16/27 will some time get you 40

[mickeyd]

MySA.com: Metro | State

Quote:

Debrow was convicted in 1992 of the fatal shooting of Curtis Edwards, and was sentenced to 27 years. But that sentence was overturned earlier this year, based largely on legal work undertaken by Debrow. The new hearing began Monday, and was a gamble for Debrow, who was seeking immediate release . But prosecutors asked the jury to sentence Debrow to the maximum of 40 years. Now, with the jury's decision, Debrow will end up spending more time in prison than if he had never sought a second chance.

This is what you get when a low-life thug thinks that he is smarter than Texas justice. Tack on another 13 years prisoner Debrow!

[laurence]

Well, that thug was 12 years old when he committed the crime. I'm very happy we have 3 strikes laws on the books here in CA, and I don't think violent criminals should be allowed free on technicalities. But I'd like to know a little more about this kid, this 30 year old that was associated with him, and what exactly happened before I felt that justice was served. 12 is just so young.

[mickeyd]

Quote:

But I'd like to know a little more about this kid,

Basically he is a killer. Texas does not require that he murder two more citizens.

Now he has a Texas scholarship until age 52.

[laurence]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickeyd Basically he is a killer. Texas does not require that he murder two more citizens. Now he has a Texas scholarship until age 52.

ooookaaaayyy. And do you have kids? Or little brothers? Do you remember their ability to reason or understand consequences at age 12?

Should 15-16 year olds get tried as an adult? Sure. Should killers get long sentences? Sure. But this article definitely glossed the details.

BTW, CA law is three felonies, not three murders. I think minimum sentence is 25 to life for 1st degree murder.

[mickeyd]

Quote:

And do you have kids? Or little brothers? Do you remember their ability to reason or understand consequences at age 12?

You bet!

And neither my kids, nor my siblings, have ever murdered anyone at all. I have no way of knowing what their reasoning was at age 12, but they did not decide that it was a good idea to shoot a guy in the head for fun as did this young thug/killer.

[laurence]

I'm just curious, do you have an age at which you would object to putting someone in jail for life? 10, 8, 5 years of age? Again, I don't know enough about this case to take a firm stance, but from what I gather on the internet he was trained at a young age to be a dupe for the local gang leaders/drug dealers.

[REWahoo]

Today's local SA paper has additional information which tends to support the lengthened prison stay this guy received on his second sentencing trial:

"...this time around, the jury faced a 28-year-old man with a record of violence that has stretched into adulthood instead of a 4-foot-tall child."

"Prosecutors also had a long list of prison infractions that they couldn't reveal to jurors because the law at the time of the crime forbade it. But they were able to tell jurors about a prison stabbing for which Debrow was sentenced to an additional four years..."

Of course the question is would Debrow have a violent adult record had he not been sent to prison at the age of 12? That's something we will never know, but I'm not unhappy his opportunity for parole has been postponed for a few years.

[laurence]

Well, then I think this falls into the category of being a tragedy how this kid was raised, but that doesn't mean I want him free to inflict more tragedies. What happened to him before he killed the cab driver was wrong, but that doesn't change the fact he's a menace to society. Sad all the way around.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

While I have personal experience that the justice system has a few flaws in it, I have to believe that several judges and two juries looked at the circumstances and made reasonable decisions.

One judge, one jury...maybe a screwup. Not two. Very unfortunate that we see kids that are broken so badly that they do things like this. I knew a couple who had fostered about 40 kids over a long period of time, and they had a couple of kids that were just too badly broken to live normal lives. Sad.