According to an article “Man who rejected plea deal faces up to 15 years in prison” published in the Intelligencer Journal New Era:
“Looking back, Meredith Penn would have been wise to take the plea deal, his attorney said Friday.
“Instead, Penn refused a deal offered in March of 11 to 23 months in jail — then skipped his trial on burglary charges.
“A local judge [Margaret Miller] made him pay on Friday: Penn will spend up to 15 years in state prison, according to her order…”
There are two separate issues here.
The first and specific is for how long someone should have to serve in prison because of missing a court appearance? A year? Two years?
The second issue is whether the judicial system is offering too short a penalty for those who plea bargain or too punitive a sentence for those who desire to exercise their rights. Why should the discount or the penalty be more than say 50%?
From reading the report, we fear that the sentence may more reflect the pique of the judge than a sober judicial evaluation. If so, the judge should have to serve half of the convicts time since her apparent petulence in administrating justice is worse.
‘How dare he not honor the Kingdom’ is their attitude.
The same occurs if a defendant want a trial.
He will get a stiffer sentence for exercising his due process.