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Title: Teen turns down plea deal for 25 years in prison, gets 65 years instead
Source:
MSN
URL Source: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime ... r-AAvx1hZ?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp
Published: Apr 6, 2018
Author: Marty Roney
Post Date: 2018-04-06 05:15:19 by IbJensen
Keywords: None
Views: 19529
Comments: 112
WETUMPKA, Ala. — A teenager tried as an adult under Alabama's accomplice liability law was sentenced to 65 years in prison Thursday after rejecting an earlier plea deal that recommended 25 years. In a two-day trial in March, Lakeith Smith, now 18, of Montgomery was convicted of felony murder, burglary and theft for helping in the 2015 break-ins of two homes in Millbrook, about 10 miles north of Montgomery. He did not kill A'Donte Washington, 16, of Montgomery, who was part of a group of five accused in the thefts. But several in the group, including Washington, fired shots at Millbrook police officers who responded Feb. 23, 2015, to a call of a burglary in progress, according to officer body-camera footage. The officer that Washington ran toward pointing a .38 caliber revolver fired his police-issued sidearm four times, killing Washington. Smith was accused of being criminally responsible for the acts that led to Washington's death, the gist of Alabama's accomplice law. An Elmore County grand jury cleared the officer who fired the fatal shots; the officer's name was not released. On Thursday, Judge Sibley Reynolds of Alabama's 19th Judicial Circuit Court handed down three sentences that Smith will serve back to back: 30 years for murder, 15 years for burglary and 10 years each for two theft convictions. Smith smiled and laughed through the sentencing, said C.J. Robinson, chief assistant district attorney. Smith flashed a broad smile March 14 as he was led out of the courtroom shortly after the verdicts were announced. “I don’t think Mr. Smith will be smiling long when he gets to prison,” Robinson said. “We are very pleased with this sentence. Because the sentences are consecutive, it will be a long time before he comes up for even the possibility for parole, at least 20 to 25 years.” Alabama's accomplice law states that a person is legally liable for the behavior of another who commits a criminal offense if that person aids or abets the first person in committing the offense. It wasn't immediately known how many states have similar statutes. "The officer shot A'donte, not Lakeith Smith," Smith's lawyer, Jennifer Holton, said during the trial. "Lakeith was a 15-year-old child, scared to death. He did not participate in the act that caused the death of A'donte. He never shot anybody." Other surviving defendants charged in the case — Montgomery residents Jadarien Hardy, 22; Jadarien Jackson, 23; and La’Anthony Washington, 22 — entered guilty pleas to charges of felony murder, burglary and theft, court records show. They are awaiting sentencing. Poster Comment: Ha, ha, ha! Oh, for the good old days before Lyndon Bird's Great Society where boys had fathers and mothers. Lyndon's rotting in hell over his idiocy. Lakeith, A'Donte, Jadarien , La’Anthony. With names tacked onto them like these it appears they are then marked for the rest of their useless lives.
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#2. To: IbJensen (#0)
I don't think it's right to charge accomplices with murder when their accomplices get killed. That is just too far a stretch. People should be charged with criminal wrongdoing for things they do, not things others do. If they want harsher punishments for crimes, they should increase the punishments for the things they actually do, not lynchpin a murder charge on to them when they didn't pull the trigger or otherwise have direct responsibility for the death. As is in these cases, this sounds like the state created this statute just because their prosecutors haven't been able to get people convicted or punished as much as politically desired.
He was there. He was a party to the crime.
#5. To: IbJensen (#3)
(Edited)
Yes, that's the easy scapegoat angle which is exactly what I'm talking about. Politicians want to write it off as simple as that. If that's the sentiment, why not just make the offense of burglary punishable the same as 3rd degree murder? That would at least be honest. Would you say the killing of his pal was a crime? Was his pal incapable of being responsible for his own actions? Did this kid trick or encourage his pal into charging an armed cop with a firearm? No, this statute was enacted by politicians that simply want to throw more jail time at people that they feel don't get punished enough for the laws they actually do break. Cutting lawmakers some slack, they may have intended the law to cover cases where innocent people are killed by a team of criminals. Prosecuting an accomplice for when a thug breaks into a home and kills the occupant. But even in those cases, they typically will only prosecute the killer directly for murder and not his accomplice (correct me if I'm wrong) but if the charges leveled against the getaway driver are contingent upon the trigger pulling accomplice surviving the break in, as it seems is the practice, then there's a legal problem. I'm not saying the kid is innocent of any wrong doing. Clearly as an accomplice to a crime he is guilty. But if someone is punished for things they do not do, it's not justice, and that hurts everyone, not just the accused. Punish criminal for what they do, not for what they don't do.
Well,hell! Why not charge his mother and the usual pool of suspect fathers for giving birth to him,as well as all his relatives and the relatives of the other guys with him for not drowning them at birth?
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#3. To: Pinguinite (#2)
Replies to Comment # 3. He was there. He was a party to the crime.
#36. To: IbJensen (#3)
He was there. He was a party to the crime.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 3.
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