A Sentencing Hearing

Your Honor, the aggravation in this case is simple. It is succinct. It will be brief.

This man went to prison for unlawfully possessing a gun. He had his liberty stripped from him. He was divorced from society. It was one of the harshest penalties that we can dole, and yet, within months of his release – WHILE HE WAS STILL ON PAROLE, he sought to procure another gun. A gun for a friend. A friend in a gang.

And that’s not all.

What did he buy this gun with? Because let’s not forget, he did actually buy the gun. The fact that he was buying it from an undercover police officer, the fact that it had been rendered inoperable, the fact that it was never in any danger of hurting anyone, those facts are of no moment because the Defendant didn’t know any of them.

What he knew was that he was buying a gun, a gun that was probably going kill some innocent person, might kill an innocent child, and he was buying it with cocaine.

Think about that.

This Court knows the misery that drugs cause. This Court knows the misery of gangs. This Court knows the terror of gangs with guns. This Defendant is a part of all of that. It is he who causes that misery.

And he doesn’t learn. He had his chance.

I know that, aside from the previous weapons offense, he doesn’t have an extensive history. But, he has enough, Your Honor, to have shown this Court that he will not choose to be a part of this society. And so, he should be removed from it. That is why I am asking you to sentence him to 4 years and six months in the Department of Corrections.

Thank you. Defense?

Your Honor, the mitigation in this case is not simple. I will try to be succinct, but I cannot be brief.

First, I would note that John Client has no violent history. At all. But I’m not going to linger on that point. That is not the crux of my argument. I’d like to begin my argument with this document, and with a quote.

This document is a jail record from a neighboring county, which shows one Jane Client in custody for theft. I believe, Your Honor, that that is John’s mother. She has the same name, anyway. I can’t be certain though, and do you know why? Because John doesn’t know where his mother is. He hasn’t seen her in years. He doesn’t even know her birthday.

I do know that John two brothers also have cases pending before this very Court.

Why is that? Why is it that almost all of the members of the Client family are facing criminal charges somewhere?

I suppose one explanation is simply that the Client’s are genetically pre-disposed to commit crime. I don’t think the Court believes that. I hope it doesn’t, anyway. I’m just going to assume that it doesn’t.

So, if it’s not genetics, what is it? Why is John standing before you, having been convicted of an offense that was committed while he was on parole for the same offense?

Now the quote. I don’t know if it’s grounds for contempt to quote Clarence Darrow in your courtroom, but I’m going to take the risk. This is from his autobiography which I read some years ago – when I was thinking about becoming a public defender. Every time I see Mr. Client, I am reminded of this quote: “Listen to the story of anyone who has gone to prison, and see if he ever had a chance to go anywhere else.”

Let’s think about that as we look at Mr. Client’s life so far. His father – no idea who he is. Never met him.

Mother. A drug addict. So bad of an addict in fact, that the State removed Mr. Client and his brothers from her custody when Mr. Client was 13. The brothers were separated. Mr. Client was placed with his grandmother who was dealing with her own children. In fact, when Mr. Client was paroled the first time, he wasn’t allowed to return to his grandmother because his uncle was living there and he was also on parole.

That kind of family story, Your Honor, is a story of poverty. It’s the story of an entire group of people who have no education. I mean, there is an absolute lack of any person in John’s life who could have served as some kind of role model.

Now, Mr. Prosecutor speaks to you about “the misery of guns, the misery of drugs.” I’m sure he’s right. I can tell you that I think the legislature is certainly listening to those types of concerns when they make offenses like this non-probationable, even though John’s never fired and never intended to fire this gun, but that’s an argument for another day.

I know that the Court hears that argument. I know that this Court is going to be concerned about guns like this finding their way into the stream of commerce and hurting some one.

Your Honor, you’ve read the report. You know that John had to go to a school for the developmentally challenged and even then, he didn’t finish. I have spoken with John many times. He is a simple person. I think that I can honestly say to this Court that the concept of a “stream of commerce” never occurred to him. He wasn’t trying to buy a gun because he wanted to cause misery. He traded drugs for a gun because that’s the type of currency that he knows how to move. That’s how he puts bread on his table – not because he’s a bad person, but because that’s how he was taught to put bread on his table.

I know he did six months before. I’m asking for six months again, but this time in the Department of Corrections’ military program. It’s a rigorous program. John is not going to like it, but maybe he’ll learn something. I think he will.

Ok, thank you. Does your client wish to say anything?

Your Honor, I’d just like to say that I’m sorry and never meant no harm.

Ok, anything else?

Yeah. Uhhh. My brothers didn’t have nothin’ to do with it.

Ok, I’ve listened to the arguments of counsel, considered the statutory factors in aggravation and mitigation. You know, I agree with much of what the public defender says. It is very hard. No family support, no education, I understand that. Mr. Bridges certainly did not have the same sorts of opportunities that others have.

Having said all that, I can’t just ignore the fact that, within months of being released from prison, he goes out and essentially tries to commit the exact same offense. Now, is that worth four and a half years? No. But I can’t sentence him to six months in the military program either. Whether he realizes it or not, the truth of the matter is that these guns and gangs do kill people. And he is a part of that.

Mr. Client, I am sentencing you to two years in the Department of Corrections.