Sunday, December 13, 2009

CRIMINAL JUSTICE, SAN FRANCISCO STYLE

POOR SYSTEM OR STUPID JUDGES?????
By Bob Walsh

PacoVilla’s Corrections blog
December 12, 2009

Arthur Lee Clark Jr, 20, is what many of us would call state raised, or at least semi-state raised. He is (finally) being held in the San Francisco County jail on $1 million bail. A reasonable question would be, "Why did he have to kill someone to get there?".

Young Arthur became a ward of the social welfare system at the ripe old age of 6. In July of 2005, at the age of 16, he was busted selling coke and carrying a piece. That got him home detention with his grandparents in the projects along with the apparently meaningless sanction of probation.

He was busted for violating probation in 2006, which landed him in a group home and youth came in Chino. He finished serving his juvenile probation in 2007. Five months later he was again busted for possession for sale. This time around he was over 18. Not that it made much difference.

He copped to being a crack head. He ended up in the hospital with a gunshot wound under circumstances that were never clarified. He then ended up in a Prop 36 program instead of jail. Yip Yip Yahoo for him. He turned in over a dozen dirty tests, but was kept in the program. No jail.

In October of last year he was spotted by cops driving like an idiot on the freeway. He managed to evade the cops, but they gaffled him up later. He said he took off like that because his license was suspended. He also said every time it happened in the future he would do the same thing. He finally made it to court. The probation department asked for 90 days, pointing out his gross disrespect for authority and repeated bad tests. The judge kicked him for time served.

On February of this year he was again spotted by cops who recognized him and tried to pull him over. He again took off like a mad man. He again got away. He was again gaffled up later and again ended up in court. The probation department and prosecutors again asked for 90 days in custody. He was given a order to return later to court for sentencing. He never showed. A bench warrant was issued.

In April he was busted at his girlfriends with a gun, ammo, and dope for sale. He was in jail for six months awaiting trial. Prosecutors wanted prison time. The judge gave him time served, said "Good luck" and let him walk.

On November 11 of this year he was still on probation, still without a license, still driving a girlfriends car like a maniac. He plowed into Issac Hudson, 84, and killed him. He ran from the wrecked car, leaving his DNA on the air bag and his jail ID tag in the girlfriends wrecked car.

I wonder what sort of break he will get from the S.F. court system this time?

1 comment:

Centurion said...

My guess Howard, is that he will get from five to seven years for manslaughter, which means, with credit for time served in county awaiting trial, and with good time credits, he will actually do 2-3 years before being paroled back to San Francisco.

That's if Arnold doesn't release him early as a nonviolent offender pursuant to the federal court's about to be enacted early release program in California.

Just kind of makes you feel warm and fuzzy all over....