Posted on 04/12/2014 5:59:38 PM PDT by kiryandil
The Missouri Department of Corrections discovered, upon preparing to release a prisoner who had served a 13-year sentence in July 2013, that the prisoner had never been incarcerated and promptly sent him to prison.
In the intervening 13 years since his 1999 arrest, Cornealious 'Mike' Anderson III, 36, has transformed his life, becoming a master carpenter, starting his own business and marrying and having children.
In July last year, as he and his youngest daughter slept in the St Louis home he built for his family, a SWAT team outfitted in tactical gear and helmets swarmed the house, arresting the terrified father of four and delivering him to the Missouri Department of Corrections, where he's been ever since.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Well, it is MO, and they still boast of HST.
Except that he doesn’t seem to have made any effort to avoid the time. The government was entitled to 13 years—but the next 13, not any random 13 they decided upon.
Agreed-inspired by your own comment, I signed too.
Any weapon, real or fake, used in a robbery turns it into an “armed robbery” because the victim(s) don’t know if it is real or not, and could suffer psychological harm or even death (heart attack).
In this case, the guy should be put on probation and be sent out to speak to children about how a stupid criminal act could ruin his life and that of his family.
Might as well get something good out of this case. Might even save a life down the road.
I wouldn't be too sure about that. There is a statute of limitations. If the man remained available to the authorities in the proper jurisdiction and they failed to imprison the convict due to no fault of the convict, a good attorney may indeed argue the time was actually served with or without incarceration and the authorities may be barred from putting the convict in further jeopardy of incarceration by the statute of limitations.
My first thought was that if he is reformed, why didn't he own up to his crime? Part of being responsible is... actually being responsible for your actions. Responsible people don't shirk their debts. Failing to appear (another crime) and calling foul when finally caught doesn't sound responsible to me.
Plus how is robbery with a BB gun an armed robbery?
In many, and possibly most states, pointing any gun, even a fake gun, is armed robbery. Just saying that you have a gun is also armed robbery. If you choose to use a weapon or say that you are using a weapon to commit a crime, your victim is not in a position to determine the legitimacy of the threat. Thus, you've used the threat of force in your crime.
Best suggestion: Don't point any weapon in anyone's face, and if you know you have a jail sentence, know that they'll eventually catch up with you if you walk away from your punishment.
The same way a half-eaten Pop-Tart can be reason for expulsion from school?
On the flip side, the act, even with a fake weapon, causes the same dynamics as if the gun were real. The only upside to a BB gun vs. a real gun is that it's unlikely that you will kill someone in the commission.
Since nobody was hurt way back then, and he seems to have turned his life around, I'm all for super-leniency and allowing him to keep tending to his business and family.
LOL!
Troll much?
He didn't fail to appear. Read the article.
"and calling foul when finally caught doesn't sound responsible to me."
I'm pretty sure that it's people with common sense that are calling foul. Perhaps yours rolled under the desk. Did you check? It should scare you that the evil government clowns have no common sense. I know it scares Cliven Bundy...
and if you know you have a jail sentence, know that they'll eventually catch up with you if you walk away from your punishment.
OK - once again, he didn't walk away from his punishment. Did you read some article written by the evil clown prosecutor for St. Charles County, the one with no common sense?
All I know is that if I am in a similar situation.... I am not going to around reminding the “justice system” I should be in jail for 13 years. No on here is stupid enough to do this.
I would do same as this man did. Get back to work and to my life done out in the open. If the “justice system” forgets about me this is their business, not mine. This is their line of work and they do every day so they should be good at it.
I get the fake BB gun reasoning...The victim thought it was real. Kinda like the way detectives tell a crook lies to get him to confess...completely legal of course. The detectives can lie to the crook that his buddy is about to give him up, that the weapon has been found and identified as his. All kinds of stuff to trick the arrested man into a confession.
I would never treat robbery with a BB gun the same as a real armed robbery. Maybe with 25% the weight. Looks to me like the “justice system” where this guy lives treats it exactly the same which is idiocy...and they gave this man 13 years. So I would have done exactly what this guy did.
Not sure where you think you are going with such a ridiculous argument that because Clinton didn’t go to jail no one should go to jail? This guy was sentenced and should serve his time like everyone else - equal justice under the law.
The argument for Bill Clinton, and for others of his ilk in the ranks of the Lords, is pretty much that "they rose to the pinnacle of society, so how can we expect them to serve jail time?"
