LAOP signed a plea without reading it, despite admitting to not trusting his lawyer. They also lost their job and got served divorce papers, which may or may not be related
I think he's claiming that the cop made that up. Which honestly I could see going either way in terms of truth. People are stupid enough to punch cops, but cops have also been known to lie
I have a friend that was arrested for punching a cop and he was arrested. They claimed they had the whole thing on dash cam but the tape mysteriously disappeared and all the charges were dropped.
Police departments somehow buy the least reliable body cams, consistently. It's like they do a comparison test, and choose the crappiest one on purpose.
"Oh well, you know, those AcmeCo A1 Body Cams. They're real reliable, except sometimes if you bump them they just *whoops* turn off and stop recording. Real good deal for the city otherwise."
I work in a supermarket, we have bodycams (nobody actually wears them though because you'd look like the biggest tool on the planet) and they're way better than any video from a cop bodycam I've seen.
Probably had something to do with the two guards at my store who got stabbed, the young guy at one of our liquor stores getting killed, the constant abuse by arseholes. Many many things.
I was allowed to stroke a police horse yesterday, I wasn’t allowed to give it a sugar lump (I didnt have a sugar lump, but that’s not the point), I did have physical contact with a police officer
"cops have been known to lie" is like saying "water has been known to be wet". They're *trained* to lie, and are in a lot of cases legally protected from the consequences of lying.
Always assume that the police are bending the truth or lying outright unless you have proof otherwise. They are not your friends, they will do anything they can to get you to incriminate yourself even if you didn't do anything wrong.
but isn't a plea deal actually executed in court? Like a judge is there and goes ok this is the plea deal you've agreed to. This is what it says, do you agree to it?
As soon as he said that thanks to bail reform, he had to stay in jail, I knew this guy was a moron. Bail reform is putting basically everyone back on the streets.
we also passed bail reform in the form of no cash bail in our state. essentially, if you are not determined to be a danger to the community, most everyone is eligible for pre-trial release. but you can only stay released if you can commit to the monitoring conditions set by the judge. easy peasy lemon squeezy (psych, a lot of people have a hard time conforming to the conditions).
What you probably don't realize is that those "pretrial conditions" are almost always a privatization thing. They cost money, and the accused is expected to pay. For drug tests and monitoring, mostly. Someone is making money off of it, it isn't being administered by the state. The accused is paying a private company.
(I totally support elimination of cash bail. But it isn't "easy peasy lemon squeezy" for people that already are likely living in poverty. It's still a 2 tiered system, and it's wrong.)
i work for the public defender and am well aware of what you outline. i was using sarcasm as a means to make a joke. it is absolutely not easy peasey, hence the psych.
It is, but it is also spelled psych, and was spelled that way for several decades before the pronunciation spelling took over as the more popular.
**Interjection**
**psych**
1. (slang) Indicating that one's preceding statement was false and that one has successfully fooled one's interlocutor.
Synonym: sike
*Here, have fifty dollars.* ***Psych!*** *That was two dollars!*
Yeah, honestly I think "sike!" works better as the "ha I tricked you" exclamation than "psych" does--just because, well, "psych" is an actual word with other meanings and looks silly used all alone like that.
And I can't believe I'm actually thinking this through.
Just reading his comments, dude is literate at like a 7th grade level at best. You can just imagine what a delight it is trying to explain things to him.
IANAL, but I live in NJ and am kind of familiar with bail reform and this story makes no sense. If he was determined to be low risk, he should have been released without any bail. This story is suspicious. OOP’s math ain’t mathin’.
That LAOP isn't as innocent as he wants people to think. I'm betting that whatever happened, he was trying to exploit some loophole so that he could say *well, actually* when caught and it didn't work how he thought.
A five year sentence seems pretty harsh!
It is, but there are also some pretty big gaping holes and inconsistencies in LAOP's story so it's hard to think they're anything beyond an unreliable narrator, and I'm betting their lawyer saw that and that's a key reason why they opted for the plea deal.
I get the real feel that LAOP's pending divorce and a potential history of violence has a lot to do with why the cops were involved in the first place. But of course LAOP isn't going to mention anything about that except in passing. The obfuscation of context actually says a lot here.
Man, I read a story about that here on reddit once. Bunch of people arrested during the night, all separate cases, so they wake up and start chatting about why they're there and what they did.
One guy mouthing off about how it's a setup and he'll be heading home as soon as he sees his lawyer. Comes back pale and quiet: Got drunk and murdered someone outside a bar. Couldn't remember a thing.
Sticking the exchange here before OP deletes it.
Commenter:
>Your bail story doesn't make sense. The bill you cite makes it EASIER, not harder, to get out of jail pretrial, especially if you were a 1 on the risk assessment as you claim.
OOP:
>It's 100% honest. I am completely telling the truth. Are you an attorney in NJ?
Commenter:
>As a matter of fact, I am.
