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TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Probation

It's not just the absurdity of Texas judge Keith Dean's sentencing a teen to life in prison for smoking pot once while on probation for a $2.00 stickup, it's also the disparity.

First, the story of the teen:

First came the poor man, barely 17 years old - too young to buy beer or vote, but an adult under the Texas penal code. He took part in a $2 stickup in which no one got hurt. He pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and was put on 10 years of probation. He broke the rules once, by smoking marijuana. A Dallas judge responded in the harshest possible way: He replaced the original sentence with a life term in prison.

There Tyrone Brown sits today, 16 years later, tattooed and angry and pondering self-destruction. "I've tried suicide a few times," he writes. "What am I to make of a life filled with failure, including failing to end my life?"

Now the story of the businessman on probation for murder who smoked crack and failed numerous drug tests. The same judge let him stay on probation.

[John Alexander Wood], a well-connected man pleaded guilty to murder - for shooting an unarmed prostitute in the back - and also got 10 years of probation. The killer proceeded to break the rules by, among other things, smoking crack cocaine. He repeatedly failed drug tests. He was arrested for cocaine possession in Waco while driving a congressman's car, but prosecutors there didn't press charges.

Judge Dean has let this man stay free and, last year, exempted him from most of the usual conditions of probation. John Alexander "Alex" Wood no longer must submit to drug tests or refrain from owning a gun or even meet with a probation officer. He's simply supposed to obey the law and mail the court a postcard once a year that gives his current address.

You have to read the whole article. It is just unbelievable. There's details of Brown's sentencing proceeding. His lawyer didn't object to the life sentence and now can't recall the case. Either can his appellate attorney. Then there's this:

Mr. Hathaway, the robbery victim, knew nothing about the case's outcome until contacted recently by The News. He, too, was astounded.

"Goodness gracious," he said in a phone call from Virginia, where he now lives. "You have got to be kidding me. ... Nobody touched me at all."

And more unequal justice from Judge Dean:

Meanwhile, Mr. Brown's co-defendant, Lewis Bivins, also got in trouble while on probation - he pleaded guilty to car theft. Judge Dean sent him to boot camp and let him return to probation. Only after Mr. Bivins committed two further crimes - burglary and another robbery - did the judge send him to prison. He, too, is now serving a life sentence.

The judge won't comment, saying the cases could come before him again. He should comment and recuse himself from further participation in either case -- or take an early retirement.

Texas needs to let Mr. Brown out of jail. I hope he gets some good legal assitance.

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    Judges are a huge part of the problem aren't they? Too bad the bad judges (and there are lot of them) are so hard to get rid of. There are far too many cases like this were sentences are very lopsided. (like that judge out East not long ago that let a prior convicted child molester off with a very light sentence and finally caught hell from the local & national press) It would be a lot easier on us voters if we had an easy way to look up a judges record "before" we vote. We need to be able to 'retire' nitwits like this. TL... You're a lawyer...can't you guys get together and do something?

    How sordid and how sickening. How much is the system of elected judges responsable for tavesties like this.

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#4)
    by jondee on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 12:07:10 PM EST
    Knowledge of the enabling of this kind of travesty by a certain alleged human being currently occupying the Whitehouse is what initially turned me against Bush. Proud as hell to be a BHAW.

    Only if the judge send Mr. Bivins to life in prison after his first violation, two crimes (a burglary and a robbery) can be avoided. At least no one is killed in that robbery. Obviously this guy belongs in prison. Oh, the judge obviously dropped the ball on the businessman. He should be in prison too.
    You have successfully missed the point of yet another Talkleft posting.

    And he's posted three of his four allowed comments for the day.

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#7)
    by jen on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 12:21:55 PM EST
    how can the judge give a minor life in prison for a two dollar theft?

    "how can the judge give a minor life in prison for a two dollar theft?" The same way the Brits transported a person for life for stealing a loaf of bread. Allbeit two hundred years ago. But we did give posthumous pardons to those that we hung in error. And that is in my lifetime.

    Charlie.... His name is Cashman. He's been on the Bench for over 25 years That's long enough... he needs to go! Once the policy was changed, so was the sentence. You can also look that up. And that policy was changed do to the outcry of that very lenient (and very stupid) sentence was it not? You almost sound like you agree with this looney judge? Doesn't surprise me if you do. Ignorance of the Law and/or the facts doesn't cut you any more slack Charlie...save your venom please. What did I say that was wrong? Did the judge virtually let the guy go? Yes he did! Was there a public outcry? Yes there was. Is he a judge that needs to go? Yes he is. So what's the problem...? (other than your undying need to be snarky?)

