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Jim Brown to serve 6 months in jail for vandalizing his own property?

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by Hottoddie, Mar 13, 2002.

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  1. Hottoddie

    Hottoddie Member

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    Say what!? Over 2 years after he was found guilty of misdemeanor vandalism of his own property? :rolleyes: What a joke. It's crap like this that adds fuel to the fire, that black people are discriminated against.

    http://sports.excite.com/news/03132002/v5168.html

    Hall of Fame football player surrenders for jail sentence


    Email this Story

    Mar 13, 2002 3:00 PM (EST)

    By SANDY YANG
    LOS ANGELES (AP) - Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown surrendered Wednesday to begin serving a six-month jail sentence because he refused court-ordered counseling and community service after being convicted of vandalizing his wife's car.

    Brown, wearing a denim jacket, jeans and green hat, arrived arm in arm with his wife, Monique Brown.

    The former running back was sentenced on Jan. 5, 2000 for misdemeanor vandalism. Jurors acquitted him of making a terrorist threat against his wife during a June 15, 1999, argument at the couple's Hollywood Hills home.

    Brown did not speak when he surrendered. He was not handcuffed.

    As Brown was led off by deputies, he thrust his fist into the air. Friends in the courtroom did the same and several said, "Love you man."

    Brown previously said he would serve the jail sentence with "dignity and pride," even though he believed he was being singled out for prosecution.

    "I believe that the court abused their discretion. The incarceration of Mr. Brown is vindictive," Brown's attorney Milton Grimes said Wednesday. "(Monique Brown) called the police but didn't want anything done. He was convicted of the destruction of his own property."

    Grimes intends to continue efforts to have Brown released.

    Judge Dale S. Fischer initially sentenced Brown to a year of domestic violence counseling. She also ordered the former Cleveland Browns star to spend 40 days on a work crew cleaning up streets or to put in 400 hours of community service, pay $1,800 in fines and serve three years on probation.

    When Brown refused to go to counseling, the judge imposed the jail term, although she ordered it stayed pending an appeal that was later denied.

    Brown also tried to have Fischer disqualified for bias, but the motion was also denied.

    "We pursued this case as we pursue any case," City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo told reporters after Brown surrendered. "It's different because he is a celebrity and you're here."

    Brown will begin serving his sentence at the Ventura County Jail.

    "You cannot take my dignity. You cannot take my manhood," Brown said after he was sentenced to jail. "Fifteen years, 20 years, 27 years Nelson Mandela spent to fight apartheid in South Africa. Only that man did it."
     
    #1 Hottoddie, Mar 13, 2002
  2. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
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    This guy is getting more and more comical with age.

    Discrimination my A$$, he was ordered to do something by the judge and he refused.

    Enjoy Jail JIMBO !!

    DaDakota
     
    #2 DaDakota, Mar 13, 2002
  3. Rocketman95

    Rocketman95 Hangout Boy

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    Why would you get in trouble for vandalizing your own property though? I'm not saying it's because he's black, it just doesn't make any sense.
     
    #3 Rocketman95, Mar 13, 2002
  4. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
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    The police were called to the scene, and the court convicted him of vandalizing her property. It is JOINT property when you are married.

    Clearly, JB has an issue with women as he has had several run ins over domestic violence. The courts keep records of this, and recognize a pattern, and thus sentenced him...a very mild sentence and an appropriate one.

    He refused to serve his sentence, it is just like you or I refusing to pay a traffic ticket.

    So, Mr Jimbo cantakerous old fool, Brown now has an escalated sentence.

    What a boob !!

    DaDakota
     
    #4 DaDakota, Mar 13, 2002
  5. Jeff

    Jeff Clutch Crew

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    Yeah, this one is pretty stupid. Brown deserves what he gets in this case. He has abuse issues and this is just one more in that string. It had nothing to do with his skin color.
     
    #5 Jeff, Mar 13, 2002
  6. BobFinn*

    BobFinn* Member

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    And guess what...Spike Lee has made a film about Jim Brown. Should be out soon. Possibly a publicity stunt?
     
