Posted on 07/11/2005 1:08:03 PM PDT by Dog Gone
WACO — A man has been sentenced to 99 years in prison for stealing a cell phone.
Glenn Alvin Reed, 31, was convicted of robbery Thursday for stealing a cellular phone from a man's truck last fall and then hitting him several times when he demanded its return.
Jurors, who deliberated about 15 minutes, convicted Reed as a habitual criminal because he has prior felony convictions for injury to an elderly person and robbery. That bumped the minimum sentence from five to 25 years for Reed, who rejected a 15-year plea bargain offer from prosecutors.
Reed also has 15 misdemeanor convictions dating to 1991, including 12 criminal trespassing convictions.
Reed, who testified during his trial against the wishes of his court-appointed attorneys, frequently went into profanity-laced tirades and told jurors he didn't care if they gave him life in prison.
"There's things I choose to do, like, if I go in a store and choose to take a Snicker's bar," Reed testified. "If you catch me, you catch me. If not, I'm going to go home and eat it up and go on about my business, dog."
Four years ago, Reed walked up behind retired Texas Ranger Capt. Bob Prince outside the McLennan County courthouse annex and said he was robbing him. Prince decided not to shoot Reed because he could tell he was unarmed, the former Ranger testified during Reed's cell phone robbery trial.
Prince easily took Reed into custody, and he later was sentenced to two years in prison, according to court records.
Reed made an obscene hand gesture toward Prince as the former Ranger left the witness stand.
Sounds like he got what he wanted.
I think you are correct.
Lock him up in solitary with an always-ringing cell phone, which if he answers it he hears:
"Can you hear me now, dog?"
HAHAhaa.a.. ok, explain the rules in "double elimination rock-paper-sissors"........
I guess he has a new place to hang now. (At least for the next 99 years or so.)
I vote for clemency in this case. Give him a parole hearing at the 50-year point. So call me "Mister Sympathy."
Was he talking to you? :)
Three strikes is one of the very few things to like about the CJ system. These were not victimless pot busts pumped up to felony prpportions. This guy is a career strong-arm robber - exactly the target this law was meant to hit. And the odds of his crime career being the product of bad luck, police intimidation, or faked evidence are nil.
"Life in prison should be reserved for murderers, traitors, kidnappers, terrorists or rapists."
Naw. That's what hanging's for.
And he got exactly what he wanted.
Clearly he is tired of life on the outside.
The problem with "habitual offendor" and "3 stike laws", is that a criminal is better off killing his victim and eliminating all witnesses, since the penalty is so high anyways. A criminal would not be any worse off shooting his victims which would lessen the odds of being convicted of anything. If you are going to jail for life, why not kill them?
That's what took most of the 13 minutes, explaining the rules.
The average convicted murderer in the United States, serves only about 9 years "actual prison time", rapists about 5 actual prison years.
:I love how the title "forgets" to mention the assault.:
Naa, they didn't forget. I've seen this same style headline from AP many times. They really mean to imply this idiot is being sentenced simply for stealing the cell phone. Any '3rd strike' story goes the same way...life for shoplifting! Oh the injustice! Rarely mentions strikes one and two.
Anybody for bringing back firing squads "out back" of the courthouse? Not talking about lynchings or gallows... just a blank wall to execute those who'd rather suck from the taxpayer teat while enjoying hot meals, cable TV and gym facilities. Would take care of our money problems.
If a California judge would have listened to Charles Manson's pleas to stay in prison in the mid-60's the Tate-Labianca murders would have never happened. Manson didn't want to leave, he called it the only home he ever really knew.
Have two sets of six players (assuming jury of twelve). Two players in each group start and winner plays next in line until only one player from each group is left. Then the two winners from each group play for the right to be the jury foreman.
It think it is explained in Black's Law Dictionary. :-)
Life in prison should be for murderers, rapists etc. I agree, but you left out habitual felons.
The guy admits that he is going to do what he want's to do, law or not. I don't want to be they next person that crosses his path when he want's some money for a cold malt liquor. I have not problem with the sentence.
Wow. This guy is lucky that he isn't dead. There are some things that you just don't do, and robbing a Texas Ranger (retired or otherwise, whether you are unarmed or not) is very near the top of the list.
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