'The district attorney offered him 20 years if he pled guilty, but Jelani refused.'
'The violence changed him. "My experience on Rikers Island, that’s when I had to show, like not just be myself," he says. "I had to turn into a beast."'
'Henry said he struggled at times to avoid taking the guilty plea.'
'Four months later, with no move by the DA to proceed, his case was finally dismissed, almost two years to the day it began. The DA has refused to share the document that outlines the reason for dismissing Jelani’s case with him or his lawyer. To day, there has been no explanation and no apology for Jelani’s detention.''
'Unfortunately, Henry’s troubles from the arrest aren’t over. He is now facing assault charges stemming from a fight in prison. "He was innocent when he went in there, and now he might come out with a charge for defending himself," says Alethia.'
That, taken together, is one of the best (worst) indictments of our penal system. It is clearly designed not to rehabilitate, not even to penalize, but to oppress, and to self-perpetuate itself by creating 'criminals', either those who have been turned criminal by the penal system itself, or those who have been given plea deals with the deck stacked against them, regardless of their innocence. We need reform, very, very badly.
There’s a difference between being designed to oppress and being designed to rehabilitate but extremely poorly so and oppressing as an unintended side effect. I suspect the latter is more likely.
2) If #1 is unavoidable, don't have friends (and don't go anywhere because you might get jumped because you don't have friends)
3) Never be in any photos, even by accident
4) Never sign up for facebook/twitter/etc
5) Never talk to the police
6) Plea deals are mostly bullshit (these last two I knew already)
I'm not a lawyer, so maybe someone more well-versed can help me, but:
> But the district attorney convinced a judge that most of the time Jelani spent in jail shouldn’t count towards that release. She argued that days spent gathering more evidence, delays in testimony by a police officer who was on vacation, or instances where she was unprepared to make her case did not figure into the six-month period
Would this not be a slam-dunk lawsuit for the Henrys that his sixth amendment rights were violated? Obviously not going to bring back lost time, but still, that seems insane.
Do you really not see the yawning chasm between your 1-4 and what's described in the article? There's obviously a lot more going on here than this guy being in pictures with gang bangers.
> While he was incarcerated, the police matched his DNA to another gun recovered near the scene of a gang altercation.
As for his brother Jelani, it wasn't Facebook that landed him in Rikers, it was a witness identification. Now, that's a tragedy, but the old fashioned kind: over reliance on eye witness identification and overly aggressive prosecutor tactics. 20 years ago, these prosecutions would've been based on the testimony of random people in the neighborhood about who was hanging out with who.
It's funny, right now there's a big debate on the use of torture in the united states and the priority in terms of the issues surrounding it tend to go like this:
1. whether it's effective in producing valuable intelligence
"We are coming to find you and monitor every step you take," Joanne Jaffe, the department’s Housing Bureau chief, told The New York Times in 2013. "And we are going to learn about every bad friend you have."
The boot on the face usually ends up being local.
EDIT:
"While he was incarcerated, the police matched his DNA to another gun recovered near the scene of a gang altercation."
How the does that even work? I'm calling bullshit.
EDIT2:
Alethia finally convinced her lawyer to file a speedy trial motion and in November of 2013 Jelani was given bail. Four months later, with no move by the DA to proceed, his case was finally dismissed, almost two years to the day it began. The DA has refused to share the document that outlines the reason for dismissing Jelani’s case with him or his lawyer. To day, there has been no explanation and no apology for Jelani’s detention.
And more of this nonsense. It's not just the beat cops that we should be watching closely. This is absurd.
I think it works like this: As you touch things, some of your skin cells fall off and adhere to the thing you touched. Those cells can give up DNA to an investigator. So it would mean that he touched the gun in question.
When did he touch it? The DNA doesn't say anything about that.
How do we get excellent stories like this into the broader narrative in America? This is a story that needs to be read carefully. If somebody were to edit this down into a 10 second segment fit for insertion into the nightly news I don't think it would pack as much punch.
It seems like stories on 60 Minutes are the closest I've seen to hitting the mark.
This is one story that is part of a larger story cutting across the country. I don't know anybody republican or democrat in America that would think being jailed for two years without a charge is acceptable. This is the right time for America to deal with these _moral_ issues.
Did the DA offer just one plea deal or was a series of offers made over the time Jelani was in jail? This seems to me like the DA was using pre-trial detention as a pressure tactic.
Apropos of the "your DNA was found on a gun" thing, what are the standards of evidence for charges that don't go to trial and plea deals? Can the DA/police essentially make something up, offer you a plea deal, and then -- if you confess and take the plea -- never follow it up with any real proof?
I'm curious because -- knowing nothing about forensic science -- that statement sounds really weird, and regardless of whether it's a sensible statement or whether it's true in this individual case, I'm curious if there's a loophole that lets the police badger suspects with non-existent evidence.
Keep in mind when you live in states who have incredibly harsh laws for gun control, this is pretty common.