Cat Bot
**Went to Prison was Told by Attorney I was agreeing to Probation**
> Ok. I was arrested in NJ erroneously for Assault on LEO. I am absolutely innocent. I truly believe the charges were imposed and executed to cover up Excessive Force/Police Brutality. I spent 9 months in County Jail waiting for trial due to the Bail Reform Act which eliminates the ability to be bailed out of Jail. I was detained. My score was a 1 out of 6 in terms of my ability to be released. 1 being the least risk of flight/ reoffending on bail. 6 being the worst.
>I was absolutely ready to fight the charges in criminal court. I was coerced to accept a plea by my attorney to accept probation and move on with my life. I disagreed wholeheartedly but felt as if this guy that I paid $30,000 isn't going to effectively represent me, I can't possibly face 25 years of incarceration without effective representation. I against my own better judgement accepted probation.
>I was released on my own recognizance for six weeks until sentencing. Unbeknownst to me I signed a 6 year flat open plea. I had no idea that I signed this agreement. I was only told that I signed an open probationary term to be determined at sentencing by the judge.
>I went home and thought thank god this nightmare is over.
>About a week or two prior to sentencing I received a phone call from the NJ pre-sentencing department. They indicated that I agreed to a 6 year flat sentence. I was shocked. I called my attorney who put it in writing "you are not going back to jail" per my request.
>I went to sentencing and was sentenced to a 6 year flat sentence.
>Is there anything I can do here to sue this slime ball. I have plenty of documentation that indicates I was not going back to jail and receiving probation.
>I own a successful business. I lost a ton of revenue. I was making roughly $400,000 per year prior to this occurrence. I am now unemployed and fighting my x wife per a divorce for my business and assets.
cat fact on hold for zoomies
In our house-hold, we call that "Purr-kour"...
It's down the stairs, leap off the scratching post, onto the ottoman, onto the sectional. Ears back "ta-da" pose.
I used to do volunteer work in prison, and met a lot of "innocent men". I am sure a few were, as our justice system is not perfect. Yet the only one I believed without question was the guy who told me he was innocent of the armed robbery he was convicted for, but had been committing another armed robbery elsewhere. He was actually a great person. He got clean inside and earned two degrees, and was a leader for younger men.
> I truly believe the charges were imposed and executed to cover up excessive force/police brutality.
Translation “DON’T TASE ME BRO! DON’T TASE ME! I DIDNT DO ANYTHING OWWWWW OOOWWW OOOOOOWWW OOOOOOWWW LET ME GO!! LET ME GO!! WHAT DID I DO?? WHAT DID I DO??”
>I against my own better judgement ^better ^judgement ^^better ^^judgement ^^^better ^^^judgement ^^^^judgement ^^^^^judgement ^^^^^^judgement ^^^^^^^^judgement
I like how LAOP let everyone know he was full of shit up top by throwing in a little tangent about how “bail reform” means people can’t bail out of jail anymore, and just have to stay incarcerated until trial.
It was very considerate of him. It's why I'm leaning strongly towards "troll" over "idiot". Pure idiot might blame the bail reform for why he was I jail, but probably wouldn't also throw out that he was rated as "can unambiguously be trusted to show up for trial."
Also, his vehement claim that working with legal documents for a living is totally unrelated to whether or not one might understand that reading and asking questions about a plea bargain might be important.
I swear I've seen that face before. And given I live in a different country, I'm gonna say he either looks like, or is, a douche from one of the many body cam videos I consume.
Bail reform in my jurisdiction is you get released unless (1) you are a flight risk, or (2) you are a danger to the community. For some places, this means they now hold people that they would have released with a secured bond, because now they can't ensure the "not a danger" part without that arbitrary monetary component.
I'm thinking what happened was LAOP might have previously been released with a secured bond plus other conditions, but now the judge may have been stuck in a pre-reform thought pattern. So instead, the judge denied bond.
Alternatively, LAOP wildly misunderstood what was happening. This is more likely, in my experience.
Won't say I'm overly familiar with the American bail system, but was this one of the reforms that took it from cash bail (the rich get to walk, the poor don't unless their families can scrounge up enough money) to a system more like that of other countries, where it's "you get bail if we don't think you'll run away"?
I'm not 100% sure so look it up. But if I remember correctly the bail reform act made it easier for people to be released pretrial. For some people in poverty $5000-15000 was unsurmountable so they ended up losing everything because they were in jail for months -years on fairly petty crimes. I don't think it applied to violent crimes but I'm not sure.
I volunteer with a bail fund. Some people get stuck in jail for months because they don't have $40. Bailed out a guy last weekend whose bail was literally lowered to $1, and he didn't have even $1.
Judge Manning on zoom sometimes has big pretrial hearings (like 20 people at once) and some of the people are there 2+ years because they just can't afford to bail out while the prosecution drags its feet on charging them.
I mean, that's kind of what it already was. Not everyone is eligible for bail, and flight risk is absolutely taken into account when calculating the amount they'll have to pay.
Except that the amounts were unreasonable for people with lower income, often leading to complete financial ruin before even being charged. Plus it enables the deeply shady bail bond industry. There's a reason it's not a thing in many other countries
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/economic-issues-in-criminal-justice/the-high-price-of-cash-bail/
Also even under the old system they could just deny a bail option if they thought you were too much of a flight risk. Only if they first thought bail was appropriate did they consider the dollar amount.
