38 yo to serve life because he had 1.5oz of weed

[VBM]

Joe Biden needs to LEGALIZE (not just “decriminalize”) weed immediately. He should have done so during his first week, and the fact that he hasn’t done so is one of the biggest indictments of his presidency.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The story of his arrest, as related in one of the dissents, is an odd one:

While investigating a felony that occurred the morning of November 29, 2017,officers from the Hattiesburg Police Department developed Russell as a suspect in the crime. After arriving at Russell’s apartment complex and confirming the apartment in which Russell lived, the officers evacuated the occupants of several surrounding apartments. The officers observed someone peering through the curtain of Russell’s apartment, but no one responded to the officers’ attempts to make contact. The officers used a bullhorn to explain their presence outside the apartment and to provide Russell with an opportunity to voluntarily exit his apartment. Despite their attempts, the officers’ efforts to contact Russell proved unsuccessful

In the event that Russell had been unable to hear their previous attempts to contact him, the officers breached the windows of the apartment after obtaining a search warrant. They then attempted again, unsuccessfully, to contact Russell.  The officers next deployed a flash bang by the apartment’s front door, which also failed to elicit any response to their commands for any occupants to exit the apartment. The officers eventually entered the apartment through the front door. Although they did not immediately see Russell, the officers observed a closet that contained a stool positioned underneath an opening to the apartment’s attic crawl space. The officers called to Russell and tried to persuade him to exit the attic.  After Russell failed to respond, the officers threw a chemical agent into the attic crawl space. Russell finally exited the attic wearing only a white tank top and his underwear.

After arresting Russell, the officers entered the apartment and observed a pair of blue jeans through the hole leading to the attic crawl space.  Inside the jeans, the officers found Russell’s driver’s license and Social Security card as well as five bags ofa green leafy substance that appeared to be marijuana. An analysis performed on two of the five bags bythe Mississippi Forensics Laboratory confirmed that the two bags tested contained marijuana with a combined weight of 43.710 grams.

Strange behavior, but maybe he was just panicked? No, it was worse than that. Police were looking for him in connection with a recent homicide. Here is the context in which Russell scrambled into his attic when the police arrived:

On    November 29,    2017,    officers    with    Hattiesburg    Police    Department (HPD) were  called  to  conduct  a  murder  investigation  at  a  hotel  where  a  dead body was  discovered.3  (Tr.  13-14). Inside  the  hotel  room  on  the  bed  was  a  medical  bill  with  Allen  Russell’s  name  and  apartment address. (Tr. 14; Tr. 26).

The owner of the hotel provided the officers with video surveillancefootage of the hotel. (Tr. 15; Tr. 26). The officers viewed the surveillance and  observed  a  black  male  in  the  footage.  (Tr.  26).  Based  on  their  observations   from   the   footage,   officers   created   a   six-photo   lineup including  Russell’s  photo  and  presented  the  lineup  to  the  hotel  owner. (Tr. 15). The hotel owner identified Russell on the photo lineup. (Tr. 15).

Huh. That's not what I would have expected from the account of his criminal history consisting of a couple of burglaries and a weapons charge.

Here is an article on the 2017 homicide, which states that Allen Russell was at that point facing charges for the murder of 25-year-old Bobby Gwin. Another article from March 2018 says that Russell "remains in Forrest County Jail in lieu of $290,000 bond."

I can't find anything else on the murder case. There's plenty on Russell being charged with murder as of early 2018, but nothing regarding how that was resolved. It's strange that none of the national coverage mentions this as background.

It does not fit the neat and tidy narrative. Truth is that cases like this one, where some guy is locked away for drug possession for decades, are almost always associated with violent crime. It does not mean I support aggressively punitive sentencing and I do not believe drug charges should be a mechanism to lengthen sentences in any case (no one should go to prison for that). But it does mean that the criminal justice system is not the caricature some people think it is.