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#10)
    by Teresa on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 12:38:09 PM EST
    Surely to God there is something we can do about this. This really upsets me. TalkLeft, can you get on every cable TV show to make this known? Bill O. was so disgusted over the Vermont judge and probably couldn't care less about this injustice.

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#11)
    by jondee on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 12:39:40 PM EST
    Somebody likes to listen to O'Moron's weekly Willie Horton schtick about "eastern liberal judges". Rather than listening to Fox, why dont these folks cut to the chase and perform a home, self lobotomy?

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#12)
    by squeaky on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 12:40:48 PM EST
    Certainly class distinctions separate Mr. Brown from Mr. Wood. Wonder if race is also a factor in the mix. I wouldn't be surprised. The Judge should be in Jail himself for this gross miscarriage of justice.

    "Wonder if race is also a factor in the mix" Tyrone Brown is black. Can't find anything about Alex Wood. Somehow I wouldn't be surprised if he were white.

    This sounds like a job for Bob Herbert, the NY Times columnist, who was so effective in bring out the real story of Tulia, Texas drug arrests, in which a good portion of the cities African American population was wrongfully sent to prison. I have sent him the info.

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#15)
    by squeaky on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 02:52:05 PM EST
    Thanks Ken C.-
    Tyrone Brown is black
    I thought so. That is the only thing that makes sense about these cases. I am sure that Wood is white. Well his sister married this guy. A congressman. This is their church. Looks very vanilla. It makes sense, not to justify Judge Dean's insane sentence, it makes sense that this is about the fact that some think all men are not created equal. Racism strikes again. What else could it be?

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#16)
    by Joe Bob on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 03:05:14 PM EST
    A back of the envelope calculation: 16 years X $30K/year = $480K and counting to lock up a pot-smoking petty thief...and that's just the direct costs of his incarceration. Personally, in the cost-benefit sense, I don't see how that's worth it to anyone. For the cost of keeping Tyrone Brown in prison, the state of Texas could have sent 50 kids to a 4-year state college. If that doesn't make you happy, the state could have spent its correctional dollar more wisely by keeping locked up the criminals who have actually killed, maimed and beaten people. Whooee, this blind justice sure gets expensive!

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#17)
    by kdog on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 03:13:26 PM EST
    Pure madness. On the bright side, sentences like this speed up the day when the penetentiaries are on fire. I just don't see how much longer we can keep doing this.

    JB, It would appear to be far from blind, and I think the word justice is somewhat of a misnomer.

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#19)
    by glanton on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 03:21:29 PM EST
    Great Post, TL! It's important that as many people see such things as possible, and it would be nice if this created a firestorm that ultimately led to this citizen, whose rights have been utterly brutalized, getting out of prison and seeking to put the pieces of his life back together. But publicity on a large scale there never is for these rampant abuses, these mockeries of human rights in our own country, that we fully sanction with our tax dollars and our voting behavior every damned year. What a sick, sick society.

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#20)
    by jondee on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 03:34:02 PM EST
    As I said before one of the greatest ennablers in modern times of this kind of thing was elected president twice by the "ah'd do it agin" crowd. "I tremble for my country when I think that God is just." Thomas Jefferson

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#21)
    by glanton on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 03:35:37 PM EST
    Jondee, beautiful Jefferson quote. If possible, could you point me to the text where you got it? Thanx.

    Jondee, would that be the same god that this president is talking about? Bush also explained, in unusually stark terms, how his belief in God influences his foreign policy. "I base a lot of my foreign policy decisions on some things that I think are true," he said. "One, I believe there's an Almighty. And, secondly, I believe one of the great gifts of the Almighty is the desire in everybody's soul, regardless of what you look like or where you live, to be free. And to endorse your point this. Speaking to a business group in Irvine, Ca., he admitted mistakes were made in planning for the Iraq invasion, but he defended the troop level, saying "it was the troop level necessary to do the job," and he would commit the same number if given a second chance. From the same article at Editor and Publisher.

    "regardless of what you look like or where you live, to be free." But not seventeen year old black kids who have had a spliff.

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#24)
    by jondee on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 04:37:20 PM EST
    Oscar - Given the tenor of those times it was difficult for a person of prominance not evoke "old nobodaddy" on occasion without being hung out to dry. Btw, did you really describe nature as "a large, wet place where birds fly around uncooked."? lol.

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#25)
    by jondee on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 05:02:39 PM EST
    Glanton - Im not sure in what context Jefferson said that. Works for me though.