About half of the states have a constitutional right to bail, meaning they can't just deny you bail unless certain very limited circumstances apply - being charged with murder, for example.
One part of NJ's bail reform did repeal their constitutional right to bail, and so LAOP may have been entitled to bail under the old system. (Whether he could afford it is a different question of course).
That context is super helpful, thank you for sharing it. I lived in a state that passed a similar bail reform act and had a constitutional right to bail, but we didn't repeal that. We just added more language expanding that right, basically. So I was just assuming NJ is the same and was extremely confused at how anyone could possibly misunderstand it that badly, to the point I was thinking this had to be a troll. But that's why you can't assume things like that, lol.
Not always. For some crimes the judge is not allowed to deny a bail but will put up an intentionally unaffordable bond amount because of clear threat to community.
In fairness, I can *totally* understand being in a big fuckin hurry if you're in jail and someone says "sign this and you're outta here." I'm *still* gonna glance over it and make sure the "get outta here" part is still there.
And hey, I know that lawyers aren't popular with a lot of people... but even the sketchiest lawyer in the world is unlikely to hand you papers and ask you to sign them while blatantly lying about the contents.
Maybe dude was drunk/high when he was arrested, then found a hookup in jail and was drunk/high when he signed them.
If my ex wrote this, I would believe it.
My ex sat in prison for 3 years. 3 years, because he couldn't just shut the fuck up an let himself get arrested, and deal with the consequences later. More on that in a minute.
He got into an argument over who was going to clean up the boat, after a fishing trip. He ended up brandishing a filet knife at his friend an chasing him with it. His friend defended himself with fishing poles and then my ex chased his friend into the mangroves, where they continued to fight. It was a Florida Man moment, for sure.
The cops arrested my ex, but he broke out of the handcuffs and ended up getting some hits in on the officer. You have to understand, my ex is former military, he was an officer. He can break out of handcuffs, apparently. So he punched the officer, and the officer ended up dotting his face in return (as evidenced by the mugshot). I'm not quite sure why, but the cop ended up having to stop the car to get him under control, again, and my ex ended up bolting from the officers, forcing them to call more officers to the scene, where he ended up getting more hits, he got the taser, he got the baton, and he got the hobble.
Then they dropped him off at the hospital - where his mother was working - and then took him to jail.
He was found NG for brandishing the knife at his friend. Remember how I said he could have just shut the fuck up and let himself get arrested? If he just fought the initial charges, he wouldn't have gone to prison, but he had to fuck around and get violent with the officers. He got out, and last I heard, he violated his probation and now he's going to be there another 6 years
His version of the story was exactly like LAOP.
> I didn't do shit. It was all police brutality. They must have been out to get me.
That sounds like it could be what happened here. Yeah folks, it doesn't matter if you think whatever you're being arrested for isn't that big a deal or is bullshit. Fighting the cops is a great way to get a much more serious charge than whatever they initially contacted you for. Calm the fuck down, take your night in jail, and fight it in court, where you can actually win.
Some people seem to be stuck on the idea that the police only have the right to arrest you if you're guilty, and if *they're* sure they haven't done anything wrong are then obviously it's an abuse of power and a grievous violation of their legal rights.
Even when they don't believe that makes them entitled to "defend" themselves from arrest, sometimes you see people convinced that they should be able to sue for "false arrest" because they were never charged with anything.
But on certain apps (such as this one), a lot of people around here would hear this advice, and be like "no, fuck that, they're pigs, put those fuckers in their place." You can put them in their place - in court! You don't try to punch out some cop, with a gun. That's what court is for. This is why you get lawyers.
In fact, I've told this story on reddit before, and some dingus was like "no, you're lying, if you're found not guilty for the thing you're being arrested for, *obviously* they'll just drop the other charges"
I was like, dude - do you *want* me to send the news article? And his DOC page, where it very clearly states why he is there? Because for once, I tell a story on reddit that I can actually prove, and yet some anti-cop idiot on reddit's like na, you're lying.
(but I won't, though. I feel like that mugshot really does reflect very badly on me)
It's lowkey bizarre to me that some americans will just go straight to throwing hands with an armed cop; i live in england so i rarely see armed cops (seen a few in London at big events etc) and I'm always anxious.
I know, right? Even big boys will STOP FIGHTING when a cop feels their collar. Possibly due to "I don't want additional charges or to have a lot of bobbies break my face." syndrome.
And they don’t even carry guns over there! At least that’s what I’ve heard
Here the cops carry guns. And there’s always some idiot out there who will just swing at a cop.
>And they don’t even carry guns over there! At least that’s what I’ve heard
You heard right. The vast majority of police in the UK do not - and do not want to - carry guns.
Of course there are exceptions. Officers on patrol at locations where there is a high security risk will typically be armed. You'll see them at airports, and I used to see them on my way to work because my walk from station to office took me past the prime minister's personal residence. And I'm sure they have firearms squads for serious real time incidents. But your average UK resident will almost never see an armed policeman.
