Says the SA's office:
Prosecutors reviewed the evidence in the case that included one fingerprint from Ramos on a car near the crime scene and testimony from a neighbor, who would have testified that, from his apartment window, could not positively identify, he observed a large person using a punching motion. Jeter and Price remained in a parked car around the block from the crime scene and Martin accompanied Ramos, but did not inflict any of the kicks and punches.Sowers' family members are "disgusted" and "in despair."
In accepting the plea today, Judge Themelis noted that there is a difference between a judge’s and jury’s interpretation of willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted first degree murder. The State proceeded with this plea taking into account the best interest of public safety and after reviewing the evidence and witness statements against the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt required in court.
WBAL reports that during a plea agreement bench conference, Judge John Themelis said, "How am I going to justify this to the victim's wife?" and Ramos' attorney replied, "Nothing you say to this lady is going to make a difference."
55 comments:
If the deal was for "attempted murder and robbery" what was taken off the table? Also keeping in mind the degree to which city juries do not convict, taking the safe bet of a deal can make sence. Also going with a 20 year sentence (truth in sentencing) for attempted murder when actually killing someone get's less time in the city sounds like a positive.
20 years for an unprovoked attack that turned a young man into a human vegetable? Jesus H. Christ. Imagine what poor Anna Sowers must be thinking, knowing that all four of the scum who ruined her husband's life will be walking free in 20 years.
I was pissed when they offered very generous deals to Ramos's co-defendants, but I figured that maybe those could be justified if they resulted in a stronger case against Ramos. With three co-conspirators as witnesses they should have been able to convict him at trial, and that should have resulted in a real life sentence. Instead we get this half-assed bullshit. Let's just hope that at least one of those monsters gets murdered in prison.
If Zach Sowers end up (god forbid) dying as a result of his injuries they had better re-try Trayvon Ramos and whack him with life w/o parole.
I don't know, HoCo Joe, but my guess is that the deal was that he won't be charged with murder when the victim succumbs to his injuries.
You're probably right that 40 years is better than what we could expect with a "they're locking up our babies" Baltimore jury. Still.
Depressing end to a depressing series of events. Still, yeah, this just may well be a better result than we'd get with a B'More jury, as much as I find that to be a really, really sad statement about our "justice" system. But with all 3 co-defendents testifying against him, I gotta say, this case, if ever there was one in this City, seemed like a good candidate for a trial.
From the Sun, re: the other guys: "Under the plea bargain, each defendant faces 15 years in prison, but prosecutors say they will ask that the sentences be further reduced if the three testify against Trayvon Ramos, who is accused of beating Sowers."
So I wonder - will they now get the full 15? Probably not, huh?
I agree that it may not be the best solution for the case, but I'm a pragmatist, and at least 1 violent criminal will be off the street for 20 years.
Hopefully by the time he is close to 40 we will be talking about a more mellow thug who dosen't need to escalate the violence.
I wonder how Neighborhood Housing Services feels about having such a fine up-standing family such as the Jeters renting from them?
Considering their stated mission is to "Reverse the decline of the southeast Baltimore neighborhoods directly north of Patterson Park..and engage in revitalization strategies that strengthen communities and transform lives", I would have to say that renting to the Jeters is not helping accomplish that objective, to put it mildly.
I'm sorry, but with the extremely generous plea bargains they gave Ramos's co-defendants this deal is inexcusable. Those little shits got away with a mere eight years each. The only justification for that would be so that they could put Ramos away for the rest of his life.
Traveler: Understatement of the year!
Joe, Cybes: I understand the problems with city juries, and I realize the SA's office has to be realistic, but this is a case where they had three co-defendants testifying against the ringleader. Baltimore juries may be dumb, but with this kind of a case I don't think they would have let Ramos walk.
traveler,
Don't quote me on this, but I think the Patterson Park CDC recently bought NHS as a subsidiary. I seem to recall that the PPCDC told us at a community meeting that they were evicting a drug nuisance tenant that they had inherited from NHS. So maybe there's hope that the PPCDC will clean up the mess that NHS left behind.
ppatin,
"Many of these jurors simply won't vote to find these kids guilty of violent crimes... they don't vote to convict the guilty."