This is true and it brings to light a somewhat annoying narrative that comes up a lot: that the US's high incarceration numbers are driven primarily by drug offenders. Liberals who scream about how legalizing marijuana will open up prisons are just as deluded as people who think we end the deficit by cutting Congressional salaries: the vast majority of people in prison even on drug crimes are not there for marijuana and releasing everyone with only a marijuana charge as Illinois did would hardly make a dent in the prison population (that's not saying that it's not a good idea or that J.B. Pritzker isn't a f[inks]ing hero of course.) Even releasing all non-violent drug offenders wouldn't have a significant impact on the prison population as they're estimated at only about 5-6% of the prison population and people arrested for drugs in general is still only about 16%. The uncomfortable reality is that the US basically has a choice: either have its uncomfortably high mass incarceration rate or give more lenient sentences to violent criminals as well. I'm confident most people in the US given that choice would choose mass incarceration.

That being said this guy obviously doesn't deserve a life sentence and even 5-6% of the prison population being non-violent minor drug offenders is still an absurdly high number, so it's a great starting point and that while three strikes laws usually do cover violent offenders they're also disastrous in practice and absolutely need to go.

[Oregon Eagle Politics]

Joe Biden is too old to be good on Weed Issues.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Joe Biden is too old to be good on Weed Issues.

What the hell does Biden have to do with Mississippi's state level three strikes law?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

That being said this guy obviously doesn't deserve a life sentence and even 5-6% of the prison population being non-violent minor drug offenders is still an absurdly high number, so it's a great starting point and that while three strikes laws usually do cover violent offenders they're also disastrous in practice and absolutely need to go.

It seems pretty strange for there to be no reporting of any kind on what happened to the murder charge, even if it was dropped on a technicality. Is that typical in places where murder is routine? There's not much on Bobby Gwin, either, although he appears to be on Mississippi's domestic violence registry.

Indeed there does seem to be more to this story than the headline, I'm just talking more in general. I would need some insider info from the Mississippi justice system to comment on this one. Not that there aren't already tons of examples of three strikes laws being absurd of course, like I posted not too long ago about a man who was sentenced to life and was released after 23 years for stealing a pair of hedge clippers.

[Badger]

The story of his arrest, as related in one of the dissents, is an odd one:

While investigating a felony that occurred the morning of November 29, 2017,officers from the Hattiesburg Police Department developed Russell as a suspect in the crime. After arriving at Russell’s apartment complex and confirming the apartment in which Russell lived, the officers evacuated the occupants of several surrounding apartments. The officers observed someone peering through the curtain of Russell’s apartment, but no one responded to the officers’ attempts to make contact. The officers used a bullhorn to explain their presence outside the apartment and to provide Russell with an opportunity to voluntarily exit his apartment. Despite their attempts, the officers’ efforts to contact Russell proved unsuccessful

In the event that Russell had been unable to hear their previous attempts to contact him, the officers breached the windows of the apartment after obtaining a search warrant. They then attempted again, unsuccessfully, to contact Russell.  The officers next deployed a flash bang by the apartment’s front door, which also failed to elicit any response to their commands for any occupants to exit the apartment. The officers eventually entered the apartment through the front door. Although they did not immediately see Russell, the officers observed a closet that contained a stool positioned underneath an opening to the apartment’s attic crawl space. The officers called to Russell and tried to persuade him to exit the attic.  After Russell failed to respond, the officers threw a chemical agent into the attic crawl space. Russell finally exited the attic wearing only a white tank top and his underwear.

After arresting Russell, the officers entered the apartment and observed a pair of blue jeans through the hole leading to the attic crawl space.  Inside the jeans, the officers found Russell’s driver’s license and Social Security card as well as five bags ofa green leafy substance that appeared to be marijuana. An analysis performed on two of the five bags bythe Mississippi Forensics Laboratory confirmed that the two bags tested contained marijuana with a combined weight of 43.710 grams.

Strange behavior, but maybe he was just panicked? No, it was worse than that. Police were looking for him in connection with a recent homicide. Here is the context in which Russell scrambled into his attic when the police arrived:

On    November 29,    2017,    officers    with    Hattiesburg    Police    Department (HPD) were  called  to  conduct  a  murder  investigation  at  a  hotel  where  a  dead body was  discovered.3  (Tr.  13-14). Inside  the  hotel  room  on  the  bed  was  a  medical  bill  with  Allen  Russell’s  name  and  apartment address. (Tr. 14; Tr. 26).

