(WACO, Texas) Felon gets 99 years for stealing phone

[truthpusher]

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/national/index.ssf?/base/national-47/1121118122187100.xml&storylist=national

Felon gets 99 years for stealing phone
-------------------------
7/11/2005, 5:36 p.m. CT
The Associated Press
-------------------------
WACO, Texas (AP) — A convicted felon who went on profanity-laced tirades in court and told jurors he didn't care if they gave him life in prison was sentenced to 99 years for stealing a cell phone.

Jurors deliberated about 15 minutes before convicting Glenn Alvin Reed of robbery Thursday.

Reed, 31, was convicted as a habitual criminal because he had prior felony convictions for injury to an elderly person and robbery, which bumped the minimum sentence from five to 25 years. He also had 15 misdemeanor convictions dating to 1991.

Reed testified during both phases of the trial, swearing and telling jurors he didn't care if they sent him to prison for life.

"There's things I choose to do, like, if I go in a store and choose to take a Snicker's bar," Reed testified. "If you catch me, you catch me. If not, I'm going to go home and eat it up and go on about my business, dog."

complete story: http://www.nola.com/newsflash/national/index.ssf?/base/national-47/1121118122187100.xml&storylist=national

[Renew Deal]

1. I'm not sure what to say.

What really can be said?

[Name removed]

75. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Betty]

90. I am sure rove won't get 99 years

for outing Plame. He'll get a fucking medal form the chimp.

[Julius Civitatus]

2. A sense of measure?

I understand he had previous convictions... but doesn't this sentence seem completly out of measure compared to the crime?

Last week they detained that psycho in Idaho, who was released after multiples rapes and charges of molestation... only to kill a family and pursue his sick habit. That guy was out after multiple violent sexual crimes.

But in Texas a guy can get 99 years for stealing a cellphone. It seems quite bizarre to me.

[struggle4progress]

17. On the other hand, drunk drivers who kill people with their cars, can ..

.. get off scot-free in Texas, on the theory that "they have suffered enough." That's Texas fer ya ...

[Occulus]

30. He did dare the jury to do so

Keep in mind what kind of person would dare a jury to imprison him for life.

Over a cellphone.

:freak:

[daleo]

31. The jury might have shown some restraint.

I wonder if this will be overturned on appeal. Ken Lay stole the equivalent of several billion cell phones, and hasn't even been brought to trial.

[Occulus]

34. I did think the same thing

he'll appeal, and probably get between ten and twenty-five. Paroled after seven or so. No matter how, it'll get reduced. Bank on that...

99 years really is a little ridiculous. Maybe there was a "so there!" factor going on in the jury room.... less than fifteen minutes? I spend more time getting ready for work!

[daleo]

40. Agreed on all points

The jury members should have taken their duties more seriously. I don't know if this fellow has much in the way of work prospects in the non-prison world, but lifetime imprisonment costs a lot of taxpayer money, so it shouldn't be dispensed lightly.

[ZR2]

44. Juries do not sentence criminals.....

The judge determines the sentence based upon the law. The jury only determines guilt. The only exception to this is capital crime cases, where the jury makes a RECOMMENDATION to the judge for sentence, but it is still up to tthe judge to determine the actual fate.

[daleo]

60. That's a good point

The way the article was written made me forget that. I suppose he was giving them an all or nothing choice, and lost the gamble. If the judge had any discretion, then he wasn't thinking straight. If the legislature forced the judge's hand with a 99 year minimum sentence, then it wasn't thinking straight. Leaving aside the issue of justice for a moment, just the cost of incarcerating people for life over matters like this has got to add up.

[William Seger]

47. Right

5 years for stealing the phone, 20 more for being a repeat offender, and 74 more for being uppity.

[me b zola]

82. 74 for being uppity

That is exactly right; there is SO much wrong with our criminal 'justice' system.

[Canuckistanian]

50. Juries don't do the sentencing, do they?

I thought the judge alone does that. I understand that in some cases juries may make recommendations, but not set the punishments.
But then again, this is Texas. Normal rules may not apply there.

[existentialist]

79. sentencing

in most jurisdictions you are correct, the jury finds guilt or innocence, and in some places makes recommendations, but the judge determines the sentence any where that I am aware of.