We can go down the list, if you'd like:
Bill Clinton - felony perjury in a federal judge's face
Charlie Rangel - tax evasion
Jon Corzine - 1.7 billion in co-mingled customer funds stolen
Eric Holder - felonies galore, unprosecuted
Elijah Cummings - using the IRS to target political enemies, conspiracy and many, many others.
Now we have this peasant Cornealious who was slated to go to jail, but the lackwits who run the state of Missouri FORGOT to incarcerate him, thus exposing the other peasants of Missouri to danger if he had been dangerous.
He rises to the pinnacle of his talents, like the others above, and becomes a productive member of society.
He's got to go to jail, though, because he's not one of the Lords.
You should fear a government that has no common sense, and has two classes of Law, one for the peasants and one for the Lords.
Strange that you don't get it, after watching the foul sludge of our government Masters flow by on Free Republic all these years.
No offense but I don’t find your arguments compelling.
BTW you have a nice short list of criminals who have skirted justice and need to do some time. No wonder people get so cynical. I include myself in that category. :-)
I imagine when the same prosecutor was confronted with Clinton's felonies, you could hear the crickets from miles away.
All I require in life is consistency, and no discernible hypocrisy. I demanded jail time for all these sociopathic felons in the House of Lords, and I got told to Talk to the Hand.
So, when I see a peasant in similar circumstances, my brain clicks on, and I ask myself, why does HE have to go to jail? What possible purpose does it serve me and my fellow taxpeasants, when all it does is contribute monetary grease for the overfed lackwits in the government, who are eating out our substance daily?
Is it your view that the SWAT team, the buffoons in the Missouri Department of Corrections, the inflexible prosecutor, the prison guards, the parole officers & the Missouri Department of Social Services (which will end up picking up the tab for his family, without a doubt), all need jobs, so it's OK if there is a lack of common sense?
The BLM just spent several million to collect what they say is a million owed to them by Cliven Bundy. Is that OK, too?
Is the government right, just because it's the government?
The list is much, much longer. I see no need to beat a dead horse after people get the gist of it, though.
no I don’t get your gist at all. But have a nice afternoon.
I have learned why the ordinary Germans under Hitler did the things they did, because I see the same mentality in this country.
The Leaders can't possibly be wrong. This is the way we've always done it. Don't rock the boat. Don't ask questions. Don't demand answers.
You wrote: He didn't fail to appear. Read the article.
You're correct, I read it wrong.
I wrote: "and calling foul when finally caught doesn't sound responsible to me."
You wrote: I'm pretty sure that it's people with common sense that are calling foul. Perhaps yours rolled under the desk. Did you check? It should scare you that the evil government clowns have no common sense. I know it scares Cliven Bundy...
He was tried, and convicted (unlike Bundy). He appealed his rightful sentence, and his appeal was rebuffed (unlike Bundy). He owes a debt to society - and he has always known it. We don't pay debts because we're forced to. We pay debts because we owe them. Because we want to do the right thing. We do the right thing whether someone is watching or not.
I wrote: and if you know you have a jail sentence, know that they'll eventually catch up with you if you walk away from your punishment.
You wrote: OK - once again, he didn't walk away from his punishment.
He absolutely did know and did walk away. He knew he wasn't where he should be - in prison. He knows because he appealed his sentence repeatedly and the appeals were denied.
Did you read some article written by the evil clown prosecutor for St. Charles County, the one with no common sense?
Why is the prosecutor evil? Did he point a gun at someone's face and demand money?
The article says:
* He got bail and appealed the sentence unsuccessfully several times
You don't appeal "not-guilty". Not "several times". He absolutely knew he was a convicted felon.
* He should have been re-arrested and jailed following his last failed appeal but he never was
I don't know about you, but I do the right thing even when no one is watching. I wouldn't steal even if I knew I wasn't going to be caught. I don't live my life based on the odds of getting caught, as that is surely immoral and wrong. This isn't revolutionary - it's the minimum we're required to do by God.
Right and wrong are not subjective. They are objective. You did the crime, you do the time. You knew you were a convict - you spent years hoping no one would find you. Well, they did.
Seem weird that he got 13 years and after 13 years they decided to release him. Seems like he was a model prisoner what with never getting into trouble. Shouldn’t they had tried to release him earlier?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.