The owner of the hotel provided the officers with video surveillancefootage of the hotel. (Tr. 15; Tr. 26). The officers viewed the surveillance and  observed  a  black  male  in  the  footage.  (Tr.  26).  Based  on  their  observations   from   the   footage,   officers   created   a   six-photo   lineup including  Russell’s  photo  and  presented  the  lineup  to  the  hotel  owner. (Tr. 15). The hotel owner identified Russell on the photo lineup. (Tr. 15).

Huh. That's not what I would have expected from the account of his criminal history consisting of a couple of burglaries and a weapons charge.

Here is an article on the 2017 homicide, which states that Allen Russell was at that point facing charges for the murder of 25-year-old Bobby Gwin. Another article from March 2018 says that Russell "remains in Forrest County Jail in lieu of $290,000 bond."

I can't find anything else on the murder case. There's plenty on Russell being charged with murder as of early 2018, but nothing regarding how that was resolved. It's strange that none of the national coverage mentions this as background.

This is bulsh**t Av. Trying to say a dude's life in prison sentence for about a tenth pound of weed based in part on allegations apparently never proven in dismissed - - I'd be pretty damn sure that even a murder case would be done three years later oh, the fact that he's released is pretty damn indicative the case collapsed. Beyond that absolutely nothing you described even remotely justifies even a scrap of the prison sentence imposed.

Here in Ohio possession of that much weed, even for a convicted felon, is a maximum $150 fine. Yes, I get that other states are able to pass laws, but it doesn't make them right. Mississippi is ing stupid here and trying to defend this kind of draconian 0 discretion three strikes law because the guy hid in the Attic from the police blah blah blah is foolish in the extreme

[lfromnj]

The story of his arrest, as related in one of the dissents, is an odd one:

While investigating a felony that occurred the morning of November 29, 2017,officers from the Hattiesburg Police Department developed Russell as a suspect in the crime. After arriving at Russell’s apartment complex and confirming the apartment in which Russell lived, the officers evacuated the occupants of several surrounding apartments. The officers observed someone peering through the curtain of Russell’s apartment, but no one responded to the officers’ attempts to make contact. The officers used a bullhorn to explain their presence outside the apartment and to provide Russell with an opportunity to voluntarily exit his apartment. Despite their attempts, the officers’ efforts to contact Russell proved unsuccessful

In the event that Russell had been unable to hear their previous attempts to contact him, the officers breached the windows of the apartment after obtaining a search warrant. They then attempted again, unsuccessfully, to contact Russell.  The officers next deployed a flash bang by the apartment’s front door, which also failed to elicit any response to their commands for any occupants to exit the apartment. The officers eventually entered the apartment through the front door. Although they did not immediately see Russell, the officers observed a closet that contained a stool positioned underneath an opening to the apartment’s attic crawl space. The officers called to Russell and tried to persuade him to exit the attic.  After Russell failed to respond, the officers threw a chemical agent into the attic crawl space. Russell finally exited the attic wearing only a white tank top and his underwear.

After arresting Russell, the officers entered the apartment and observed a pair of blue jeans through the hole leading to the attic crawl space.  Inside the jeans, the officers found Russell’s driver’s license and Social Security card as well as five bags ofa green leafy substance that appeared to be marijuana. An analysis performed on two of the five bags bythe Mississippi Forensics Laboratory confirmed that the two bags tested contained marijuana with a combined weight of 43.710 grams.

Strange behavior, but maybe he was just panicked? No, it was worse than that. Police were looking for him in connection with a recent homicide. Here is the context in which Russell scrambled into his attic when the police arrived:

On    November 29,    2017,    officers    with    Hattiesburg    Police    Department (HPD) were  called  to  conduct  a  murder  investigation  at  a  hotel  where  a  dead body was  discovered.3  (Tr.  13-14). Inside  the  hotel  room  on  the  bed  was  a  medical  bill  with  Allen  Russell’s  name  and  apartment address. (Tr. 14; Tr. 26).