I suppose there is the exception where the legislature has mandated what the sentence will be. i.e. such as a life sentence for murders in some jurisdictions.

[existentialist]

78. stealing a cell phone

Did you read the story?

The Defendant also physically attacked the person he stole it from, and had a history of prior violent behavior, and made threats in Court against the witnesses. It does sound like he was a homicide waiting to happen if released anytime soon, and I don't blame the judge at all.

[me b zola]

83. Ah, the 'Majority Report'

Lets not sentence him on his crime, but on what we *think* that he may do in the future.

Sorry, I see this young man as a symptom of what is wrong, not the wrongest itself.

[BlueJazz]

3. Sounds like the Dude has major Psychological problems.but...

..Hey..This is the America...Lets spend $700,000.00 keeping this guy in jail for 40 years instead of spending 1/10 that much giving him help.

What a Country!!

[mom cat]

6. I also thought that he sounded mentally ill. He won't get any help where

he is going.

[kestrel91316]

46. Hey, here in Los Angeles ...............

he wouldn't have been arrested, he would have been shot and killed on the spot. That's what LAPD does to the mentally ill.

[saigon68]

53. That's one way to get rid of these Pesky street people

</sarcasm>

[Daphne08]

11. Yep. Backassward thinking.

[Mike Niendorff]

14. .

> ..Hey..This is the America...Lets spend $700,000.00 keeping this
> guy in jail for 40 years instead of spending 1/10 that much giving him
> help.
>
> What a Country!!

Sadly, that is America ... or at least America as it has now become. It is a far cry from the America I was raised to believe in.


MDN

[Mairead]

33. That was my first thought, too--he sounds like he badly needs help

I'd also guess that he might be somewhat dark-skinned.

[TX-RAT]

41. I'd also guess that he might be somewhat dark-skinned

Racism? didn't take long for that claim.
Damn your quick.

[Mairead]

48. It's like winning bar bets: go with the odds

[Moose_head]

54. he may be black, or he may just be a "wigger"-

"... you catch me, you catch me. If not, I'm going to go home and eat it up and go on about my business, dog."

Glenn Alvin Reed sounds more like a "white" name, but it's hard to say-

whatever the case- it's never a good idea for a defendant to challenge a Texas jury.

[Sterling]

68. you catch me, you catch me. If not, I'm going to go home and eat it up and

you catch me, you catch me. If not, I'm going to go home and eat it up and go on about my business, dog."


I would give him 99 years. He attacks old people and seems to have no desire to reform.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. I don't know where to go with this

Does habitual criminal = the 3 strikes thing?

They offered him 15 years first and he didn't take it. He took this to jury and then behaved like, well, like he wanted what he got.

His attorney must have been beating his head on the table.

I agree with BlueJazz, the man has some real psychological problems. It's a shame he'll never get the help he needs.

[davekriss]

15. In no just universe...

...does stealing a cell phone justify a 99 year sentence! I don't care if he had a hundred convictions before this one, the punishment for the crime should be 3-6 months at most. 99 years? He'd have to steal the cell phone COMPANY before the punishment fit the crime!

What was the value of the phone, $50? Maybe $100? And what is the value purportedly looted by Enron? Add up the combined years of sentences meted out to their executives -- does the total come anywhere near 99 years?

Outrageous! Just evil. Welcome to the penal colony called the United States!

(We have the highest rate of imprisonment on the globe. Who hates us for our "freedoms"? HA!)

[NawlinsNed]

22. Well, except that he beat the guy who owned the phone

This is a guy who really just doesn't give a crap. Jail is a good place for him.

[davekriss]

28. Fine...

...he hit the guy a few times with the butt of the cell phone, a cell phone weighing all of 2 ounces. I heard the proprieter, under the right light, can show you the red mark if you look hard enough. Still this does not warrant 99 years!

If Rove gets frog-marched off to life-without-parole, that would be justice. What we see here is injustice -- in this land that imprisons more of it's citizens than anywhere else, that trains the worlds most sadistic jailor-torturers in Ft. Benning, Georgia, this administration that locks up American citizens in jails with no access to lawyers, no actual crime charged, just because Ol' Oedipal George has to attack nations based on lies rather than kill the one he really wants and climb in the bed he craves.