Remember Plaxico Burress? The NFL Wide Receiver? He spent two years in federal prison for shooting HIMSELF in the leg with a firearm that wasn't licensed in NY or NJ:
Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau insisted that the former New York Giants wide receiver serve at least two years in prison for violating the city's strict gun laws. Mayor Michael Bloomberg had also publicly called for Burress to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
On July 29, Burress took the rare and risky step of testifying before the grand jury, hoping to convince the panel that the gun was not used in the commission of a crime and that he was the lone victim. But days later, Burress was indicted on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment. He faced a minimum sentence of 3½ years if convicted at trial.
I'm pretty sure in a state like Texas, they wouldn't even bother him once they knew his connection to the gang was minimal.
Wait, so you're telling me that gun control laws are used to oppress the under class? Even though they were passed to protect them? Because that's the socioeconomic group that suffers most from gun violence? Well I'll be monkey's uncle...
Seems to me that being in jail for 2 years and then having charges dismissed without ever going to trial should constitute a priori evidence of false imprisonment.
Very sad story. Single parent household/lack of father figure, neighbourhoods that exist in their own separate reality, communities where the wrong things (acting hard, etc) are valued over education, broken social services, over-zealous prosecutors, systemic prejudice, and tech corporations and their advertiser patrons pushing a consumerist agenda above all else.
This injustice is absolutely not a result of a single parent household, and insinuating that in some sense the mother is to blame here is gross. Your other suggestion, that the community itself is at fault (because they culturally value the wrong things) is mistaken. It's the other way around, the larger american culture is at fault because it is biased against black communities.
Wow. On top of everything, this should definitely violate speedy trial requirements:
But the district attorney convinced a judge that most of the time Jelani spent in jail shouldn’t count towards that release. She argued that days spent gathering more evidence, delays in testimony by a police officer who was on vacation, or instances where she was unprepared to make her case did not figure into the six-month period. The judge agreed. In a bit of Kafka-esque arithmetic, 19 months became 83 days. Instead of finishing trade school, Jelani celebrated his 20th and 21st birthdays in a cell.
That right is not as obvious as it seems. Also, though I cannot find a citation, I believe that everyone typically waives those rights (in a very murky manner) upon arraignment.
it is clear that the guys would have benefited from having a lawyer or at least from some advice. As they obviously can't afford a full legal representation it seems that this is where technology may potentially come to play, something like ... wait for it ... Uber for lawyers/legal help.
Did I really need to know they were born on the same day? This was way too long for me to actually get to the part where he went to jail for Facebook likes. Once I got to the part where he really did have a gun, I figured there's more to it than the headline implies.
My reading was different. There are two brothers. The older was arrested for possessing a gun, pled out and got probation, and then years later was arrested for conspiracy charges based on appearing in pictures with "known gang members". He pled out again, got jail time, and got more jail time for being linked to a gun while in jail.
The younger brother was arrested on suspicion based on his Facebook activity, held for a couple of years at Rikers Island, and never charged.
IMO the outrages are (1) the older brother received a harsh sentence for appearing in pictures (his gun charge for owning an illegal, non-functional gun resulting in probation) and (2) the younger brother was held for two years with no trial.
[+] [-] lostcolony|11 years ago|reply
'The violence changed him. "My experience on Rikers Island, that’s when I had to show, like not just be myself," he says. "I had to turn into a beast."'
'Henry said he struggled at times to avoid taking the guilty plea.'
'Four months later, with no move by the DA to proceed, his case was finally dismissed, almost two years to the day it began. The DA has refused to share the document that outlines the reason for dismissing Jelani’s case with him or his lawyer. To day, there has been no explanation and no apology for Jelani’s detention.''
'Unfortunately, Henry’s troubles from the arrest aren’t over. He is now facing assault charges stemming from a fight in prison. "He was innocent when he went in there, and now he might come out with a charge for defending himself," says Alethia.'
That, taken together, is one of the best (worst) indictments of our penal system. It is clearly designed not to rehabilitate, not even to penalize, but to oppress, and to self-perpetuate itself by creating 'criminals', either those who have been turned criminal by the penal system itself, or those who have been given plea deals with the deck stacked against them, regardless of their innocence. We need reform, very, very badly.
[+] [-] valleyer|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bronbron|11 years ago|reply
1) Don't be born a poor urban youth
2) If #1 is unavoidable, don't have friends (and don't go anywhere because you might get jumped because you don't have friends)
3) Never be in any photos, even by accident
4) Never sign up for facebook/twitter/etc
5) Never talk to the police
6) Plea deals are mostly bullshit (these last two I knew already)
I'm not a lawyer, so maybe someone more well-versed can help me, but:
> But the district attorney convinced a judge that most of the time Jelani spent in jail shouldn’t count towards that release. She argued that days spent gathering more evidence, delays in testimony by a police officer who was on vacation, or instances where she was unprepared to make her case did not figure into the six-month period
Would this not be a slam-dunk lawsuit for the Henrys that his sixth amendment rights were violated? Obviously not going to bring back lost time, but still, that seems insane.
[+] [-] tedunangst|11 years ago|reply
That's not how it works in New York...