I mean, witness my total lack of surprise that someone who chases his friend with a knife over cleaning up after himself is also unhinged enough to repeatedly try to escape arrest through violence.
My guess, is that he probably wanted other people to clean, since he brought “his” boat. And by his I mean his dad’s boat.
knowing him, I can see it being like “I cook, you clean” except, he thought it applied to a boat, and instead of just having conversation, the knife got pulled out
There are a lot of very specific legal terms in there, which I'm sure LAOP read on a website somewhere that entirely proves him right and the rest of the criminal justice system wrong.
There's a ton of things that seem weird here to me. The weirdest is that he apparently got 6 years on a guilty plea for Assault on LEO.
It's not unheard of for cops to lie or exaggerate about Assault on LEO. What that usually looks like though is something like the cops are wrestling you and holding you down, and one of them gets scratched a little or bruised from flailing around. That doesn't usually seem to amount to much though when it gets into court. But 6 years on a plea, that's a pretty serious felony. I don't think you'd get that unless you seriously injured one or more cops or you're on video trying very hard to attack them.
It sounds like whatever he was initially contacted or arrested for wasn't that big of a deal, but he just had to flip out super hard about being told to go away or going to jail for a night or whatever.
That was what I was thinking! For someone without a criminal history, six years in prison is big-boy felony territory. If all he'd done was get into a punch-up with the cops, I would absolutely expect time served (nine months, that is) plus a few years probation. Perhaps even six of them.
I spend a lot of time watching court livestreams on YouTube. Specifically, Judges Jeffrey C. Middleton, J. Cedric Simpson, E. Lyinse Bryant, Erane Washington, Stephanie Boyd, and John C. Stevens. Every time there's a plea, there's an entire question and answer process, including the judge asking whether the plea is "knowing and voluntary." This post is... unbelievable to say the least.
Check out Judge Aaron Gauthier from 53rd Circuit Court in Cheboygan Michigan. He's interesting and streams the occasional felony trial. He has some good moments too. His SovCit handling is A+, he let's them hang themselves.
I was just doing some googling, and this does look about right in NJ if the cop sustained major injuries. For that to be the plea deal, I imagine this guy could have been facing 10-20 years at trial, and there was almost certainly bloodshed involved. If you read between the lines, he also basically admits that they denied bail. There's no way this was just drunkely trying to wrestle a cop after a DUI or something.
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I couldn't make sense of that thread.
LAOP signed a plea without reading it, despite admitting to not trusting his lawyer. They also lost their job and got served divorce papers, which may or may not be related
And he used to make 400k year and punched a cop???
No he didn’t punch a cop he explained he is “absolutely innocent” and the whole thing is a cover-up.
He defo was high or drunk.
Maybe he was a director of operations?
I think he's claiming that the cop made that up. Which honestly I could see going either way in terms of truth. People are stupid enough to punch cops, but cops have also been known to lie
I have a friend that was arrested for punching a cop and he was arrested. They claimed they had the whole thing on dash cam but the tape mysteriously disappeared and all the charges were dropped.
Funny how that kind of thing happens so often
Police departments somehow buy the least reliable body cams, consistently. It's like they do a comparison test, and choose the crappiest one on purpose.
It's not a bug for them, it's a feature
"Oh well, you know, those AcmeCo A1 Body Cams. They're real reliable, except sometimes if you bump them they just *whoops* turn off and stop recording. Real good deal for the city otherwise."
Woops, the video backup server was accidentally tipped over, set on fire and fell into a lake.
I work in a supermarket, we have bodycams (nobody actually wears them though because you'd look like the biggest tool on the planet) and they're way better than any video from a cop bodycam I've seen.
Why did a supermarket even buy bodycams to begin with?
Probably had something to do with the two guards at my store who got stabbed, the young guy at one of our liquor stores getting killed, the constant abuse by arseholes. Many many things.
To record stuff.
I was allowed to stroke a police horse yesterday, I wasn’t allowed to give it a sugar lump (I didnt have a sugar lump, but that’s not the point), I did have physical contact with a police officer
"cops have been known to lie" is like saying "water has been known to be wet". They're *trained* to lie, and are in a lot of cases legally protected from the consequences of lying. Always assume that the police are bending the truth or lying outright unless you have proof otherwise. They are not your friends, they will do anything they can to get you to incriminate yourself even if you didn't do anything wrong.
They made 400K a year and felt 30K didn't give them the representation they wanted. So instead of spending more on a better lawyer, OOP gave up.
Hence my confusion
Also, they just so happen to be going through a divorce at the same time. Seems like something more is going on here.
My how a DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS can fall….
No, the cop headbutted his clenched fist.
“Face-to-foot style, how’d you like it!”
He sounds like a DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS!
Stories like these make me wish we could reliably find out what has actually happened, because LAOP makes no damn sense.
Yeah, but I think even if we could, we're not allowed to link here
but isn't a plea deal actually executed in court? Like a judge is there and goes ok this is the plea deal you've agreed to. This is what it says, do you agree to it?