The owner of the hotel provided the officers with video surveillancefootage of the hotel. (Tr. 15; Tr. 26). The officers viewed the surveillance and  observed  a  black  male  in  the  footage.  (Tr.  26).  Based  on  their  observations   from   the   footage,   officers   created   a   six-photo   lineup including  Russell’s  photo  and  presented  the  lineup  to  the  hotel  owner. (Tr. 15). The hotel owner identified Russell on the photo lineup. (Tr. 15).

Huh. That's not what I would have expected from the account of his criminal history consisting of a couple of burglaries and a weapons charge.

Here is an article on the 2017 homicide, which states that Allen Russell was at that point facing charges for the murder of 25-year-old Bobby Gwin. Another article from March 2018 says that Russell "remains in Forrest County Jail in lieu of $290,000 bond."

I can't find anything else on the murder case. There's plenty on Russell being charged with murder as of early 2018, but nothing regarding how that was resolved. It's strange that none of the national coverage mentions this as background.

This is bulsh**t Av. Trying to say a dude's life in prison sentence for about a tenth pound of weed based in part on allegations apparently never proven in dismissed - - I'd be pretty damn sure that even a murder case would be done three years later oh, the fact that he's released is pretty damn indicative the case collapsed. Beyond that absolutely nothing you described even remotely justifies even a scrap of the prison sentence imposed.

Here in Ohio possession of that much weed, even for a convicted felon, is a maximum $150 fine. Yes, I get that other states are able to pass laws, but it doesn't make them right. Mississippi is ing stupid here and trying to defend this kind of draconian 0 discretion three strikes law because the guy hid in the Attic from the police blah blah blah is foolish in the extreme

Agreed here, these are suspicious allegations but so far as of the past 16 years he hasn't been convicted of directly hurting anyone.

[Torie]

If the implication is being made that the Draconian sentence for weed possession is mitigated by the surmise that he is a murderer, but he can't be put away for that due to insufficient evidence, that is not how the legal system should work - obviously.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Joe Biden needs to LEGALIZE (not just “decriminalize”) weed immediately. He should have done so during his first week, and the fact that he hasn’t done so is one of the biggest indictments of his presidency.

Can the Federal government do anything about states choosing to keep it illegal? The only real implication of the federal blessing is that banks will choose to work with legal shops more freely.

[Mopsus]

How screwed up does a criminal justice system have to be for people like these to serve less than 10 years for the types of crimes they were convicted of while this dude gets a life sentence for two burglaries, a firearms possession charge, and possession of marijuana? 

Rehabilitative justice is to blame. “Well, this man did only kidnap, rape, and attempt to murder one young woman, and he’s behaved so well in prison... maybe he’s changed!” vs. “This criminal is responsible for three felonies. Yes, the last one was nonviolent, but he clearly has no interest in being reformed. Lock him up and throw away the key!”

It’s more humane to pillory people.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Joe Biden needs to LEGALIZE (not just “decriminalize”) weed immediately. He should have done so during his first week, and the fact that he hasn’t done so is one of the biggest indictments of his presidency.

1-How does Biden unilaterally legalize weed in the first week of his Presidency? He'd still have to get it through Congresd.
2-Even if Congress did pass a weed legalization bill that Biden signed that wouldn't have anything to do with Mississippi's state laws which is entirely what this involves.

[Bojack Horseman]

He should've been sentenced to death.

Not even funny as a joke.

Not meant to be funny. Duterte has the correct policy.

I have never said this to anyone on here before but you are truly sick if you're serious.

[Badger]

Joe Biden needs to LEGALIZE (not just “decriminalize”) weed immediately. He should have done so during his first week, and the fact that he hasn’t done so is one of the biggest indictments of his presidency.

Can the Federal government do anything about states choosing to keep it illegal? The only real implication of the federal blessing is that banks will choose to work with legal shops more freely.

Unfortunately, no. You pretty much hit the nail on the head though about banking.

