Gun Conviction


By DIA, Section News
Posted on Wed May 30, 2007 at 04:35:54 AM EST

Poor M.M. Bolton. When the DA implements new programs to make sure the people arrested with guns are refused bail and locked up for a few years, she has nothing to write about. No misleading headlines. Nothing to see here. No questions for the DA about whether this is a new approach to fighting gun violence and making sure these guys go directly to prison. Nothing about whether the guy had a prior record. This just isn't the kind of story that allows her to work her magic. Luckily here at the DIA site we aren't rooting for the DA to fail. Of course we've also been known to walk on Henry Johnson Blvd and are happy to hear when there is one less person running around with a shotgun on the streets. (No link because its not on the site, only in paper version in the Cops and Courts section)
A 19 year old city man who threw a loaded shotgun onto a roof last month after being spotted by police faces three years in prison under a plea deal announced Tuesday.

Kadeem Young was running near 67 Henry Johnson Blvd on April 26 when an Albany County sheriff's deputy saw an item under his shirt that looked like a gun. After Young saw police, he kept running and threw the sawed-off shotgun onto the roof, prosecutors said. Police recovered the 16 gauge weapon and arrested Young.

In a statement, District Attorney David Soares noted Young was prosecuted under a program called "Operation Speeding Bullet," which expedites gun cases so defendants are not offered bail and get prosecuted in County Court instead of City Court
Seems like a great story of the police working with the DA to get the bad guys in prison. Which of course is why its buried on page D6 under a headline that says "Case Prosecuted under 'Speeding Bullet' Program". To get it maximum exposure.

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Gun Conviction | 15 comments (15 topical, 0 hidden)
Arf Arf Arf (none / 0) (#1)
by alfrednewman on Wed May 30, 2007 at 05:59:42 AM EST
So, I guess it takes having someone murdered on the streets of Albany by someone who was out on bail to make a policy change.  Or has there actually been a policy change?

I had been under the impression that it wasn't up to the District Attorney to decide who gets bail and who doesn't.  I was given this impression by a member of the DA's office who I was up at Mahar's drinking yummy stouts with.  Not going to tell you when or who, or what a `lets get sloppy drunk' three beer light weight the individual in question is.

I was specifically told that the DA can oppose bail but it was up to the judge to actually determine bail and how much.

So which is it?  Soares statement makes it look like he is the one who is responsible for the bail conditions.  Is he?

Or should "Operation Speeding Bullet" be really called "Operation Look- Look, I may be finally doing my job?"  
"What? Me worry? " "whatmeworry.alfred@gmail.com"

DIA (none / 0) (#2)
by kateb on Wed May 30, 2007 at 06:14:56 AM EST

I don't agree with your opinion about MMB, but obviously we can disagree!

I have also seen first hand some failures of this DA.

Setting Bail (none / 0) (#3)
by nitevision on Wed May 30, 2007 at 06:33:50 AM EST
It is always up to a judge to set the amount of bail for any defendant.  We've heard horror stories about so-called liberal judges setting low or no bail in certain cases.

Many factors can be considered including a defendant's criminal history, employment, ties to the community, etc.  

Flash - MMB is leaving the Times Union to spend more time with her children.

so (none / 0) (#4)
by DIA on Wed May 30, 2007 at 06:55:00 AM EST
all of al's criticisms of the DA letting people out on bail are actually not accurate? shocking.

so who gets to choose if the case is part of the "speeding bullet" program?  DA or judge?

 

Actually (none / 0) (#5)
by alfrednewman on Wed May 30, 2007 at 07:22:50 AM EST
its the whole speedy trial thing that I have bitched about. You know, having the shooters out on bail for several months.

So good for Soares coming up with another media strategy.  "Operation Speeding Bullet" sounds a lot better than "Operation Praise Me for Looking Like I am Working"

Maybe I should try that. Issuing a press release evertimes someone did something that they were supposed to do.

That reminds me. Did the DA give candy out at sentencing that you mentioned a couple months back?
"What? Me worry? " "whatmeworry.alfred@gmail.com"
[ Parent ]

DIA (none / 0) (#6)
by kateb on Wed May 30, 2007 at 07:28:54 AM EST

how are links done?   I asked once before, but couldn't find your answer in a search.

link (none / 0) (#8)
by DIA on Wed May 30, 2007 at 07:41:57 AM EST
how to link

[ Parent ]
al (none / 0) (#7)
by DIA on Wed May 30, 2007 at 07:40:57 AM EST
funny stuff.  

So you think we should have front page headlines and big stories when the insurance scam people are only convicted on some of the charges but there is no reason that we should know when some kid with a gun gets convicted?  

i figured you'd want to know about that.  

Actually, i'm working on a new theory that I think you'll like.  one of your boys manages to beat Soares in the primary.   And since you are right about Soares being ambitious he immediately decides he needs to run for something else.   I wonder what he could run for in 2009 if he wasn't re-elected in 2008?   Any ideas?

DIA (none / 0) (#9)
by alfrednewman on Wed May 30, 2007 at 08:14:11 AM EST
I think we should have an old fashion crime blotter in the paper.  You know, the one that covers every single arrest and every single court action.