In a nation that hasn't frog-marched the lot of them out of Washington on January 21 2001, I guess such a nation can tolerate imprisoning a 31 yo man who clearly shows personality disordered to 99 years in jail for stealing a throwaway phone of minor expense.

Here that sound growing louder? Just the jack booted march of the brown shirt fascists who've come to take the dismantle the stage:

The illusion of freedom in America will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre.
-- Frank Zappa, 1977

[NawlinsNed]

67. Why do you bring up things that have nothing to do with this incident?

Does it make you feel important? Is the high horse you sit upon more comfy than down here with the rest of us?

The guy is a violent criminal who has said he'll commit crime again. You don't know if he has a personality disorder, you're just speculating. People who want to commit more than 3 felonies shouldn't live in 3 strikes states. He did, and he's paying the consequences.

[davekriss]

77. It's called mockery, nawlinsned

A mockery and I mock back.

I do not in any way support 3 strike laws. They are barberous and unjust.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

24. If you're look for disagreement you've chosen the wrong poster

I didn't say anything that disagrees with what you posted.

I don't support the three strikes concept. I was merely asking if this was the same thing.

As I said he was obviously ill, and now he will never receive the help he needed.

However, there are many people below who you might like to disagree with, please, don't let me stop you. :hi:

[davekriss]

27. Glad to hear it (eom)

[TX-RAT]

42. Read the link

He assaulted the person that owned the phone.

[davekriss]

74. Since when...

...does a misdemeanor-level assault justify what amounts to a life sentence?

Lessee', the former Chairman and CEO of Adelphi stole hundreds of millions of dollars, used the funds of a publicly owned firm as his personal piggy bank, and he got ... 15 years!

How many years will Bernie Ebbers get? Will Ken Lay even be charged?

This is equal justice under the law? Yeah, right! If you believe that then I have some yellow cake to sell you (or perhaps the name of a deep cover CIA agent or two, take your pick).

Our's is the best justice system money can buy, there is no doubt.

[davekriss]

87. Ebbers

Steal $11,000,000,000 ($11 billion) and push a reporter, get 25 years; steal a $100 cell phone and bop the store owner once or twice, get 99 years. Um, yeah, that seems just and fair. :crazy:

This from today's NYT's:

Ebbers Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for $11 Billion Fraud
By JENNIFER BAYOT
Published: July 13, 2005

Bernard J. Ebbers, the founder and former chief executive of WorldCom, was sentenced to 25 years in prison today for his role in the record $11 billion accounting fraud that brought down the telecommunications company in 2002.

~snip~

Mr. Ebbers's sentence is perhaps the toughest for corporate wrongdoing in recent memory - eclipsing the 15 years handed down last month to John J. Rigas, the 80-year-old former chief executive of Adelphia Communications - and legal analysts said it should help the government negotiate settlements as it prosecutes other cases. More important, prosecutors said, it should prove to be a deterrent.

~snip~

... when Mr. Ebbers, appearing tense, shoved a news photographer who got in his way ... recommend that Mr. Ebbers be treated as a low-security prisoner, rather than the medium-security prisoner that his lengthy sentence implies. Sentences longer than 23 years and 6 months typically mandate a medium-security facility.

~snip~

"He can never repay me or the tens of thousands like me whose lives disintegrated in the blink of an eye," said Henry J. Bruen, 37, a former WorldCom employee from White Plains, N.Y. "Where do I get my life savings back from? Where is the attempt to make victims like me whole, not just class-action litigants?"

~snip~

[mccoyn]

56. Maybe he prefers prison life.

Of all the millions of people in this country it seems a few would actually enjoy the simple no expectations life in prison. Why does everyone just assume he is mentally ill?

[davekriss]

76. Maybe

But that still does not justify a 99 year sentence for stealing a cell phone and pushing the store owner around.

[Pystoff]

72. I don't think anybody ...

....Has a clue how to take this one.

Psychological problem nah....unless being a raving smartass thumbing your nose at the law is a mental problem.

He's a punk with a bad attitude maybe he'll get 15 yrs for sure but probably a chance for parole after that 15. He got what he asked for so ta hell with the bonehead.

