Saturday, January 2, 2010

300 Years, No? Ok 25 Years to Life, That's a Little Better

Tragedy becomes comedy when through human intervention absurdity reigns unchecked. 


So there's this terrible story out of the Mohawk Valley region of New York State that relates to an armed jewelry store robbery ending in the shooting death of New Hartford, New York police officer Joseph Corr. 

The piece of shit who did the shooting, a career criminal Toussaint Davis (pic) received a sentence of 300 years from Oneida County Supreme Court Judge Michael L. Dwyer.  No one was surprised when the Appellate Court for the Fourth Judicial Departemnt reduced the sentence to something slightly less biblical.

The Utica Observer-Dispatch reports: When Toussaint Davis was sentenced in Oneida County Court to 300 years in prison for his role in the 2006 jewelry store robbery that ended with New Hartford police Officer Joseph Corr’s shooting death, the hefty punishment raised a few eyebrows.


'It certainly brought a big smile to my face,' New Hartford Police Chief Raymond Philo said of the sentence Judge Michael L. Dwyer imposed in April 2007. 'It had a shock value on us, and we were like, holy cow! I think the sentence sent a very clear message, and it received wide news coverage across the state.'

But on Wednesday, the Appellate Division in Rochester announced a decision that prosecutors and police had long expected: Dwyer had erred in his sentence according to the law, and therefore the triple-century punishment must be reduced.

As a result, 41-year-old Davis of Philadelphia now faces 25 years-to-life in prison for his conviction of second-degree murder and 18 counts of robbery in connection with Corr’s shooting death."

No judge ever lost an election because he threw the book at a miscreant.  No matter how demagoguery is involved, no matter how many tax dollars are spent repairing outlandish errors, the judge seen as tough on cretins like Toussaint Davis wins everytime, even when he is wrong.  Imagine this, a Judge doing the boring thing, the unpopular but legitmate thing, the legal thing, and a Judge doing the right thing.  Just imagine.

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