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#26)
    by jondee on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 05:24:40 PM EST
    Glanton - We are in the period of what the magisterial Blake called "The consolidation of error." The unconscious becoming conscious. It sucks most of the time, but dont give up the ship.

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#27)
    by jondee on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 05:26:56 PM EST
    That was meant for the Health care vs War thread.

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#28)
    by Edger on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 05:37:56 PM EST
    Only in Texas would this happen. Is it any surprise that the Bush ranch is in Texas?
    Texas, the Lone Star State, is a giant of a state. And Texans are known for their large, welcoming hearts. "Friendship" is the state's motto, and the people of Texas live by that motto.
    ...
    More beef [ and beef byproduct ] is produced in Texas than in any other state.
    ...
    And no state has a greater variety of reptiles, or a more diverse selection of flowers, than the great state of Texas. Among them the Horned Lizard (toad), the official state reptile...


    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#29)
    by glanton on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 05:46:22 PM EST
    jondee, Careful with ole Blake, he's liable to take over a thread more absolutely than even Jim, they mythic blogger. Blake had lightning in his blood and spoke to life with an open heart and open eyes. In poems like Urizen, his poetry and artwork engaged intricate symbologies to indict the tyrannical power structure around him, without going to jail for it. Blake also died in complete anonymity (correction: some, like Wordsworth, knew who he was but wrote him off as a nutbag). And since his time, the "dark Satanic mills" of which he spoke have increased exponentially. Things have not gotten better substantively. Ceratinly not in terms of the quality of our leaders; bastards then, bastards now. Hate Bush? Polk preceded him, Jackson preceded Polk. What about Teddy R? Things roll on, the rich get richer, Blake remains largely unread.

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#30)
    by glanton on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 05:48:50 PM EST
    Oops, this too should have gone in the Health Care thread. I followed jondee into purgatory, sorry TL. Though really, the fact that 45 mil + have no health care does call for a Blake quote or two, doesn't it? Ole George III didn't believe in health care for the poor, either.

    http://www.vgt2004.org/a-dallas06/candidate-detail.go?id=3180045 This is a link to a Q&A with judge Dean.Interesting is his answer to this question"What role, if any,does mercy have in justice?"

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#32)
    by unbill on Tue Apr 25, 2006 at 03:20:53 AM EST
    TL... You're a lawyer...can't you guys get together and do something?
    Run for judge.

    Glanton The Jefferson quote comes from "Notes on the State of Virginia. The text is in Chapter 18, I think. Here's a link to the entire document. linked text

    disgusting

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#35)
    by glanton on Tue Apr 25, 2006 at 09:03:50 AM EST
    ytterby: Thanks for the citation. I've been meaning to read Notes anyway. TL, if you happen to notice this post, I have a question for you: How did you come to notice Brown's case? Is there some publicity building for his case, or is this blog pretty much it?

    Re: TX: Life for 17 Year Old Who Smoked Pot on Pro (none / 0) (#36)
    by Dadler on Tue Apr 25, 2006 at 10:52:41 AM EST
    And the larger our prison population grows, the more of the poor we lock behind bars, the more of these cases there will be and the LESS likely they will be to find justice.

    Judge Keith Dean in his own words, from the DallasNews.com dallas06 voter guide: Q: What role, if any, does mercy have in justice? A: The law requires a judge to impose punishment in certain situations. A judge should never impose more punishment than is necessary and never for the wrong reason. Q: Who are your top three contributors? A: My entire list of contributors and the contribution amounts may be obtained from the Texas Ethics Commission, 201 E. 14th Street, 10th Floor, Austin, Texas 78701.

    i am a nonviolent drug offender in judge deans' court. after reading the april 23 article about what judge dean did back in the 90s, i am afraid that something similar could happen to me. i am currently in the intensive supervision program for violating probation on a dirty ua. although judge dean allowed me to stay out of jail for this first violation, i was not tested for any drugs (marijauna) for over a month. the head probation officer in dallas says i should be clean by then. i really do not think 30 days to 40 days is suffient time for the drugs to be out of my system. givin the amount of marijauna i know was in my system on my arrest date (mar. 20 06)i should not be violated if my first ua (may 2) shows that there still was marijauna in my system. what i think the courts should have done, was to test me right off when i was first released (mar 24) to show the level of marijauna in my system, so that every test after that they would see how the level is steadily dropping. now i go before judge dean again on may 30, and weather or not he thinks i was still doing marijauna after i was in his court early april when he gave me yet another chance at freedom and wishes to send me to jail, i relly do not know. i would hate to have to go through this ordeal for having the same drugs in my system.(30 days is note enough time)