UPDATE: So this is spinning out of control fast.
The Defendant apparently had a list of priors. He was apparently on probation for a lot of cases. He was stopped for DWLS and at least one email stated there was a gun in the car.
SO....assuming the worst... should a judge warehouse a defendant for sixty years for a non-violent violation of probation?
Rumpole says-sixty years is still outrageous. We know that as people age, they age out of violent behavior. So even if this was a dangerous individual in his early twenties, a sentence of twenty or or twenty-five years AT MOST seems more appropriate.
Now here's a more normal Broward post.
Broward Judge Matthew Destry violated the probation of a young African America man last week for DWLS (in some reports its an NVDL, but we're giving him the benefit of the doubt.)
He sentenced the young man to sixty years.
60 years.
More than half a century.
He looked at this young man on probation and decided that for the crime of not having a valid driver's license he should stay in prison until 2075.
Or look at it this way. If he had sentenced this young man in 1955, and he got out now, he would say- "yeah, that's about the right amount of time for someone to be in jail for not having a valid DL."
It's an outrage.
There are various petitions floating around the web to seek this Judge's removal, and rightfully so. Anyone with the power to sentence a person who sends them to prison for sixty years for a non-violent offense should be removed from the bench.
Nothing on the Broward Blog about this by the way.
See You In Court.
You can't get 60 years for traffic, so...
ReplyDeleteWhat was he on probation for? Was it his first violation of probation? What were his priors?
He VOP'd four felony cases (for which he was given two years DOC) when he was allegedly stopped DWLS in possession of firearm, so judge revoked probation on these cases and sent him back to DOC -- not for DWLS!
ReplyDelete04/08/2011 GRAND THEFT MOTOR VEHICLE 09/14/2012 BROWARD 1106119 2Y 0M 0D
03/26/2011 ROBB. NO GUN/DDLY.WPN 09/14/2012 BROWARD 1107659 2Y 0M 0D
04/13/2012 BURG/DWELL/OCCUP.CONVEY 09/14/2012 BROWARD 1208353 2Y 0M 0D
04/13/2012 GRAND THEFT,300 L/5,000 09/14/2012 BROWARD 1208353 2Y 0M 0D
04/13/2012 FACILITATE BURGLARY 09/14/2012 BROWARD 1208353 2Y 0M 0D
04/13/2012 BURGLARY,ARMED W/EXP. OR WEAPO 09/14/2012 BROWARD 1209067 2Y 0M 0D
04/13/2012 GRAND THEFT FIREARM 09/14/2012 BROWARD 1209067 2Y 0M 0D
05/11/2012 BURGLARY,ARMED W/EXP. OR WEAPO 09/14/2012 BROWARD 1211969 2Y 0M 0D
05/11/2012 GRAND THEFT,300 L/5,000 09/14/2012 BROWARD 1211969 2Y 0M 0D
05/11/2012 FACILITATE BURGLARY 09/14/2012 BROWARD 1211969 2Y 0M 0D
04/24/2012 BURG/DWELL/OCCUP.CONVEY 09/14/2012 BROWARD 1211970 2Y 0M 0D
04/24/2012 FACILITATE BURGLARY 09/14/2012 BROWARD 1211970 2Y 0M 0D
05/04/2012 BURG/DWELL/OCCUP.CONVEY 09/14/2012 BROWARD 1212284 2Y 0M 0D
05/04/2012 FACILITATE BURGLARY 09/14/2012 BROWARD 1212284 2Y 0M 0D
05/04/2012 GRAND THEFT,300 L/5,000 09/14/2012 BROWARD 1212284 2Y 0M 0D
When is he up for re-election? He will likely never be removed, but we should all actively donate to and campaign for anyone who announces his intention to run against Destry.
ReplyDeleteIts not worth sixty years. Period.
ReplyDeleteI would have never thought that Broward judges could be so lenient.
ReplyDeleteYou have to understand that Destry simply doesn't understand what he is supposed to do. He is about the most reversed judge in Broward history. He seems like a really nice guy but, can't read case law, misunderstands suppression issues and just rules with his heart.