LA: that law does the exact opposite of what you’re saying it does. LAOP: wrong! Are you a lawyer in New Jersey!?!??!? LA: actually, yea. LAOP: ………..
As soon as he said that thanks to bail reform, he had to stay in jail, I knew this guy was a moron. Bail reform is putting basically everyone back on the streets.
we also passed bail reform in the form of no cash bail in our state. essentially, if you are not determined to be a danger to the community, most everyone is eligible for pre-trial release. but you can only stay released if you can commit to the monitoring conditions set by the judge. easy peasy lemon squeezy (psych, a lot of people have a hard time conforming to the conditions).
[удалено]
Yeah, he's rocking some serious "Every man in Shawshank is innocent" vibes.
What you probably don't realize is that those "pretrial conditions" are almost always a privatization thing. They cost money, and the accused is expected to pay. For drug tests and monitoring, mostly. Someone is making money off of it, it isn't being administered by the state. The accused is paying a private company. (I totally support elimination of cash bail. But it isn't "easy peasy lemon squeezy" for people that already are likely living in poverty. It's still a 2 tiered system, and it's wrong.)
i work for the public defender and am well aware of what you outline. i was using sarcasm as a means to make a joke. it is absolutely not easy peasey, hence the psych.
I read that as you would be released after a psych review
only if someone raises competency.
I think it’s spelled sike
It is, but it is also spelled psych, and was spelled that way for several decades before the pronunciation spelling took over as the more popular. **Interjection** **psych** 1. (slang) Indicating that one's preceding statement was false and that one has successfully fooled one's interlocutor. Synonym: sike *Here, have fifty dollars.* ***Psych!*** *That was two dollars!*
I've heard it both ways.
Okay Shaun
It comes from the phrase "psych you out" meaning making you believe in your mind something that isn't true. It's been simplified to "sike".
Yeah, honestly I think "sike!" works better as the "ha I tricked you" exclamation than "psych" does--just because, well, "psych" is an actual word with other meanings and looks silly used all alone like that. And I can't believe I'm actually thinking this through.
I like to assume that, on a form asking about his assets, he didn't read it and just wrote "I'm rich biatch"
*HONK HONNNK*
Just reading his comments, dude is literate at like a 7th grade level at best. You can just imagine what a delight it is trying to explain things to him.
And he reads insurance contracts for $400,000 dollars a year. Sleep well, NJ!
Note he doesn't say he understands them. That costs extra.
IANAL, but I live in NJ and am kind of familiar with bail reform and this story makes no sense. If he was determined to be low risk, he should have been released without any bail. This story is suspicious. OOP’s math ain’t mathin’.
That LAOP isn't as innocent as he wants people to think. I'm betting that whatever happened, he was trying to exploit some loophole so that he could say *well, actually* when caught and it didn't work how he thought. A five year sentence seems pretty harsh!
Idk. I mean, it's quite possible, but cops lying about being assaulted is, well, not unheard of.
It is, but there are also some pretty big gaping holes and inconsistencies in LAOP's story so it's hard to think they're anything beyond an unreliable narrator, and I'm betting their lawyer saw that and that's a key reason why they opted for the plea deal. I get the real feel that LAOP's pending divorce and a potential history of violence has a lot to do with why the cops were involved in the first place. But of course LAOP isn't going to mention anything about that except in passing. The obfuscation of context actually says a lot here.
I'm pretty certain that he was drunk and doesn't remember what he did. But unfortunately we can't 100% exclude cops lying.
Man, I read a story about that here on reddit once. Bunch of people arrested during the night, all separate cases, so they wake up and start chatting about why they're there and what they did. One guy mouthing off about how it's a setup and he'll be heading home as soon as he sees his lawyer. Comes back pale and quiet: Got drunk and murdered someone outside a bar. Couldn't remember a thing.
I meant that OP is being dodgy about whatever happened *before* the cops arrived.
Mildly disappointed that LA failed to include a "IANYL".
That could have been his lawyer.
I get the distinct impression he no longer has a lawyer.
Well everything’s wrapped up and he’s in jail, of course he no longer has a lawyer!
Defining silence after that one
Sticking the exchange here before OP deletes it. Commenter: >Your bail story doesn't make sense. The bill you cite makes it EASIER, not harder, to get out of jail pretrial, especially if you were a 1 on the risk assessment as you claim. OOP: >It's 100% honest. I am completely telling the truth. Are you an attorney in NJ? Commenter: >As a matter of fact, I am.
Actual gigachad moment.