Not just the ones that the DA issues a press release with a catchy slogan for or his office screws up on.

If you loose an election people realize you are a looser and generally wont vote for you again.

I think he would land a good job with a Soros sponsored lobbying firm that promotes lax drug laws so Soros can clean up with the anti-adiction drugs developed by his pharm companies.
"What? Me worry? " "whatmeworry.alfred@gmail.com"
[ Parent ]

I'm right in the middle of you two (none / 0) (#10)
by kateb on Wed May 30, 2007 at 08:21:16 AM EST

I want to see Soares succeed, but have found his office making too many mistakes.   I have found Soares not willing to be accountable for mistakes made, even as he professes a willingness to address them.  (No follow through.)

I am continuing to document failures of the APD and DA, because that is an unfortunate role many of us in society are called on to fulfill.   My hoped for outcome is an improvement in Soares' work.

[ Parent ]

Primary sources (none / 0) (#11)
by alfrednewman on Wed May 30, 2007 at 08:36:16 AM EST
drunk people at bars, my crytal ball, the voices in my head, and the Domino's pizza boy who I overtip so he wont deliver to AM.    
"What? Me worry? " "whatmeworry.alfred@gmail.com"
[ Parent ]
loser (none / 0) (#12)
by DIA on Wed May 30, 2007 at 08:46:23 AM EST
ok.  The word has one "o".   Its "Lose".  or "Loser".  Two "o"s and its a different word that i will use in a sentence for you.   "He had a screw loose but in general he was not a loser."

yeah, barack obama really went down hill after he lost that race for congress.  What's he doing these days?  

See what happens (none / 0) (#13)
by alfrednewman on Wed May 30, 2007 at 09:14:20 AM EST
I make an effort to spell check my longer posts now but nooooo, its not good enough for you.

The point is that people who are DEFEATED tend to get DEFEATED in their next race as well.
"What? Me worry? " "whatmeworry.alfred@gmail.com"
[ Parent ]

So what would the insurance fraud case (none / 0) (#14)
by alfrednewman on Wed May 30, 2007 at 01:56:48 PM EST
be called. You know, the three year monumental failure. Wonder Dog seems to like to name his programs so I wonder what his Insurance Fraud case would be called?

How about: "Operation Steaming Pile?"  

The star witness gets a really sweet deal to lie.  The ADA gets caught covering the liar, twice. The star witness gets caught being a liar, twice, by the judge.

And still gets to withdraw his plea of being guilty of insurance fraud (Cook was the only one apparently guilty of insurance fraud) and plead guilty to petty larceny.  Times Union seems to indicate that the original deal was supposed to be "Timed Served"

Good job.

In todays Times Union.
Insurance fraud witness gets more time  

By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
Last updated: 12:33 p.m., Wednesday, May 30, 2007

ALBANY -- County Judge Stephen W. Herrick this morning accused the central witness in a mammoth insurance fraud case of lying on the stand and creating a situation where the jury discredited everything he said.

While Herrick said he believed Willie Cook testified ``substantially truthfully'' over the course of the trial, he cited two lies he believes the man told. While tangential to the charges in the case, the lies he said still destroyed the jury's ability to take his testimony seriously.

``The relevance of this is that the jury believed that you were a liar,'' Herrick said, adding later, ``All twelve of them totally discredited you.''

The judge's statements came as Herrick was poised to sentence Cook according to a plea deal he struck months ago, agreeing to testify against several members of the Houghtaling family in exchange for the promise of no additional jail time.

Cook, a close Houghtaling family friend, was one of eight people and the only non-Houghtaling implicated in the scheme, which prosecutors likened to suburban organized crime and said staged more than 20 car wrecks to reap the insurance money.

Cook pleaded guilty in March and ultimately testified against his alleged former confederates in a trial that lasted 11 weeks and ended with one dismissal, three acquittals, two felony convictions and a courthouse suicide bid by one of the alleged ringleaders.

But as Cook, 36, stood before the judge this morning, Herrick cited two instances where he believed other evidence directly contradicted Cook's testimony.

Ultimately, Herrick allowed Cook to withdraw his guilty plea to felony insurance fraud, as planned in the plea deal. Cook then pleaded guilty to misdemeanor petty larceny. But rather than sentence the man to time served, Herrick sentenced him to a year in the Albany County jail. Herrick said Cook will still get credit for time already served and called the sentence a ``modest additional period of incarceration.''
"What? Me worry? " "whatmeworry.alfred@gmail.com"
[ Parent ]

It's scary, Alfred (none / 0) (#15)
by kateb on Wed May 30, 2007 at 02:09:04 PM EST
how I'm inching closer to your corner every day.   It would not have happened if I had no reason to take my rose colored glasses off.  Then one thing happened after another.  Icing on the not-rose-colored cake was getting flak here when criticism turned to Soares.  I can meet any challenge, but the process of meeting challenges hardens positions, and I can sense it happening.   There is no conscientious excuse for a DA who asks for information -- "what do you want?" -- and then never follows up.   He seems more and more like a phony.

[ Parent ]
Gun Conviction | 15 comments (15 topical, 0 hidden)
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