- Circuit Judge John M. Glynn
The evidence has nothing to do with the outcome.
Joe:
I know there's a risk, but people do get convicted and sent away to prison all the time in this city. This was one case where I believe it was worth taking that risk in order to win a life sentence at trial.
Also, Ramos is already serving 5 years (he got 15 years w/ten suspended) for carjacking. Does anyone know if his new sentence will be consecutive or concurrent with that other one?
A cityful of hoodlums.
A true Sanctuary City for the scum of the nation.
Please may Ramos' sentences be consecutive.
Good luck with regaining your tax base, Baltimore City, as the law-abiding (in an effort to preserve their own lives) will surely amscray.
It's still puzzling though-- why would the state offer the other three guys a deal to testify if they planned to offer Ramos a deal?
Was it maneuvering by prosecutors who were certain that a jury wouldn't convict so they were just trying to get Ramos as much time as possible, by whatever means?
Well, the most likely result is that they got the three defendants to agree to a deal and THEN the 4th guy's attorney suddenly wanted to plead out. Again, it's a reflection of the state of prosecutions in this city that the City might have thought they'd get a better result with a plea deal than a trial, even with three co-defendants lined up to testify against him. I still wonder if this means the three will get the full 15, since they didn't actually end up testifying. Thoughts?
Sean,
It's wishful thinking, but unfortunately the other three still received 8 year sentences.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/crime/bal-sowers1210,0,3291786.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout
"As part of the plea deal, the defendants won't face additional charges if Sowers dies."
Boo.
On one hand, I feel genuinely bad for the prosecutors involved in this case. It was a very difficult call to make (whether to get one in the hand and put these little hoodlums away for a little while, or take a chance that the idiot jurors in this town will do the right thing).
On the other hand, there was a massive amount of public outrage combined with people who would've testified against the guy.
To me, this all points to a prosecutor's office more focused on saving face than prosecuting criminals.
On the other hand, what the hell can we expect? This same type of thing happens every day in Harm city.
I'd rant more, but I'm feeling genuinely fatigued with worrying about the idiots here.
This makes me think of the episode of Homicide where Ed Danvers' fiancee is murdered. Towards the end of the episode there's a great scene where he breaks down while discussing a case from several years ago where they gave a plea deal to a rapist who infected a 12-year old girl with HIV. I know it's a work of fiction, but this case is a perfect example of life imitating art in the most horrible way imaginable.
The Zach Sowers story on the Sun's website has been updated. Eric Price's half-assed apology made me want to throw up. I don't know how Zach's family restrained themselves from trying to physically assault him.
Fleeing Baltimore?
And here we go.
For those who couldn't be bothered to read the article from the TP factory on calvert street, mr. price was quite eloquent in his apology:
"I want to say sorry to them," Price said. "That might not mean a lot. Y'all might still hate me. But I want to say sorry."
Good to see the city school system turning out winners like this one.
----
I can't help but think that this isn't so much of a legal issue as much as it is a cultural issue. Is it possible that the city's such a haven for criminals because so many people have gotten used to - and have, in fact, accepted it? If that is the case, can it be changed at all?
"Good to see the city school system turning out winners like this one."
Heh, you're assuming that Eric Price actually attended school on a semi-regular basis.
Sure. Dissolve the city's Circuit Court district into equal contiguous chunks and attach them to the surrounding counties. Let their juries of decent people adjudicate our cases.
WBAL is now reporting that Ramos is due to serve a minimum of 24 years before being eligible for parole, which leads me to believe that his prior carjacking sentence is consecutive, rather then concurrent as originally reported.
