standard terms and conditions of probation require that defendants abstain from drug or aloholl use in any case, though whether she'll have to submit to UA's, since drugs and alcohol don't appear to have been involved may well be up to the mental health care provider to determine.

As to punative aspects of sentencing, what part of time served doesn't register? The woman's been in custody for 6 days (not sure why she wasn't arraigned on Monday- guess they couldn't get the psych evaluation done over the weekend).

[Jed Dilligan]

23. Picture the opposite situation, with all races and parties reversed.

Do you really think that the deranged black girl would go into diversion? The cops would probably drop a ball of coke on her and that would be that.

[onenote]

4. suddenly we're all "law and order" types here

no plea bargains.

[Blue_In_AK]

5. Ironic ...

We're all "law and order types" while Ted Stevens' supporters want to "F*** the Feds."

[zbdent]

8. um ... aren't the RWers the ones who scream about "liberal judges" being lenient

on criminals, that want the "rule of law" followed (oops, except when it comes to deciding WHO the President is) ...

So, the Repuke girl should have demanded the "strict ruling of the law" conservative, hanging judges ...

[depakid]

12. If you ever read the crime threads on DU.....

you'll see that the far right doesn't have a monopoly on knee jerk responses or screaming for excessive (and sometimes barbaric) punishment.

Part and parcel to why America has the world's largest and most expensive prison system- both in terms of raw numbers and on a per capita basis.

[Writer]

10. McCain camp to prosecutors...

"PLEASE don't charge her with a felony. We really REALLY need her vote."

[ps1074]

11. She can team up with JTP and write a book

"Looking stupid and the whole nation laughing at you during a presidential election campaign"... Or is it too long for a book title?

[beac]

13. How about:

We The Sheeple, the Amazing Narcissistic Adventures of Joe & Ashley

:shrug:

[olkaz]

14. She'll be the new Karl Rove in 15 years.

Karl didn't get caught when he had his 'scratched B' stunt.

[...of J.Temperance]

15. To be honest I think she has mental health issues, so I agree she shouldn't be sent to jail

Anyone who carves up their OWN face like she did, is definately NOT playing with a full deck.

She lied, she made up a story designed to race-bait, which is disgusting, her carving up her own face though I think is the bigger picture in this.

I believe Todd probably has some serious psychological issues going on, mentally ill people don't belong in jail, she needs to be sent to a psychiatric unit in my humble opinion.

I know this response might be unpopular, but ya know.

[Heather MC]

30. The Jails are filled with Mentally challenged Black folks, why should she get a pass?

and since when is there a mental illness that causes you to think up a race bait scheme

She can get the help she needs in a mental hospital. the Max time for crime she commited was 2 years of Jail time. I think she should have gotten some time. I would have been happy with 30 days, and record!

[Occam Bandage]

21. I didn't really expect anything different.

[TheDonkey]

22. She should be locked up. She is a hateful disgusting person

This is an outrage. She should do time and plenty of community service.

[Omerrrta]

24. bah

is there no law against trying to influence an election with a crime like that? there should be.

[martymar64]

27. She needs a little "Texas Justice"

Just sayin'

[Doctor_J]

28. If she were to be charged we would find out who thought it up

This goes right to Rove.