by Dick Hall-Sizemore
For all those folks on this blog who are concerned about “woke” prosecutors, leniency toward murderers, and enforcement of gun laws, here is a case to consider.
A 17-year-old Black kid goes to a house to purchase four ounces of marijuana for $400. While meeting with the 19-year-old seller, the kid pulls up his shirt to reveal a handgun tucked in his waistband. He then grabs the bag of pot and runs. At the bottom of the stairs, according to the seller, the kid turns and looks up at the seller standing at the top of the stairs. The seller then shoots the kid at least eight times with a Glock 23 handgun as he ran out the front door, hitting him in the head, neck, back, pelvis and shoulder. The kid dies at the scene.
Upon being questioned by police, the killer initially lies and claims that he was out of town on the day of the shooting. After his mother confirms that he was in town at the time, he then admits taking part in the incident, claiming self-defense.
After spending about a year in jail awaiting trial, the killer is released on $50,000 bond. The incident occurred in late 2018. Three years after being released on bond, the killer has pleaded guilty in a plea deal negotiated with the prosecutors. As part of the deal, the killer agrees to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter, possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute it, and conspiracy. In return for the plea, the Commonwealth’s attorney’s office agrees to drop second-degree murder and illegal use of handgun charges. (The handgun charge would have carried a mandatory minimum sentence of three years to be served in addition to any other charges for which he would have been convicted.) In addition, the Commonwealth’s attorney agrees to seek no more than a seven-year sentence.
After pleading guilty, the drug dealer/killer is allowed to remain free on bond until his sentencing hearing in October. The victim’s family protests that the deal was too lenient. “The system is a joke. It’s a flat out joke,” says an uncle of the victim.
Let’s review: drug deal gone bad; both buyer and seller armed with handguns; seller pumps eight rounds into buyer after buyer steals drugs; accused killer allowed to be free for two years before trial; charge carrying mandatory minimum sentence dropped; murder charge reduced to manslaughter; prosecutor settles for a seven-year sentence for a man killing another over an act, which if tried under the larceny provision, would be a misdemeanor; after pleading guilty, killer allowed to remain free until sentencing hearing. This case must have happened in one of those inner cities with a woke prosecutor, such as Richmond, Norfolk, or perhaps Northern Virginia, maybe Arlington.
If that was your conclusion, you would be wrong. It happened in Virginia Beach. The drug dealer/killer was white. He lived in a five-bedroom, 4,400 square foot home in an upscale area of Virginia Beach. An account of the case is in Tuesday’s Virginian Pilot.
Perhaps, rather than trying to garner national publicity going after “liberal” prosecutors who are Democrats, Attorney Jason Miyares should talk to his former colleagues in the Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s attorney’s office.
My Soapbox
There are some questions about this case that spring to mind. What if the victim had been white and the shooter Black? What if the incident had taken place in a housing project rather than in an upscale neighborhood? Would the prosecutor have been as willing to settle on such generous terms? One can only speculate.
A spokeswoman for the Virginia Beach prosecutor explained that prosecutors “amended the charges to fit the available evidence.” That could well be a legitimate position. After all, in his statement given after the plea deal was struck, the killer told police that he had tossed his gun off the Pungo Ferry Bridge. So, there was no weapon to place in evidence or to test the slugs against. There were no eyewitnesses. The victim’s brother was on the scene, but he was waiting in the car. The victim did have a gun on him; therefore, perhaps the killer’s defense attorney could have made a plausible case of self-defense before a jury.
The important point is that all prosecutors enter into plea agreements. In fact, it is estimated that 95% of criminal cases are resolved through plea bargaining. Before jumping all over a prosecutor, progressive or conservative, for entering into plea deals, it is best to examine all the facts at hand for each case, because all cases are different.
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