Ramos' punishment is just... I think the other kids got off a little easy.
ppatin: this isn't Saudi Arabia, hoss; if you want to punish the family by posting people's addresses and the like, you might as well head over to the Middle East where they do things like that... and don't give me any crap about it being public knowledge - sure it is, but you're posting it with the hope that the family is harmed in some way.
Galt: decent people? People who make comments like that aren't "decent people." The people of Baltimore have been victimized by both the drugs dealers AND the police. The wonder they don't trust the police and the system in general.
You should be ashamed of yourself for saying something like that.
NCDCO: and just how have the people of Baltimore City been victimized by the police? For being arrested for breaking the law?? Go crawl back into Jessamy's uterus.
traveler,
I the past year there have been numerous stories of the police going a bit beyond in arresting innocent people. My favorite was the guy arrested car theft because he was driving the same make of car reported stolen. Different model, and year, but same make. He shows up to court with the paperwork showing it was his car, is found not guilty at which time he finds out the police sold his car before the trial.
True, and point taken. Although in a crime blender like Baltimore City a few false-positives shouldn't be anything to cry about.
If there's any chance of saving this city, something like mandatory life sentences for violent crimes and cash incentives for abortions are about the only hope left.
TRAV: Have you been in a hole? There have been countless news stories about the FACT that ONE THIRD (about 30,000 arrests, hardly "a few false-positives" as you suggest) of all arrests are not charged either because no law was violated or because the police acted so illegally that the case can't be prosecuted.
Go get arrested a few times - and explain to your boss why you missed work - for something that isn't against the law and then let me know how you feel about police.
Traveler, your language is atrocious, and your knowledge of what's going on in Baltimore is seriously lacking. Why should we listen to you about anything?
"Ramos' punishment is just... I think the other kids got off a little easy." WTF??? Really? Zach Sowers will probably die within a year. Even if he's "lucky" enough to live a little longer, he's done for. And when he dies, Ramos won't be tried for murder. They ALL got off easy.
"The people of Baltimore have been victimized by both the drugs dealers AND the police." Yeah, I feel really bad for those poor victims that beat the shit out of that woman on the bus. Ya know, 9 on 1. Poor guys never had a chance! Or these poor victims who basically killed a guy for a credit card. My heart truly goes out to them! And that poor girl who stabbed the other girl to death for a cell phone, poor dear! Or the other, countless poor victims who have killed almost 300 people (also known as ACTUAL victims).
Placing police harassment on the same level as these actions is asinine at best, but more likely just incredibly f'n stupid.
NCDO: Sorry if you're offended, but that's my opinion. And w/r/t your Middle East comments, I think perhaps Baltimore could learn a thing or two about crime & punishment in other countries. The status quo certainly isn't working here.
NCDCO can rot in hell. I pray that someone bashes these four scumbags brains in, as well as that piece of shit Arthur Jeter Sr., the loser that spawned one of the pigs.Fuck the moral midget SA Jessamy. Fuck the inarticulate worm Dixon. Fuck every lying police chief or spokesman, whether it be Hamm, Bealefeld, Jablow, etc. that blame us for going out at night and constantly lie that "crime is down! crime is down!" I want some fucking payback. Like Warren Oates said in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, "Why? Because it feels so god damn good."
NCDCO:
Bite me. Apparently I shouldn't have posted that address on this blog, but I've already forwarded to everyone I know who cares about this, and I intend to continue posting it wherever I can. I hope that whole family is run out of town.
Sean: No one ever said police misconduct (as long as it isn't shooting/beating people) is the same as what these 4 kids did... I was merely providing an answer as to why it's difficult to prosecute crime in Baltimore.
Harold: I totally agree that these kids deserve lots of punishment. I can't say I am as wildly vengeful as you. 40 years is a long time (25 or so before he gets a parole hearing). Further, and I quote, "Fuck the inarticulate worm Dixon"; gotta say, man, using "fuck" and "inarticulate" in the same sentence leaves me thinking you are a conflicted man... not defending Dixon, just attacking your black-kettleness.
