FWmaker Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Three striker gets 25 years to life for shoplifting Comments 13 July 28, 2011 7:11 PM Tomoya Shimura VICTORVILLE (California, I believe) • A man convicted of shoplifting about $150 worth of hygiene products was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison under the Three Strikes law. A loss prevention officer spotted Julius Craig Johnson, 43, shoplifting at the Walmart in Victorville on March 2, according to San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials. Investigators found three containers of body wash and three of deodorant in his jacket pockets and Olay products underneath his pants. He was wearing two layers of pants and tied the bottom pair at his ankles to hide the stolen items. A jury convicted Johnson in June of second-degree commercial burglary and petty theft with three priors. He had two strikes from felony convictions in Sacramento — burglary in 1989 and robbery in 1990. Judge Eric Nakata sentenced Johnson on Thursday morning. Under California’s Three Strikes law, people convicted of any felony who have been previously convicted of one or more violent or serious felonies can be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Johnson also has drug, grand theft, petty theft and burglary convictions. According to his probation officer’s report, he had been employed by a Walmart in Baldwin Hills until he left because of his drug use. ==================================================================== ================================================== So do you think this crime is worth approx half a mil in costs for incarceration??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Mandatory sentences are idiotic. I understand why they are adopted (to prevent wussy Judges from letting repeat or hardened criminals get off with little or no time served)... but the alternative which takes any amount of human thought and reason from the sentencing equation is even worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Mandatory sentences are idiotic. I understand why they are adopted (to prevent wussy Judges from letting repeat or hardened criminals get off with little or no time served)... but the alternative which takes any amount of human thought and reason from the sentencing equation is even worse. this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEC=UGA Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 And we wonder why we have an overpopulation problem in our prisons. Take him out back, tie him to a rack, give him 30 lashes, and cut off his pinky finger. He does this again, take him out back, 40 lashes and cut off his index finger... you get the point. Prison overpopulation problem solved. That, and the lossprevention gus job becomes a bit easier; a 4 finger discount is tougher to pull of than a 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeeR Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Mandatory sentences are idiotic. I understand why they are adopted (to prevent wussy Judges from letting repeat or hardened criminals get off with little or no time served)... but the alternative which takes any amount of human thought and reason from the sentencing equation is even worse. Yep. Rapists and people committing far worse crimes than this guy have gotten off with a few years or less. This guy steals multiple times (mostly if not entirely petty theft) and gets 25 yrs to life? It would appear his biggest mistake was doing crimes in the wrong state. (I will say I'm amazed this is Calif and not someplace like Texas) Our brilliant legal system strikes again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peepinmofo Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 (edited) So wait... Cayce Anthony kills her kid, spends a few years in jail. Then this dude steals a few times (felony?), and gets 25-life? That makes sense. I know it is an apples to oranges thing, but it blows my mind they can get this dude the sentence they did, yet for Anthoney's situation, they couldnt so much as get her for a long prison sentence. Unreal... Edited July 29, 2011 by peepinmofo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt770 Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 So do you think this crime is worth approx half a mil in costs for incarceration??? No, but don't do the crime if you can't do the time. This genius has been arrested over and over throughout his life, so I'm not going to shed any tears because he's going to prison. That's the law of the land where he lives and he should have understood that before he went out and stole yet again. And you know we all pay higher prices because of shoplifting. What I think should have happened is this guy should have been put into some kind of a rehab/counseling/training facility so that the reasons he kept turning to crime could have been addressed and maybe he could have been trained in a marketable skill and placed in a paying job. I'm guessing that would not have cost half a million. But we don't do that here, we throw people away for a while and then when they come out years later, often they are just as screwed up as when they went in if not more so, and have much lower prospects of getting hired at any kind of decent wage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Sacrebleu Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 No, but don't do the crime if you can't do the time. This genius has been arrested over and over throughout his life, so I'm not going to shed any tears because he's going to prison. That's the law of the land where he lives and he should have understood that before he went out and stole yet again. And you know we all pay higher prices because of shoplifting. What I think should have happened is this guy should have been put into some kind of a rehab/counseling/training facility so that the reasons he kept turning to crime could have been addressed and maybe he could have been trained in a marketable skill and placed in a paying job. I'm guessing that would not have cost half a million. But we don't do that here, we throw people away for a while and then when they come out years later, often they are just as screwed up as when they went in if not more so, and have much lower prospects