ReplyDeleteSounds perfect for probate court.
ReplyDeleteThe Captain Reports:
I have appeared before Judge Destry on numerous occasions. The man is wicked. He has so sympathy for anything nor anybody. He is so out of sync with the rest of the criminal bench, in Broward, and in Dade. I nearly had it out with him the last time I appeared before him and had to bite my tongue from what I wanted to say. I did push the envelope much further than I have in other courts; he pushed back just as hard. Felt very bad for my client.
I know about the case of the defendant who got 60 years and the petition floating around accusing the judge of sentencing blacks to the maximum all the time. I can't comment on the racial aspect of the story; I can only tell you that my client was white.
Destry was appointed to an open seat by Gov. Charlie Crist in 2008. He ran for the first time in 2010 and won with opposition. He has filed for re-election in 2016 and currently has no opposition. He is a 27 year member of The Florida Bar. He is Board Certified in Criminal Trial Law. He is a former ASA and Assistant Statewide Prosecutor. (He had been telling most people around the courthouse up thru last year that he had no plans to run for re-election. That was until about the first part of this year when he began to rethink his future. He filed about three weeks ago).
Read this piece from Buddy Nevins to get a feel for how others feel about Destry on the bench:
http://www.browardbeat.com/potshots-at-a-broward-judge-fair-or-unfair/
And read this from the Sun Sentinel on his jailing of former Broward Commissioner Stephanie Kraft:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-kraft-jail-appeal-20150211-story.html
All I can say about the man is - it is extremely frustrating appearing before him.
Cap Out .....
Captain4Justice@gmail.com
I pray that there is such a thing as Karma, so Destry will return in the next life as a poor black man
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteto 4:27
I disagree. The man was an ASA and ASWP before taking the bench. He knows exactly what he is doing. He has been around the criminal justice system for nearly three decades. He has been in the court for that same amount of time. He is all law and order. He has a simple rule - no second chances. You get what you bargained for. Don't come back to me and ask me for any favors, any understanding of minor mishaps, technical violations, etc. The man has no mercy at all. And as far as I can tell, he does not shows favorites for the color of your skin. He dishes it out to everyone equally.
I will agree with what you said about following the law, the case law, etc. Check the 4th DCA web site and look at just the cases from 2015. Nearly every case that went up on appeal, Destry was reversed. So, either he doesn't get it, or simply doesn't care. I think he is so jaded by how he feels about criminal defendants', that he just doesn't care if the case comes back on appeal.
Cap Out .....
Make a complaint.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.floridajqc.com/images/JQCComplaintForm.pdf
I disagree with the Destry lynching,
ReplyDeleteWhile I feel that he is not fun to be in front of (takes bench way too late , doesn't give an inch to the defense yet he is nice and accommodating to the lawyers; sound familiar ? He's the Lenny Glick of Broward.
He is habitually late and shows up with unusually red face when he does appear. He is evil, dishonest and is extra mean to minorities. There are criminal psychopaths who have more regard for the community than this slime. He has no business on any bench. Oh and by the way I know a nasty drunk when I see one. Comparing him to Glick is an outrage! Glick is an honorable man of considerable accomplishments but a tough sentencer. Destry was a terrible lawyer and now a horrible Judge.
ReplyDeleteIf the defendant deserved 60 years than he should not have been placed on probation. After all what kind of a judge would permit a man who was such a danger to the community be placed back into it upon a plea. This is as dishonest as it comes, I'm not surprised that Destry is behind it.
ReplyDeleteThe lawyer set up his own client by putting someone so out of control on probation. You can't blame the judge for that. The list of priors is ridiculous. This is someone who was given the chance of a lifetime, someone who did not deserve that chance of a lifetime, and he blew it. Now you criticize the Judge. This is crazy. This guy apparently violated probation two times. Judge Destry sent a message to everyone else in the community. Perhaps we will be safer for it.
ReplyDelete