[DBoon]

5. His attorney let him testify?

Or did he "choose" to represent himself?

[existentialist]

80. his attorney let him testify?

Even if he was represented by an attorney he has the absolute right to testify or not as he chooses, including against the advice of his attorney--and he clearly was not listening to his attorney.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

84. No, his attorney advised him not to testify

He went against the wishes of his council and took the stand. I read that on another news site.

The thing about this that keeps bothering me was his reference to stealing a snickers candy bar. I recall back in 2000 (I think) there was another case in Texas that involved the habitual offender clause and a person who had stolen a Snickers. If my memory serves me he was given an insane sentence and it was widely covered in the press. I can't help having the feeling that this gentleman was making a reference to that case in his testimony. However, I often over analyze things.

[Miss Chybil]

7. This is how we treat our mentally ill - while we let child rapists out on

the streets again and again to prey on our children. This man needs a hospital room, a psychiatrist and some meds. He also needs to be punished for stealing the phone, but Jesus H. Christ, is there no common sense left in this country?

[slackmaster]

8. With an attitude like that I have no sympathy for him

The sentence sounds harsh, but the guy is a real asshat.

:nopity:

"There's things I choose to do, like, if I go in a store and choose to take a Snicker's bar," Reed testified. "If you catch me, you catch me.

Sooner or later some Texas storekeeper would shoot the dirtbag dead and get a medal for it. Reed is probably safer in prison.

[Rose Siding]

9. Why didn't they charge him with the assault?

snip>
In the cell phone incident, the owner had another phone with him and called the missing cell phone's number as he walked up the street. He could hear its distinctive "Aggie War Hymn" ring coming from Reed's pocket, so he followed him and demanded the phone back.

Reed gave back the phone but then hit the owner several times.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

13. The assault may have been a misdemeanor charge

In which case they will often drop that and just prosecute the higher charge.

[daleo]

61. Stealing a phone is a more serious crime than assault?

That seems like a peculiar valuation of harms.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

64. I agree

I don't make the laws, however.

Theft goes by the way the theft is committed and the value of what's stolen. Assault goes by the method used and the damage done to the person.

From my experience, what they choose to pursue depends on what a DA thinks they can more easily get a conviction on and/or what carries a higher penalty.

They may have charged him in the assault for all we know. He may just still be awaiting trial on it. I've not been able to find any better information on the assualt anywhere.

[daleo]

71. Perhaps the details of the assault are murky

There may be a lot of "who pushed who first" involved, and the theft was just more clear cut.

[Vuem]

10. Oh well. Ask and your sorry ass shall receive, it would seem.

What a dumbshit.

[shanti]

12. darwin's theory at work

:eyes:

[existentialist]

81. "Darwin's theory at work"

I wonder if the Darwin Awards would consider this case where a person is ordered locked up for what is presumably an effective life sentence with no further possibilities to reproduce.

[LisaL]

16. I would say he got what he asked for.

He didn't care if he got life in prison. So, I guess he doesn't care he got 99 year in prison either.

[MrSlayer]

18. Well he obviously needs to be behind bars.

If it was a first offender it would be ridiculously extreme but being this clown is a habitual criminal he surely merits a 99 year sentence. No loss to society here.

[brentspeak]

19. Literally, yeah, the guy was 'asking for it'

But it is not normal, even for a criminal, to WANT to be sentenced to life behind bars. The judge should have instead had him committed, then they could make a final decision later on.

[LisaL]

23. Maybe he likes it in prison. Always fed, always has a room

to sleep in.
Not normal? Well, that's not the criteria for legal insanity.

[fortyfeetunder]

20. In a twisted way, finally stability for this guy.

This guy has probably been in and out of prison all these times, he figures the only way to get stability in his life (three squares a day, bed, bath) is to be incarcerated.

Yes, he probably needs mental health services, and agree he is not going to get it in prison...

[Barad Simith]

21. I like it

"There's things I choose to do, like, if I go in a store and choose to take a Snicker's bar," Reed testified. "If you catch me, you catch me. If not, I'm going to go home and eat it up and go on about my business, dog."

Sounds like he has the mentality necessary to enjoy a lifetime in prison.