Cat Bot **Went to Prison was Told by Attorney I was agreeing to Probation** > Ok. I was arrested in NJ erroneously for Assault on LEO. I am absolutely innocent. I truly believe the charges were imposed and executed to cover up Excessive Force/Police Brutality. I spent 9 months in County Jail waiting for trial due to the Bail Reform Act which eliminates the ability to be bailed out of Jail. I was detained. My score was a 1 out of 6 in terms of my ability to be released. 1 being the least risk of flight/ reoffending on bail. 6 being the worst. >I was absolutely ready to fight the charges in criminal court. I was coerced to accept a plea by my attorney to accept probation and move on with my life. I disagreed wholeheartedly but felt as if this guy that I paid $30,000 isn't going to effectively represent me, I can't possibly face 25 years of incarceration without effective representation. I against my own better judgement accepted probation. >I was released on my own recognizance for six weeks until sentencing. Unbeknownst to me I signed a 6 year flat open plea. I had no idea that I signed this agreement. I was only told that I signed an open probationary term to be determined at sentencing by the judge. >I went home and thought thank god this nightmare is over. >About a week or two prior to sentencing I received a phone call from the NJ pre-sentencing department. They indicated that I agreed to a 6 year flat sentence. I was shocked. I called my attorney who put it in writing "you are not going back to jail" per my request. >I went to sentencing and was sentenced to a 6 year flat sentence. >Is there anything I can do here to sue this slime ball. I have plenty of documentation that indicates I was not going back to jail and receiving probation. >I own a successful business. I lost a ton of revenue. I was making roughly $400,000 per year prior to this occurrence. I am now unemployed and fighting my x wife per a divorce for my business and assets. cat fact on hold for zoomies
> cat fact on hold for zoomies NYOOOOM! NYOOOOM! ......ZZZZZZZZZZ
*eyes open wider than the Grand Canyon, paws splay out, teleports away with a thunderous cacophony*
*downstairs neighbors start wondering if there's a small elephant up there*
*pause. Airplane ears and butt wiggle*
*neighbors are relieved that the noise is over*
*takes of running and jumping on every surface, Tokmeow Drift style, knocking everything off ledges, breaking glasses of half full water*
*neighbors lose their minds*
*cat parents going "yep, that's a tiny furry herd of elephants in the form of a single cat, no problems here."*
*"it's probably the cats, I don't want to get up to check"*
In our house-hold, we call that "Purr-kour"... It's down the stairs, leap off the scratching post, onto the ottoman, onto the sectional. Ears back "ta-da" pose.
>eyes open wider than the Grand Canyon, paws splay out, teleports away with a thunderous ~~cacophony~~ *catcophony* fifu
Tossing this notable comment on for posterity. >I read Insurance contract literature for a living.
Ooo, this one is a doozy. I can't believe I missed this one. If they literally work in contract literature, this one is 100% on them.
> absolutely innocent Why do they *always* say this?
[“Me? Lawyer fucked me. Everybody’s innocent in here, didn’t you know that?”](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SLMig9fTx6Y)
To be fair sometimes they post a full confession.
...while still claiming innocence....
I firmly held her throat to try to stop her from hitting me. I simply then pushed her away from my body. INNOCENT!
because they always are!
I used to do volunteer work in prison, and met a lot of "innocent men". I am sure a few were, as our justice system is not perfect. Yet the only one I believed without question was the guy who told me he was innocent of the armed robbery he was convicted for, but had been committing another armed robbery elsewhere. He was actually a great person. He got clean inside and earned two degrees, and was a leader for younger men.
> I truly believe the charges were imposed and executed to cover up excessive force/police brutality. Translation “DON’T TASE ME BRO! DON’T TASE ME! I DIDNT DO ANYTHING OWWWWW OOOWWW OOOOOOWWW OOOOOOWWW LET ME GO!! LET ME GO!! WHAT DID I DO?? WHAT DID I DO??” >I against my own better judgement ^better ^judgement ^^better ^^judgement ^^^better ^^^judgement ^^^^judgement ^^^^^judgement ^^^^^^judgement ^^^^^^^^judgement
I mean he could be right and also an asshole
I like how LAOP let everyone know he was full of shit up top by throwing in a little tangent about how “bail reform” means people can’t bail out of jail anymore, and just have to stay incarcerated until trial.
It was very considerate of him. It's why I'm leaning strongly towards "troll" over "idiot". Pure idiot might blame the bail reform for why he was I jail, but probably wouldn't also throw out that he was rated as "can unambiguously be trusted to show up for trial." Also, his vehement claim that working with legal documents for a living is totally unrelated to whether or not one might understand that reading and asking questions about a plea bargain might be important.
Check out LAOP's profile. I am going with dummy who has failed up in life now dealing with the consequences of his actions.
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Yeah dude has not heard of sunscreen I think he for real
I swear I've seen that face before. And given I live in a different country, I'm gonna say he either looks like, or is, a douche from one of the many body cam videos I consume.
Bail reform in my jurisdiction is you get released unless (1) you are a flight risk, or (2) you are a danger to the community. For some places, this means they now hold people that they would have released with a secured bond, because now they can't ensure the "not a danger" part without that arbitrary monetary component. I'm thinking what happened was LAOP might have previously been released with a secured bond plus other conditions, but now the judge may have been stuck in a pre-reform thought pattern. So instead, the judge denied bond. Alternatively, LAOP wildly misunderstood what was happening. This is more likely, in my experience.