    #6 BobFinn*, Mar 13, 2002
  7. Hottoddie

    Hottoddie Member

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    While I agree that he left the court no choice, by refusing to do as the court had ordered, what I don't understand, is since he was found not guilty of threatening his wife by a jury, how can the judge sentence him to something that had nothing to do with what he was found guilty of? That being, vandalizing his wife's car.

    DaDakota,

    I wasn't aware of his previous domestic violence issues, but wouldn't sentencing someone to something they weren't found guilty of, be denying them due process?

    In other words, if a man had been prosecuted several times for drunk driving & had always been able to find a way out. He's later arrested for parking in a no parking zone & found guilty by a jury. The judge, being aware of his other appearances in court, decides that he should lose his license & serve a year in jail.

    That's the problem I'm having with this ruling. Was JB found guilty in any of the other run ins?
     
    #7 Hottoddie, Mar 13, 2002
  8. mrpaige

    mrpaige Member

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    The punishment meted out was apparently appropriate under the law under which he was convicted. If it wasn't, then his attorneys should've appealed and should've won. The judge apparently had the discretion to impose a tougher sentence for the crime that he was convicted on. The fact that the sentence was likely chosen because of the nature of the event (the vandalism being in conjuction with a domestic dispute) and even though he was found not guilty for other alleged crimes stemming from the same incident doesn't mean that the sentence itself was wrong or whatever.

    When imposing sentence, judges can take the totality of the crime as well as things unrelated to the specific crime (prior bad acts - even those that didn't result in coviction - can become admissible in sentencing even though they are often not admissible during the trial itself.

    It's a nature of the beast that the facts of the case enter into the sentencing decision. Not every crime is exactly the same even if it falls under the same definition, i.e. not all vandalism is the same. Not all manslaugther is the same. I've seen juries give anything from probation to decades in jail for manslaughter. It's the same crime, shouldn't the sentence always be the same? Well, no because the facts of the case differ.

    And even though Brown was aquitted in the terroristic threat, he was still involved in a domestic dispute and convicted of a crime relating to that dispute. Domestic Violence counseling was still justified even though he was not convicted on the terroristic threat charge.
     
    #8 mrpaige, Mar 13, 2002
  9. Mango

    Mango Member

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    Los Angeles seem to have a "no-drop" policy in case the person reporting the case recants.

    http://www.apbonline.com/safetycenter/family/2000/01/06/nodrop0106_01.html


    "..........The pressure was on the victim'

    Before the adoption of no-drop policies, a victim who recanted, refused to press charges or just disappeared could put an end to a domestic violence case. That is what happened with Jim Brown in the past. He has been charged four times with assaulting women in cases dating back to 1968. But courts dismissed the charges every time after the alleged victims recanted, gave conflicting stories or refused to press charges.

    "In the past, the pressure was on the victim," Lee said. "She had to go through with it, she had to file the charges, she had to carry the case through. So there was a greater likelihood that she would be in danger, that she would be threatened, that others would persuade her from pressing charges. The burden was really taken off the victim with the no-drop policy."

    Lee said that more than half of the domestic violence cases she investigates involve women who take back or drastically revise their stories. About two-thirds to three-quarters of the cases her office prosecutes involve uncooperative witnesses, a number also cited by other prosecutors throughout the country..........."


    Jim Brown interview with ESPN:

    http://espn.go.com/nfl/s/brown.html

    The guy in the white Bronco might have had something to do with the implementation of the "no-drop" policy in Los Angeles.


    Mango
     
    #9 Mango, Mar 13, 2002
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2002
  10. Hottoddie

    Hottoddie Member

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    Thanks MrPaige & Mango. That makes it a lot clearer.
     
    #10 Hottoddie, Mar 14, 2002
  11. Old School

    Old School Member

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    He's a wife beater.

    He gets what he deserves.


    os
     
    #11 Old School, Mar 14, 2002
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