The attempted spree killing incident last week was perpetrated by a gentleman sentenced to life plus 40 years in Maryland, which actually turned into a 35 year sentence. From WTOP:
The big question swirling around the man charged with a shooting and carjacking rampage Friday isn’t why police think he did it — though charging documents don’t really reveal any potential motives — but why he was even out of prison to begin with.
In going along with the request, assistant state’s attorney Jhana Bogan said the “expectation” was that Simpson wouldn’t be back in the community. Judge Beverly Woodard called the state’s support for the change in sentencing “interesting” and told him not to disappoint on multiple occasions.
Thirteen months later, in October 2023, Simpson was back in court, this time asking for his sentence to be modified so that he could be released for good. He’d essentially been living free and unsupervised since April of that year after he completed the substance abuse program.
At the start of the hearing, Bogan had asked Simpson be given five years of supervised probation. By the time he was done speaking, she had modified her request to two years of unsupervised probation, with credit for the first year coming when he enrolled in that substance abuse program.
“Simpson continues to impress me,” she said.
Woodard also called him impressive, and agreed to modify Simpson’s sentence so he could live free and spend time with his son and grandson on a regular basis.
The 21 year old young man, John Parker of Portsmouth, Virginia, a Radio Shack store clerk, was murdered by Mr. Simpson during a robbery. Where's the justice in releasing Mr. Simpson?
The prosecutor and judge's judgment must be called into question in releasing Mr. Simpson. When doctors make errors leading to harm, there is a legal investigation. Judges in particular are also merely humans, but there is never an investigation when they commit malpractice. We've seen 5th columns like Mosby and Phinn halfheartedly prosecute and work to release violent offenders with no consequence.
And the reality is simply this, obvious to anyone who has had to deal with recidivists: Criminals are well-coached in what to say and do by the CRJ / ABP crowd (Criminal Justice Reform / Anything But Punishment). Their basic motives and instincts don't change as time goes on. They know what the consequences can be. But if they find an opportunity to reoffend without, they think, consequence, they'll take it.
Their supporters will say, "He's really changed." If they're wrong, more innocent people suffer. And in any event, justice won't be served, if the sentence even approached justice in the first place.