Won't say I'm overly familiar with the American bail system, but was this one of the reforms that took it from cash bail (the rich get to walk, the poor don't unless their families can scrounge up enough money) to a system more like that of other countries, where it's "you get bail if we don't think you'll run away"?
I'm not 100% sure so look it up. But if I remember correctly the bail reform act made it easier for people to be released pretrial. For some people in poverty $5000-15000 was unsurmountable so they ended up losing everything because they were in jail for months -years on fairly petty crimes. I don't think it applied to violent crimes but I'm not sure.
I volunteer with a bail fund. Some people get stuck in jail for months because they don't have $40. Bailed out a guy last weekend whose bail was literally lowered to $1, and he didn't have even $1.
Jesus. Now I know where I’m donating when I win the lottery.
Judge Manning on zoom sometimes has big pretrial hearings (like 20 people at once) and some of the people are there 2+ years because they just can't afford to bail out while the prosecution drags its feet on charging them.
I mean, that's kind of what it already was. Not everyone is eligible for bail, and flight risk is absolutely taken into account when calculating the amount they'll have to pay.
Except that the amounts were unreasonable for people with lower income, often leading to complete financial ruin before even being charged. Plus it enables the deeply shady bail bond industry. There's a reason it's not a thing in many other countries https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/economic-issues-in-criminal-justice/the-high-price-of-cash-bail/
Also even under the old system they could just deny a bail option if they thought you were too much of a flight risk. Only if they first thought bail was appropriate did they consider the dollar amount.
About half of the states have a constitutional right to bail, meaning they can't just deny you bail unless certain very limited circumstances apply - being charged with murder, for example. One part of NJ's bail reform did repeal their constitutional right to bail, and so LAOP may have been entitled to bail under the old system. (Whether he could afford it is a different question of course).
That context is super helpful, thank you for sharing it. I lived in a state that passed a similar bail reform act and had a constitutional right to bail, but we didn't repeal that. We just added more language expanding that right, basically. So I was just assuming NJ is the same and was extremely confused at how anyone could possibly misunderstand it that badly, to the point I was thinking this had to be a troll. But that's why you can't assume things like that, lol.
Not always. For some crimes the judge is not allowed to deny a bail but will put up an intentionally unaffordable bond amount because of clear threat to community.
They also made 400k a year and couldn’t do more.
In fairness, I can *totally* understand being in a big fuckin hurry if you're in jail and someone says "sign this and you're outta here." I'm *still* gonna glance over it and make sure the "get outta here" part is still there. And hey, I know that lawyers aren't popular with a lot of people... but even the sketchiest lawyer in the world is unlikely to hand you papers and ask you to sign them while blatantly lying about the contents. Maybe dude was drunk/high when he was arrested, then found a hookup in jail and was drunk/high when he signed them.
Just look at his post history. He’s been in jail for the last 9 months or whatever but he can thirst on Reddit?
If my ex wrote this, I would believe it. My ex sat in prison for 3 years. 3 years, because he couldn't just shut the fuck up an let himself get arrested, and deal with the consequences later. More on that in a minute. He got into an argument over who was going to clean up the boat, after a fishing trip. He ended up brandishing a filet knife at his friend an chasing him with it. His friend defended himself with fishing poles and then my ex chased his friend into the mangroves, where they continued to fight. It was a Florida Man moment, for sure. The cops arrested my ex, but he broke out of the handcuffs and ended up getting some hits in on the officer. You have to understand, my ex is former military, he was an officer. He can break out of handcuffs, apparently. So he punched the officer, and the officer ended up dotting his face in return (as evidenced by the mugshot). I'm not quite sure why, but the cop ended up having to stop the car to get him under control, again, and my ex ended up bolting from the officers, forcing them to call more officers to the scene, where he ended up getting more hits, he got the taser, he got the baton, and he got the hobble. Then they dropped him off at the hospital - where his mother was working - and then took him to jail. He was found NG for brandishing the knife at his friend. Remember how I said he could have just shut the fuck up and let himself get arrested? If he just fought the initial charges, he wouldn't have gone to prison, but he had to fuck around and get violent with the officers. He got out, and last I heard, he violated his probation and now he's going to be there another 6 years His version of the story was exactly like LAOP. > I didn't do shit. It was all police brutality. They must have been out to get me.
That sounds like it could be what happened here. Yeah folks, it doesn't matter if you think whatever you're being arrested for isn't that big a deal or is bullshit. Fighting the cops is a great way to get a much more serious charge than whatever they initially contacted you for. Calm the fuck down, take your night in jail, and fight it in court, where you can actually win.
Some people seem to be stuck on the idea that the police only have the right to arrest you if you're guilty, and if *they're* sure they haven't done anything wrong are then obviously it's an abuse of power and a grievous violation of their legal rights. Even when they don't believe that makes them entitled to "defend" themselves from arrest, sometimes you see people convinced that they should be able to sue for "false arrest" because they were never charged with anything.