[mitchum]

25. You fucked up, dog

[Lilith Velkor]

55. Talk about "when keepin it real goes wrong"...

[leesa]

26. How much did Kenny Boy steal? How much has Cheney stolen (so far)?

[Mairead]

63. Exactly. Those are the questions that never get asked

"The law is like a spider's web. It catches the little flies but cannot hold the big ones"

[sakabatou]

29. Shouldn't it be called Wacko, Texas

No offense to anyone that lives there.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

35. I used to live there.

Thankfully, I got out.

[Gyre]

32. He was daring the jury to convict him.

What the hell does anybody expect? Chalk it up to yet another brilliant maneuver by a criminal in a jury trial.:)

Gyre

[Zynx]

36. Moron and career thug. Hope he likes prison food.

The guy had two prior felonies and fifteen prior misdemeanors. I have nothing against putting career criminals in jail for life.

[Jack_DeLeon]

37. Lucky for him he didnt break into someone's home and try that shit...

cause he would have most likely have been a dead motherfucker.

[Endangered Specie]

38. No sympathy points for him...

:nopity:

"Reed testified during both phases of the trial, swearing and telling jurors he didn't care if they sent him to prison for life."

Reap what you sow, reap what you sow... :rofl:

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

39. yee haw-that'll learn dat dang crimenal! ---heck! let's lynch'm

dad burn dawgawn disrepekful punk ass thievin good fer nuthin' snikers bar takin' freeloadin' welfare lazy bum.
That'll learn'm!
Heck I do believe they shoulda give him the death penalty!
Set an example...heck they shouldn't even give him a trial!
lynchin seem like the best thing fer trash like that!


C'mon D.U.--we can do better than that.

[Frederik]

45. Hear, hear

I thought we had more class. I'd expect that kind of talk on Free Republic. 99 years is a ridiculous sentence for stealing a cell phone, no matter what he's been guilty of before.

[Mairead]

49. California has the same idiocy, thanks (I believe) to Reagan

I think it goes something like anyone who has 2 convictions for non-trivial felonies gets an automatic life sentence for any third conviction no matter how trivial.

[Laughing Mirror]

52. And even if you don't get a life sentence

"justice" is meted out in such a way as to ensure that, if you are poor, you will always be coming back for more. The privatized prison industrial complex needs constant supply of warm bodies for it to expand and excite its shareholders. Once it has you in its maw, it does not want to let you go, obviously. To wit: 2.2 million behind bars in US, more than 100,000 of them women, and another 5-7 million (my numbers aren't up to date) on parole or probation, presumably just aching to get back in.

I quote a passage from a letter from my oldest friend, inveterate crackhead and thereby career detainee (he gets out, goes back in, gets out, goes back in...), in Rustburg Correctional Unit in Virginia. He says:

"You would not believe why some people are here. One guy stole his neighbor's lawnmower; sentenced 10 years with 9½ suspended. He got a DUI, an automatic violation, and was afraid to see his P.O. and tell her. Of course the P.O. found out and violated him. The Judge gave him the 9 ½ years "backup" time! He was a level 3 or so and recently came to Rustburg level 1 security because he now has less than 2 years left.

"Another boy ... has been locked up 14 years with 1 left. He got caught selling crack in Fredericksburg in 1991. I'm not talking King Pin; it was a controlled buy at $50.00. He had sold $50.00 once earlier to same undercover cop.

"Another guy, who leaves 2 days after me (August 1, 2005), got 5 yrs w/2 ½ suspended for his third DUI in 10 years. So, it’s easy to see that if I have dirty urines or DUI I’ll get my 4 yrs probation time behind a fence and cutting grass on interstate highways.”



I don't know about Texas and California, but they have chain gangs in VA that paint schools, clean up roads, etc. The prison system is indentured servitude in the state of Virginia.

(emphasis mine)

[Julius Civitatus]

62. Yup. Three strikes laws.

I remember a few years back the infamous California "Three strikes" law sent a man to prison for life... for stealing a loaf of bread. It was his third conviction.

I think that, as a country, we have lost the sense of measure.

[youspeakmylanguage]

58. WTF?

Where was the racist undertone to this?