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/law-3
[+] [-] rayiner|11 years ago|reply
> While he was incarcerated, the police matched his DNA to another gun recovered near the scene of a gang altercation.
As for his brother Jelani, it wasn't Facebook that landed him in Rikers, it was a witness identification. Now, that's a tragedy, but the old fashioned kind: over reliance on eye witness identification and overly aggressive prosecutor tactics. 20 years ago, these prosecutions would've been based on the testimony of random people in the neighborhood about who was hanging out with who.
[+] [-] InclinedPlane|11 years ago|reply
It's funny, right now there's a big debate on the use of torture in the united states and the priority in terms of the issues surrounding it tend to go like this:
1. whether it's effective in producing valuable intelligence
2. whether it's moral
somewhere way down the list:
n. whether it's legal (it's not)
We live in a crazy world right now.
[+] [-] joe_the_user|11 years ago|reply
1) Never sign up for any social networking service with your real name
2) Never talk to the cops
3) Never let photos of yourself appear on the Internet for any reason.
Honestly, those are rules everyone should use.
[+] [-] angersock|11 years ago|reply
The boot on the face usually ends up being local.
EDIT:
"While he was incarcerated, the police matched his DNA to another gun recovered near the scene of a gang altercation."
How the does that even work? I'm calling bullshit.
EDIT2:
Alethia finally convinced her lawyer to file a speedy trial motion and in November of 2013 Jelani was given bail. Four months later, with no move by the DA to proceed, his case was finally dismissed, almost two years to the day it began. The DA has refused to share the document that outlines the reason for dismissing Jelani’s case with him or his lawyer. To day, there has been no explanation and no apology for Jelani’s detention.
And more of this nonsense. It's not just the beat cops that we should be watching closely. This is absurd.
[+] [-] jackweirdy|11 years ago|reply
Reminds me of a quotation I saw earlier today; “When the axe came into the woods, the trees said ‘at least the handle’s one of us’”
[+] [-] AnimalMuppet|11 years ago|reply
I think it works like this: As you touch things, some of your skin cells fall off and adhere to the thing you touched. Those cells can give up DNA to an investigator. So it would mean that he touched the gun in question.
When did he touch it? The DNA doesn't say anything about that.
[+] [-] bproper|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] vickm|11 years ago|reply
It seems like stories on 60 Minutes are the closest I've seen to hitting the mark.
This is one story that is part of a larger story cutting across the country. I don't know anybody republican or democrat in America that would think being jailed for two years without a charge is acceptable. This is the right time for America to deal with these _moral_ issues.
I hope your story takes off.
[+] [-] dthal|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] saalweachter|11 years ago|reply
I'm curious because -- knowing nothing about forensic science -- that statement sounds really weird, and regardless of whether it's a sensible statement or whether it's true in this individual case, I'm curious if there's a loophole that lets the police badger suspects with non-existent evidence.
[+] [-] debacle|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] calhoun137|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joshAg|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] at-fates-hands|11 years ago|reply
Remember Plaxico Burress? The NFL Wide Receiver? He spent two years in federal prison for shooting HIMSELF in the leg with a firearm that wasn't licensed in NY or NJ:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4493887
Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau insisted that the former New York Giants wide receiver serve at least two years in prison for violating the city's strict gun laws. Mayor Michael Bloomberg had also publicly called for Burress to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
On July 29, Burress took the rare and risky step of testifying before the grand jury, hoping to convince the panel that the gun was not used in the commission of a crime and that he was the lone victim. But days later, Burress was indicted on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment. He faced a minimum sentence of 3½ years if convicted at trial.
I'm pretty sure in a state like Texas, they wouldn't even bother him once they knew his connection to the gang was minimal.
[+] [-] jff|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] EpicEng|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] forrestthewoods|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] talmand|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cperciva|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] forgingahead|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gizmo|11 years ago|reply
Coates wrote a very good piece about this: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/03/black-pa...
[+] [-] aqme28|11 years ago|reply
But the district attorney convinced a judge that most of the time Jelani spent in jail shouldn’t count towards that release. She argued that days spent gathering more evidence, delays in testimony by a police officer who was on vacation, or instances where she was unprepared to make her case did not figure into the six-month period. The judge agreed. In a bit of Kafka-esque arithmetic, 19 months became 83 days. Instead of finishing trade school, Jelani celebrated his 20th and 21st birthdays in a cell.
[+] [-] Balgair|11 years ago|reply
That right is not as obvious as it seems. Also, though I cannot find a citation, I believe that everyone typically waives those rights (in a very murky manner) upon arraignment.
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] trhway|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tedunangst|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] saalweachter|11 years ago|reply
The younger brother was arrested on suspicion based on his Facebook activity, held for a couple of years at Rikers Island, and never charged.
IMO the outrages are (1) the older brother received a harsh sentence for appearing in pictures (his gun charge for owning an illegal, non-functional gun resulting in probation) and (2) the younger brother was held for two years with no trial.
[+] [-] ameister14|11 years ago|reply