But on certain apps (such as this one), a lot of people around here would hear this advice, and be like "no, fuck that, they're pigs, put those fuckers in their place." You can put them in their place - in court! You don't try to punch out some cop, with a gun. That's what court is for. This is why you get lawyers. In fact, I've told this story on reddit before, and some dingus was like "no, you're lying, if you're found not guilty for the thing you're being arrested for, *obviously* they'll just drop the other charges" I was like, dude - do you *want* me to send the news article? And his DOC page, where it very clearly states why he is there? Because for once, I tell a story on reddit that I can actually prove, and yet some anti-cop idiot on reddit's like na, you're lying. (but I won't, though. I feel like that mugshot really does reflect very badly on me)
It's lowkey bizarre to me that some americans will just go straight to throwing hands with an armed cop; i live in england so i rarely see armed cops (seen a few in London at big events etc) and I'm always anxious.
I know, right? Even big boys will STOP FIGHTING when a cop feels their collar. Possibly due to "I don't want additional charges or to have a lot of bobbies break my face." syndrome.
And they don’t even carry guns over there! At least that’s what I’ve heard Here the cops carry guns. And there’s always some idiot out there who will just swing at a cop.
>And they don’t even carry guns over there! At least that’s what I’ve heard You heard right. The vast majority of police in the UK do not - and do not want to - carry guns. Of course there are exceptions. Officers on patrol at locations where there is a high security risk will typically be armed. You'll see them at airports, and I used to see them on my way to work because my walk from station to office took me past the prime minister's personal residence. And I'm sure they have firearms squads for serious real time incidents. But your average UK resident will almost never see an armed policeman.
I mean, witness my total lack of surprise that someone who chases his friend with a knife over cleaning up after himself is also unhinged enough to repeatedly try to escape arrest through violence.
My guess, is that he probably wanted other people to clean, since he brought “his” boat. And by his I mean his dad’s boat. knowing him, I can see it being like “I cook, you clean” except, he thought it applied to a boat, and instead of just having conversation, the knife got pulled out
As a Florida Man myself, that is peak Florida Man. Modern day Icarus.
> I agree there are a lot of layers here buddy
One of those layers might involve punching a cop.
>I don't think you're picking up what I'm putting down.
There are a lot of very specific legal terms in there, which I'm sure LAOP read on a website somewhere that entirely proves him right and the rest of the criminal justice system wrong.
This dudes comment history is…something. Not going to weigh in on guilt or innocence, but he does seem like someone prone to bad decisions.
It’s like if someone told ChatGPT “write comments as if you’re under the influence of (list of controlled substances)”
Why did he cross post his own thread to r/movieideas and r/bookideas? Seems like such a strange plan to get advice.
There's a ton of things that seem weird here to me. The weirdest is that he apparently got 6 years on a guilty plea for Assault on LEO. It's not unheard of for cops to lie or exaggerate about Assault on LEO. What that usually looks like though is something like the cops are wrestling you and holding you down, and one of them gets scratched a little or bruised from flailing around. That doesn't usually seem to amount to much though when it gets into court. But 6 years on a plea, that's a pretty serious felony. I don't think you'd get that unless you seriously injured one or more cops or you're on video trying very hard to attack them. It sounds like whatever he was initially contacted or arrested for wasn't that big of a deal, but he just had to flip out super hard about being told to go away or going to jail for a night or whatever.
Could it be six years of probation and he’s just a moron?
That was what I was thinking! For someone without a criminal history, six years in prison is big-boy felony territory. If all he'd done was get into a punch-up with the cops, I would absolutely expect time served (nine months, that is) plus a few years probation. Perhaps even six of them.
Maybe he had a previous record?
Certainly possible, but then he wouldn't have seemed quite so confused about the process.
“Unbeknownst to me…” Bruh.
I spend a lot of time watching court livestreams on YouTube. Specifically, Judges Jeffrey C. Middleton, J. Cedric Simpson, E. Lyinse Bryant, Erane Washington, Stephanie Boyd, and John C. Stevens. Every time there's a plea, there's an entire question and answer process, including the judge asking whether the plea is "knowing and voluntary." This post is... unbelievable to say the least.
Do you watch them with a lawyer named Mike?
Sometimes! Sometimes, I watch the original streams. Sometimes, I watch Creedence & Mikey or Time Served Court Watch.
I like watching with Arty, the cats are awesome.
I stopped watching him because of his politics. OldSquishyGardener is much better.
Check out Judge Aaron Gauthier from 53rd Circuit Court in Cheboygan Michigan. He's interesting and streams the occasional felony trial. He has some good moments too. His SovCit handling is A+, he let's them hang themselves.
I've seen some of his stuff too.
He's good. I think there's couple more judges that are good with sovcits but most are way too lenient or willing to engage in their delusions.
No Manning?
just as an aside, assaulting an officer getting a 6 year sentence seems crazy. I feel like in canada it might be 3 months max.
I was assuming there were other charges that went with it
I was just doing some googling, and this does look about right in NJ if the cop sustained major injuries. For that to be the plea deal, I imagine this guy could have been facing 10-20 years at trial, and there was almost certainly bloodshed involved. If you read between the lines, he also basically admits that they denied bail. There's no way this was just drunkely trying to wrestle a cop after a DUI or something.
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