[Badger]

This is bulsh**t Av. Trying to say a dude's life in prison sentence for about a tenth pound of weed based in part on allegations apparently never proven in dismissed - - I'd be pretty damn sure that even a murder case would be done three years later oh, the fact that he's released is pretty damn indicative the case collapsed. Beyond that absolutely nothing you described even remotely justifies even a scrap of the prison sentence imposed.

Here in Ohio possession of that much weed, even for a convicted felon, is a maximum $150 fine. Yes, I get that other states are able to pass laws, but it doesn't make them right. Mississippi is ing stupid here and trying to defend this kind of draconian 0 discretion three strikes law because the guy hid in the Attic from the police blah blah blah is foolish in the extreme

That's one angle on this. Another would be to question the characterization of burglary as a categorically violent felony when those two convictions do not appear to have involved any interpersonal violence in his case.

But I'm not so quick to dismiss the relevance of other aspects of the story, because I'm not running a courtroom and nothing restricts my interest to the narrow question of whether this sentencing decision was a fair one. Why did they choose to prosecute him as they did? How did the murder case fall apart? What kind of life did he lead and what were the circumstances of his previous offenses?

Answers to those questions might tell us something about how the justice system operates in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It's a pity that the state of local journalism is such that there appears to be nothing out there that provides more context than I can gain by accessing the court documents myself.

There's no so-called angle to this. This is simply you trying to justify, pathetically to be frank, a dismissed charge and prior convictions for sending someone to prison 38 to life over an ounce and a half of weed. Period, end of sentence.

You have good contributions frequently, but this type intellectual slovenly this is beneath you. This is literally sir Woodbury or Reagan fan level stupidity and neo-fascism. New paragraph. Answer your question, it sounds like prosecutor and cops thought this guy was responsible for a murder, and even though they couldn't prove it, they decided to use a piss ant chickensh**t marijuana possession charge under Mississippi's incredibly stupid and Draconian laws to punish the guy they felt got away. And of course nothing ever bad happens when prosecutors and cops are convinced they got the right guy but don't have evidence to prove it so they find something else to stick the guy with.

Again, I would have thought this beneath you. Apparently not.

[Badger]

There's no so-called angle to this. This is simply you trying to justify, pathetically to be frank, a dismissed charge and prior convictions for sending someone to prison 38 to life over an ounce and a half of weed. Period, end of sentence.

You have good contributions frequently, but this type intellectual slovenly this is beneath you. This is literally sir Woodbury or Reagan fan level stupidity and neo-fascism. New paragraph. Answer your question, it sounds like prosecutor and cops thought this guy was responsible for a murder, and even though they couldn't prove it, they decided to use a piss ant chickensh**t marijuana possession charge under Mississippi's incredibly stupid and Draconian laws to punish the guy they felt got away. And of course nothing ever bad happens when prosecutors and cops are convinced they got the right guy but don't have evidence to prove it so they find something else to stick the guy with.

Again, I would have thought this beneath you. Apparently not.

You've now mischaracterized my views twice, this time accompanied by a bevy of personal attacks.

I don't take lectures on right and wrong from anyone here. Oh no, I haven't restricted my response to this story to the narrow mantra demanded of me, how horrible! Join or church or something if that's what you want from your peers. Better yet, take a class on listening. Do something that you helps you to quit it with these hair-trigger tantrums of misdirected moral scolding.

Do not, sir, put this on me. It's true, you haven't restricted yourself to the narrow Mantra of what his individual was actually convicted of, but expanded your assessment towards dismissed charges and rather meaningless circumstances regarding the facts surrounding his arrest, which as pearl-clutching as you are being about, apparently didn't even result in additional criminal charges, or at least felony charges.

There was nothing personal about my attacks, but I wholeheartedly proud of attacked such a poorly wrought out argument. Even your response to my response was poorly worded.

Simple fact. This guy is doing 38 to life for an ounce and a half of weed. Fact number two. You overtly suggested that perhaps there was more to the story and heavily implied perhaps it wasn't it as bad as that because the guy was apparently a Charged suspect in a murder case for which he was never convicted, and when arrested he hid in the Attic from dogs and tear casts.. Fact number three, those are piss-poor arguments to even remotely say gee there's something more to the story here that only clever individuals like myself can fathom.