PPATIN: You don't know anything about this guy's father; when you can come with some evidence his father has done something wrong, then we can talk... until then, I will remind you again, this isn't Saudi Arabia where the family pays for relatives' crimes...
...and to be honest, I kinda prefer America to Saudi Arabia.
Hey ppatin, git some!
Fuck idiot ncdco's statement that"Ramos' punishment is just... I think the other kids got off a little easy." Oh those kids!
Please tell me, why did the SA release the statement that it would have been really hard to get a conviction, blah, blah, so be happy with this, when they would have had SWORN STATEMENTS from Jeter and Martin that Ramos did it! That would have been guaranteed life no parole AND reserve the right to retry with the death penalty if Sowers dies. What the hell is going on here?
Oh dear ncdco, the evidence is in Jeter Sr's extensive criminal record. Why is using profanity a sign of inarticulateness? I'm glad you are so polite and temperate. Why are you even wasting your precious time writing here, suffering the crass, ill-mannered rants of the unwashed proles like ppatin and myself when you could be brewing some chamomile tea, turning the pages of a Louis Auchincloss novel and soothing yourself to the Pachelbel Canon?
Oh yes, ncdco, I forgot to add;
Bite me, too.
Harold: sorry I don't share your joy in being angry and rude.
Anwway:
Harold: "That would have been guaranteed life no parole AND reserve the right to retry with the death penalty if Sowers dies. What the hell is going on here?"
What's going on is that the SAO knows testimony from people who are saving themselves from going to jail for the rest of their lives isn't that credible.
You gotta feel bad for Anna. He should be fried. What a waste of a human being
ncdo: The sorts of people who care about the Zach Sowers case are also the types who won't do anything stupid like tossing molotov cocktails into people's windows. Nobody is going to physically harm Arthur Jeter Sr. What I am hoping for is that he feel some shame about what happened, since he's clearly the type who makes excuses and tries to justify his son's hoodlumish behavior.
Also "Ramos' punishment is just... I think the other kids got off a little easy."
Are you shitting me? "Justice" would be a strapping all four of those turds down and running 2,000 volts through them. Anything else is lenient.
"What's going on is that the SAO knows testimony from people who are saving themselves from going to jail for the rest of their lives isn't that credible."
Combine that testimony with the (admitedly limited) physical evidence, and the fact that Ramos was buying things with Zach's credit card (!) and you have a strong case. The SA's office should have at least sat down with Zach's family and asked them if they'd prefer to go to trial and risk a not guilty verdict, or take a plea bargain.
By the way, has anyone else been following the news about the crazy gunman in Colorado? Dozens of lives may have been saved by an armed citizen with a concealed carry permit.
Well, she was a security guard and former police officer, not the average Joe Shmoe off the street. Just for perspective.
yeah but most security guards (aside from maybe bank guards) do not usually carry weapons, especially guards who work in churches. i'm all for the conceal-carry. if one guard/person in that mall had a gun, there might have been some more lives saved.
Young males were robbed and shot a block away from Northeast Police District HQ.
Check out this blog post from Detroit:
Gavin Schmitt Says:
December 4th, 2007 at 10:36 am
Perhaps it is also worth nothing that Baltimore’s 250-350 murders a year are mostly drug related. There are a lot of poor people in the city, and a good number of people live in vacant housing without power. It could be interesting to know, of those murdered (and murdering), what percentage actually have access to video games?
Incidentally, the only reason Baltimore hasn’t had a higher murder rate then Detroit for the past 30 years is because it has substantially better hospitals.
It might indeed be interesting to check out the time series of survival rates from gunshots at Shock Trauma.
It bothers me when people are apologists for criminals, doesn't it for you all?
sure, but to whom are you referring?
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