TUESDAY POWER-OUTAGE UPDATE- There is a total power outage at the Lawson family courthouse. Apparently someone forgot to pay the bill. Again. No estimated time for restoration of power as of 2:08 pm. So once again, judges and litigants are left in the dark. Let the puns flow...
There is a reason why we relentlessly mock and criticize the Dade state attorney's office for abandoning their discretion and surrendering the ability to do justice when their drones roll up to the court podium and intone "victim wants max". Because tragedies like this occur:
Jessie Askew was 23, broke, and a new father in 1998, when he and a friend went into a fresh market where he worked, wearing masks, and demanded cash. It was a stupid and botched robbery. Kelly Burke was a new prosecutor in Georgia, intent on establishing a tough reputation. Angry that Askew had elected to go to trial despite the overwhelming evidence, he won and sought imposition of Georgia's mandatory life without parole sentence. Sound familiar? Young prosecutor trying to make a name. Trial tax. Mandatory sentence with no judicial discretion. Young and immature defendant under intense pressure and making stupid choices.
So here we are 28 years later. Askew is a grandfather and mentor to young prisoners. Burke is retired, dying of cancer, and has spent over a decade trying to right the most serious wrong of his career. This is what a real prosecutor does, although in Mr. Burke's case, it took a long time and the perspective of age and experience to bring him to the conclusion he was part of grievous wrong.
It all came together, as the NY Times reports here, with Burke testifying and advocating for Askew, while, not surprisingly, the Georgia AG was digging in their heels and trying to finish the destruction of a man's life by arguing that the motions were untimely filed. Nothing like throwing up procedural roadblocks when a man's life is at stake.
This is a feel-good (sort of) story. The judge granted the motion and Askew was freed.
The larger lessons here are that 1) young prosecutors often feel the only way for them to make a name for themselves is to be tough on crime because they are no longer taught that the greatest thing they can do in fulfilling their special role in the criminal justice system is to achieve justice; 2) mandatory sentences remove the checks and balances that a (hopefully) fair judiciary can apply when a prosecutor is simply seeking the max; 3) laws need to be reformed to allow these motions to be brought without the untimeliness roadblock prosecutors love to throw.
Victim wants max? At least one prosecutor in Georgia decided (better late than never) that that is not the way to run a criminal justice system.
Will this matter in Miami where the Dade SAO has mostly forfeited their obligation to seek justice, as it is layered with chiefs, assistant chiefs, and nameless supervisors who only want to keep their jobs and won't stick their necks out to do the right thing? Probably not with this administration.
Janet Reno told all prosecutors that their job was to do justice. When was the last time Ms. Rundle said that and meant something other than "victim wants max?" We invite her to respond, but don't hold your breath.
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| Former Prosecutor Kelly Burke, with Mr. Askew's mother, in court, trying to do the right thing. |
9 comments:
I've heard ("heard" being the operative word), Kathy is not that terrible. It's the chiefs under her that have no compassion, no heart, no ability to see the human in defendants. It's too bad she is drowned out by those unreasonable chiefs. The whole office needs a shake up. I very much look forward to the end of the KFR era and the start of the next. Hopefully when the next SA comes in they clean house!
The problem with minimum mandatory penalties ( omitting murder, ultra violent offenses and extent of priors) is that it eliminates the much needed "checks and balances"...so integral to a democratic government. No offense to the prosecution, but with life experience comes essential knowledge, yet the very nature of a prosecuting office is that it usually made up of lawyers' first job out of law school. Get rid of these minimum mandatory penalties, create something similar to the federal "safety valve" so that there is an incentive to plead early, impose strong incentives for betterment in the prison system and allow motions to mitigate if there is obvious rehabilitation and many of these issues can be better addressed.
Tanned. Rested. Ready. VON ZAMFT 2028!,,,
Just demanded money with a mask? No firearm? I agree he shouldn’t get life either way but if he pulled a gun on someone that’s an important fact you omitted.
Let’s assume as a 23 year old making very bad choices he did display a gun. Does that merit a life sentence? Isn’t 25 years enough ? More than a quarter of a person’s life ? I thunk 10-15 is more than enough especially for a first serious offense. We have to have some hope in the maturity and humanity of people.
So a prosecutor in another state who did the wrong thing, and is trying to now do the right thing, is the mold that all other prosecutors are formed of. Ridiculous and beneath you, Rumpole. It’s amazing how you fail to acknowledge the hundreds of good people who have worked as local ASAs, but trot out one amoral jackass as our model. People’s lives are irreparably damaged by murderers, robbers, thieves, rapists, drunk drivers, etc. and you defend their rights for money, and that’s a good thing. But those of us who try to defend the law and the victims of those offenders are immoral? Come on… even you don’t buy into that hypocrisy. Lastly, I’m still waiting for someone-anyone- to identify who at the SAO has expressed the “win at any cost” mantra.
Maybe learn to read. I’ve repeatedly praised prosecutors. Especially those trained by Janet Reno and her staff. The current group with their mindless “victim wants max” are deeply troubling as is the current SAO mindset not to extend themselves to right a wrong. And in that regard I have specific proof based on my dealings with them. I’ve exonerated - note the E word - close to a half a dozen clients and not once has the dade SAO ever agreed to the motion. And in one case two prosecutors kept telling me “You know us. We wouldn’t convict an innocent person.” Until I got the proof that showed that is exactly what they did and they knew it.
And thank goodness I had a courageous judge who ruled based on the evidence my team was able to uncover and introduce. In my opinion they have learned ZERO from the Von Zamft fiasco. It one damned thing. Have you seen them announce any changes? No. Why? Because that would be a tacit admission to wrongdoing. Something Kathy will never do. And I know this personally.
Actually I’ve named several and each time Rumpole has responded to me that he cannot post what I have written without 1000% proof although he has also responded that what I have sent him appears to be deeply troubling. So give him credit for being careful with peoples reputations.
True
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