Posted on 05/31/2006 12:54:05 PM PDT by AzaleaCity5691
Police arrest 67 at checkpoints Wednesday, May 31, 2006 By NADIA M. TAYLOR Staff Reporter Officers issued more than 1,800 tickets and arrested 67 people over the Memorial Day weekend at several driver's license checkpoints throughout the city, police said.
Most of the 1,834 tickets issued were for not having a driver's license or proof of insurance, according to interim Mobile police Chief Lester Hargrove.
Fifty-four people were arrested on outstanding misdemeanor warrants, and 13 people were arrested on felony warrants, Hargrove said. Most charges stemmed from traffic violations or drug offenses, police said.
One man, Carl Mitchell Washington, 22, was driving with his 2-year-old son when police stopped him at a checkpoint and found about 30 pills, which were believed to be Ecstasy, and $2,775 in cash, Hargrove said.
Washington was charged Sunday with possession of a controlled substance and endangering the welfare of a child and was released on a $3,500 bond, according to the Mobile County Metro Jail log.
Under Alabama law, possession of a controlled substance is a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in jail. Endangering the welfare of a child is a Class A misdemeanor, which can carry a sentence of up to one year in jail, according to state law.
In addition to the weekend arrests, police seized two handguns and towed 53 vehicles as a result of the checkpoints, Hargrove said.
The topic of roadblocks garnered substantial media attention last month after two men were shot to death at a McDonald's drive-through in northeast Mobile. After the April 5 killings, city officials called for more frequent random checkpoints to look for and seize illegal weapons.
The latest round of checkpoints -- which ran Friday through Monday -- was the third weekend since April 28 that police have set up roadblocks in Mobile. Police issued a total of 1,362 citations during the first two weekends, which took place April 28 and 29 and May 5 and 6.
Is there a reason you didn't answer my question about you being caught with a small amount of drugs in your glovebox?
You really don't get it, do you? Using your own philosophy, you should have been rushed through the system and should be serving the maximum penalty right now. But you're not (and you hopefully won't) because you and your attorney are going to argue that the situation does not merit this blind, simpleminded approach. And you're right in making that argument. Just like many, many other people that are caught up in the system argue that their own cases involve unique circumstances that the court should take into account.
All your hypotheticals are moot because under your proposed system, it doesn't *matter* whether someone is obviously, unquestionably guilty. Your automatic maximum-penalty would apply to everyone. Unless, of course, you want the Court to take into account the surrounding circumstances and make case-by-case determinations about what kind of sentence is actually warranted (as you want the Court to do for you).
Again, I truly hope that the parties involved in your case are not as simplistic and as reactionary as you as you would have them be to others. Maybe you should ask your defense attorney what he thinks of your proposed criminal justice system...
Good luck.
I was trying to make the point that if a crime was committed and the person who committed such crime did it with FULL knowledge, and they are caught with evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, then they should pay for the crime. That's all... Setting up checkpoints is NOT what this country is supposed to be about...
If my case went to trial, they would nullify me because of the circumstance. Also, I am quite confident, that the canister of mace is inert...being it has only a 5 year shelf life. This would be a notch on my side.
For what it is worth, I took the "Attempt" plea, I spoke of at my place. The Judge gave me 6 months non-reporting Probation under advisement...which means in 6 months if I'mma good boy, it goes away completely. And she ended it with a $300 fine... I would have takin it to trial, but a simple little case like this, the cheapest lawyer I could find wanted $6,000 up to the trial, and an additional $4,000 if it goes to trial vice pleading out ahead of time.
Crooks!! The cops are setting up road blocks fer the wrong folks!!
Get us together in a room, and it's an instant conspiracy.
Great rant!
Don't forget "burglar tools" (read ANY tools).
Almost got bluffed into that once.
Don't tell me, let me guess.
Texico, NM?
You see, there's a problem with that. In this country, everyone has the legal right to drive.
It started getting touchy when they stopped exercising it.
Dangit! You nailed it!
NOW I know the meaning of JBT.
Brilliant! Thanks for the Walter Williams link.
I think police have a hard job, and many enemies. I also think there are more than a few who get their jollies lording over us common folk (same thing applies to many in govt). I still get nervous when I see cops, and I am as law abiding as anyone.
well then what the hey was Leonard Skinnard singin' about then? nuttin' sweet about that...
What does Scrushy look like? Do you think he is innocent? What's the neighborhood he lives in like?
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