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I have to wonder, what is wrong with our system when this piece of crap was not in jail? It was reported on the local news that this is the 5th time he was found with a stolen car in 5 years. He had pulled a knife on the cops. All this, and he was still out of jail? WTF is wrong with our system? We need sentences that actually act as deterrants, not revolving doors and TV.
At least this time he picked a victim that was able to defend himself, and end the perps crime spree, something "the system" failed to do. At the least, no one else will be victimized and society is better off.
Unfortunately, as messed up as our "system" is, the victim is likely to face far more severe punishment that this career criminal ever did at the hands of the courts. He fired in what may not be deemed "self defense". Flip side...it's unlikely that a jury can be found that would convict him. Hopefully the perpetrators family can be sued for damages to the victim's vehicle.
Quote:
The man killed by a homeowner Monday morning after allegedly trying to steal a vehicle died from a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s office.
The man has been identified as 25-year-old Brendon T. Kaluza-Graham.
Kaluza-Graham had a lengthy criminal record, including multiple convictions related to car theft or possessing tools related to car theft. Most recently, he was sentenced to 120 days in jail in November for possession of vehicle theft tools.
He was featured in a 2009 Spokesman-Review story on the rise in area vehicle thefts.
Kaluza-Graham also was charged with several felonies in February 2012 after brandishing a knife in a fight with a Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy. Deputies found substances believed to be methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana on him at that time, according to previously published reports.
Quite the conundrum here. Many will argue that people like this should get longer terms and not jail those caught with relatively minor drug charges but it would seem that maybe this guy was doing what he was doing to support his drug addictions.
I just saw the Seattle Times story on this, and they did not mention the perp's history, so thanks for the info, toyman.
The justice system clearly is no longer intended for putting criminals away and protecting joe & jane average from crime. Instead it is a jobs program for cops and courts. There's not much revenue in locking up a car thief, rather there is a cost. So the system is loathe to do that.
A few years ago in Seattle a woman had her minivan stolen, and then recovered. She found that the thief had left his ID in the vehicle. Naturally she took the ID to police, asking that the guy be tracked down and investigated. They totally blew her off, told her just to collect from her insurance and not worry about it. A few days later the thief, a longtime druggie and criminal, rammed a stolen car into a female SPD officer on her way to work, killing her.
The justice system clearly is no longer intended for putting criminals away and protecting joe & jane average from crime. Instead it is a jobs program for cops and courts. There's not much revenue in locking up a car thief, rather there is a cost. So the system is loathe to do that.
Nixon released hardened criminals from prison to shoo the hippies off the streets.
And, it worked!
The country went from LSD and pot, to meth, heroin and cocaine.
Republicanism, it's what's for dinner.
Hardcore a**holes!
It isn't left or right in this country, it is hard and soft.
Nixon released hardened criminals from prison to shoo the hippies off the streets.
And, it worked!
The country went from LSD and pot, to meth, heroin and cocaine.
Republicanism, it's what's for dinner.
Reaching much. Then why is crime down accross the board for the last 20 years? Plus the president cannot release people from state prisons, where the unless he pardons them, did Nixon pardon hundreds of thousands of people and I missed it. Plus state prisons hold 87% of criminals so the president has little authority over the prison population sans pardon. Nice try though.
I have to wonder, what is wrong with our system when this piece of crap was not in jail? It was reported on the local news that this is the 5th time he was found with a stolen car in 5 years. He had pulled a knife on the cops. All this, and he was still out of jail? WTF is wrong with our system? We need sentences that actually act as deterrants, not revolving doors and TV.
At least this time he picked a victim that was able to defend himself, and end the perps crime spree, something "the system" failed to do. At the least, no one else will be victimized and society is better off.
Unfortunately, as messed up as our "system" is, the victim is likely to face far more severe punishment that this career criminal ever did at the hands of the courts. He fired in what may not be deemed "self defense". Flip side...it's unlikely that a jury can be found that would convict him. Hopefully the perpetrators family can be sued for damages to the victim's vehicle.
The problem here is that shooting in self defense means that the person you are firing at poses an imminent threat. In this case the shooter fired through the back window of the car. Thus, there was no imminent threat to the shooter. So it was not in self defense.
I have to wonder, what is wrong with our system when this piece of crap was not in jail? It was reported on the local news that this is the 5th time he was found with a stolen car in 5 years. He had pulled a knife on the cops. All this, and he was still out of jail? WTF is wrong with our system? We need sentences that actually act as deterrants, not revolving doors and TV.
At least this time he picked a victim that was able to defend himself, and end the perps crime spree, something "the system" failed to do. At the least, no one else will be victimized and society is better off.
Unfortunately, as messed up as our "system" is, the victim is likely to face far more severe punishment that this career criminal ever did at the hands of the courts. He fired in what may not be deemed "self defense". Flip side...it's unlikely that a jury can be found that would convict him. Hopefully the perpetrators family can be sued for damages to the victim's vehicle.
I'm sure you know that each crime has a statutory punishment. You cannot give a stronger sentence than is set out.
Do you know if Washington has an habitual offender statute? People charged as habitual offenders get very tough sentences.
In this case, the offender apparently got the death penalty.
I am not a gun control advocate, don't care if people have guns, however, in this case, seems to me the vehicle owner was certainly over zealous. As for a jury convicting him, it's possible that there would be people on the jury who are indeed supportive of gun control and he just might get convicted. Remember, they cannot bring up the victim's previous criminal record. Shooting someone in the head and killing them over a vehicle is pretty severe.
What kind of justice system would you like to see in this country? Perhaps something modeled after a country in the Middle East?
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