The jackass steals a phone, then gives it back when caught but decides to physically assault the owner anyway. It turns out he's a jackass with a violent record a mile long. He then makes a bigger jackass of himself in court and taunts the jury. He then gets a large foot up his a*s from the aforementioned jury.

Where is the racism here? Where is the injustice?

What DU should be doing is offering our sympathy and support to decent people who are either unjustly convicted or convicted of non-violent victimless crimes and given ridiculous jail times.

Save your lynching analogies to people who are truly victims of racism.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

73. what the hell is this racism shit?- people want to lynch this guy on D.U.

my sarcasm was obviously misinterpreted by you (but none of the others who responded)
Basically, some of the posts I've read support cutting off his balls.
*** racism?
Lynching has nothing to do with racism. It was used in the south prevalently against the minority race--it was some sort of vigilante justice.

[youspeakmylanguage]

85. Huh?

Lynching has nothing to do with racism. It was used in the south prevalently against the minority race--it was some sort of vigilante justice.

With statements like that, I don't feel quite so ashamed for misinterpreting you.

I can't find a single post where someone wanted to "cut off his balls". Are you sure we're both reading the same thread?

Gotten much sleep lately?

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

88. not worth replying to --you are much too literal

loosen up-lighten up- kick back

[youspeakmylanguage]

89. I probably need to loosen up...

...since I'm obviously not hip and relaxed enough to spout gibberish on a serious LBN thread or laugh at someone who does. Thanks for showing me the error of my ways.

[Frederik]

43. 99 years

would be appropriate for Ken Lay and Tom DeLay, not for a guy who steals a cell phone.

[Mairead]

51. Well, that's Texas. They don't recognise mental disability

and (according to the news report) the guy got the sentence for upsetting the jury, not for the offence. He's clearly dangerous and apparently deteriorating, but it should have been obvious to the jury that he's dangerous because he's got a number of screws rattling around loose.

[youspeakmylanguage]

57. He doesn't sound mentally ill. He just sounds like a dangerous idiot...

Since when does a propensity for violence and stupidity make someone mentally ill?

Sorry, but I think that's a pretty good investment to keep this guy off of the streets. He'll do just fine in prison.

[Sterling]

69. I agree.

This is exactlty the kind of person that belongs in prison.

[arwalden]

59. I Have Many Doubts About "Minimum" Sentences And "Three-Strike" Laws.

[jmowreader]

65. It sounds like the only place this guy fits in is in prison

Some people are like that. You know they are.

Dude been in prison seven, eight times, that's all he knows, bro. They tell you when to get up. They tell you when to sleep. They tell you when to eat, give you a little job, even let you play basketball an hour a day. Got no bills, got no responsibilities. Livin's easy in prison, bro.

Dude gets out of prison, he's free. But freedom ain't all it's cracked up to be when you been in prison all your life and don't know nothin' else. You start in the reformatory and move to the Big House, your life's work is to be a prisoner. All the people you know are either prisoners or guards, man. No one else gives a shit about you. Walk out of the joint and all of a sudden, all that shit that was taken care of for you when you were in prison is your responsibility.

And now they got that Three Strikes shit, man, that makes it easy to be a prisoner if that's your life's work. You commit a couple of violent felonies--just drive a car 70mph through a school zone and slap the cop when he pulls your ass over, that's all it takes--then do anything else, you're home free, bro.

Is there a solution? Not sure. I know that's one of the big reasons people stay in the service thirty years--it's regimented, and many people need that. But it's a lot harder to stay in the military for a long time than it is to go to prison for a long time.

Sad to say, if they built a special little house inside the prison for people who had finished out their sentences but liked prison life, and invited people to move into it, it would be full.

[anarchy1999]

66. Welcome to Texas justice. Ain't it "GRAND"! I'm so sorry.

Most of us "real" Texans are not like this.

I'm quite certain of it.

[stepnw1f]

70. And Yet Bush Lies Us into a War

and Rove Outs Valerie Plame.

[indepat]

86. That this loathsome-sounding habitual criminal belongs behind bars is a

given, but 99 years for a misdemeanor will potentially cost tax payers $2+ million and might not be the most prudent use of taxpayer monies.