of getting hired at any kind of decent wage. Of course that sensible answer has been met with accusations of coddling criminals, and of wasting our hard earned money (completely overlooking how much more their solution ultimately costs us) and in today's climate, you can bet your bottom dollar that any such program would be the first to get the axe. Stories like this make me really thankful to have left the US when I did. It has been hard to readjust to france, and Many many many things drive me nuts here (while most of your heads would explode (government checks written out to the poor here so that they to can go on vacation for example)) But when I hear stories like this, I think I ll stay here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliaz Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Mandatory sentences are idiotic. I understand why they are adopted (to prevent wussy Judges from letting repeat or hardened criminals get off with little or no time served)... but the alternative which takes any amount of human thought and reason from the sentencing equation is even worse. I mostly agree with this expect for the case of crimes against children. Since we live in the US we can't just take him out back and Citizen X a child killer/molester (lord knows I wish) I would rather see these people put into a deep, dark hole in the worst federal prison we have and throw the key away. So wait... Cayce Anthony kills her kid, spends a few years in jail. Then this dude steals a few times (felony?), and gets 25-life? That makes sense. I know it is an apples to oranges thing, but it blows my mind they can get this dude the sentence they did, yet for Anthoney's situation, they couldnt so much as get her for a long prison sentence. Unreal... While I still don't know much about the Anthony case, what I have seen suggests that the prosecutors didn't do their job effectively. If that is the case, this is more a bungle by the state more than our system itself. However, I'm speaking from very little info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Cornelius Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 ah just remember back to the 80's when mental health was address and not made into a crime.... the prisons are full of nut jobs, housed with violent and predatory criminals..... makes a bad combination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peepinmofo Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 While I still don't know much about the Anthony case, what I have seen suggests that the prosecutors didn't do their job effectively. If that is the case, this is more a bungle by the state more than our system itself. However, I'm speaking from very little info I know, but thats not the point. Regardless of the evidence, reveryone knows she had a part in her kids death. The point is simply that people are able to get away with things like that for one reason or another, and people that steal bubble gum go to jail for 25 years. Our court system makes no sense sometimes (usually). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clubfoothead Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 How is shoplifting $150.00 worth of $hit from Walmart a felony? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FWmaker Posted July 29, 2011 Author Share Posted July 29, 2011 See bolded item below: 888.327.4652 | 24/7 Three Strike Consultations "Violent Felonies" Under California Three Strikes Law For purposes of California’s three strikes law, "violent felonies" are listed in California Penal Code Section 667.5©. Along with serious felonies, a conviction for any of these crimes will count as strike prior. A violent felony under PC 667.5 is any of the following offenses: * Murder or voluntary manslaughter. * Mayhem. * Rape as defined in paragraph (2) or (6) of subdivision (a) of Penal Code Section 261 or paragraph (1) or (4) of subdivision (a) of PC Section 262. * Sodomy as defined in subdivision © or (d) of Penal Code Section 286. * Oral copulation as defined in subdivision © or (d) of Penal Code Section 288a. * Lewd acts on a child under the age of 14 years as defined in Penal Code Section 288. * Any felony punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison for life. * Any felony in which the defendant inflicts great bodily injury on any person other than an accomplice which has been charged and proved as provided for in Penal Code Section 12022.7, 12022.8, or 12022.9 on or after July 1, 1977, or as specified prior to July 1, 1977, in PC Sections 213, 264, and 461, or any felony in which the defendant uses a firearm which has been charged and proved as provided in subdivision (a) of PC Section 12022.3, or Section 12022.5 or 12022.55. * Any robbery. * Arson in violation of subdivision (a) or ( of Penal Code Section 451. * Sexual penetration as defined in subdivision (a) or (j) of Penal Code Section 289. * Attempted murder. * A violation of Penal Code Section 12308, 12309, or 12310 (with regard to destructive devices or explosives). * Kidnapping. * Assault with the intent to commit a specified felony, in violation of Penal Code Section 220. * Continuous sexual abuse of a child, in violation of Penal Code Section 288.5. * Carjacking, as defined in subdivision (a) of Penal Code Section 215. * Rape, spousal rape, or sexual penetration, in concert, in violation of Penal Code Section 264.1. * Extortion, as defined in Penal Code Section 518, which would constitute a felony violation of Section 186.22 of the Penal Code (relating to criminal street gang sentencing enhancements). * Threats to victims or witnesses, as defined in Penal Code Section 136.1, which would constitute a felony violation of Section 186.22 of the Penal Code (relating to criminal street gang sentencing enhancements). * Any burglary of the first degree, as defined in subdivision (a) of Penal Code Section 460, wherein it is charged and proved that another person, other than an accomplice, was present in the residence during the commission of the burglary. * Any violation of Penal Code Section 12022.53. * A violation of subdivision ( or © of Penal Code Section 11418 (relating to weapons of mass destruction). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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