Law Smug Smartest Monkey in the Jungle gets 65 Years for Crime, Instead of 25. - He said "I ain't got time for dat", Judge disagreed.

An Alabama teen has had his sentence almost tripled after rejecting plea deal
IN A harsh lesson on why you should be respectful in court, a young criminal has copped a brutal sentence from a judge who wiped the smirk off his face.

Kathleen Joyce
Fox NewsAPRIL 9, 201812:13PM

Lakeith Smith was sentenced to 65 years after refusing a plea deal. (WSFA 12 News)Source:Facebook

AN Alabama teen laughed Thursday, as a judge sentenced him to 65 years in prison for murder and theft after he rejected a plea deal that would have given him 25 years behind bars.

Lakeith Smith, 18, of Montgomery, Alabama, was sentenced to 65 years by Judge Sibley Reynolds for “felony murder, armed burglary, second-degree theft and third-degree theft,” according to Fox News.

Smith smiled and laughed while being sentenced at the Elmore County courthouse. He had turned down a plea deal that would have recommended he spend 25 years in prison on the charges.

“I don’t think Mr. Smith will be smiling long when he gets to prison,” C.J. Robinson, chief assistant district attorney, said. “We are very pleased with this sentence. Because the sentences are consecutive, it will be a long time before he comes up for even the possibility for parole, at least 20 to 25 years.”

Judge Reynolds said Smith seemed to show no remorse for his crimes during the trial and did not apologise. He also overhead the teen say, “I don’t have time for this.”

“You got plenty of time for this,” Reynolds told Smith before announcing the sentence. “When I called the case earlier you said you ain’t got time for this, so I didn’t know if you had time for this now?”

Smith laughed and said he did not know Reynolds heard his comment.

“You just don’t get it, do you?” Reynolds asked. “He hasn’t said I’m sorry yet. He hasn’t acknowledged to this court that he shouldn’t have done, shouldn’t have come around, in fact, his attitude toward this court and life, in general, has been sour.”

Smith’s grandfather pleaded with the judge and the teen to give him a chance to apologise.


“He’s had every opportunity,” Reynolds said. “I’ve asked two or three times today.”

“Are you sorry?” the grandfather asked Smith. The teenager replied that he was.

Smith was charged under Alabama’s accomplice law, “which holds co-defendants can be guilty of murder if a death occurs when they are committing a crime,” the Montgomery Adviser reported.

On Feb. 23, 2015, Smith, along with four other people, broke into two homes in Millbrook. Police responded to calls of the robberies, and the suspects fired at the officer who entered the home they were raiding. The suspects fled the home but continued to fire at the officer.

One of the suspects, A’Donte Washington, 16, of Montgomery, who was armed with a revolver, allegedly pointed a gun at the officer, body cam footage showed. The officer fired at the teenager, killing him.

Smith was charged with Washington’s death despite not firing the shots due to the accomplice law. A grand jury cleared the officer who fired the shots at Washington.

The other suspects, Jhavarske Jackson, 23, Jadarien Hardy, 22 and La’Anthony Washington, 22, entered guilty pleas of “felony murder, burglary and theft” but have not been sentenced yet.

“Standing there in court, I couldn’t help but have compassion for his grandfather, for his family,” Robinson said. “Because of his stupidity, they have lost him for 65 years.”

News.com.au

Life in an enclosure will suit this low IQ gorilla.

 

[Sheeeeeiiiiiittt]

HE A GOOD BOI HE DINDU NUFFINS

Good riddance to trash.

 

[Secret Asshole]

Wait did I read that right? He got charged with murder because a cop shot his buddy? The fuck? He deserves to go to prison for the armed robbery, sure, but he shouldn’t be held responsible for his partner’s decision to shoot at the police.

If you are an accomplice to committing a felony, you are considered responsible because you enabled the felony to happen. Just like how a get away driver can be charged with murder if his accomplice kills people, even if he never fired a shot.

 

[RG 448]

If you are an accomplice to committing a felony, you are considered responsible because you enabled the felony to happen. Just like how a get away driver can be charged with murder if his accomplice kills people, even if he never fired a shot.

Right, and on the whole that makes sense, but in this specific case, where it’s the cop that did the killing, it just doesn’t sit well with me.

 

[Caesare]

Wait did I read that right? He got charged with murder because a cop shot his buddy? The fuck? He deserves to go to prison for the armed robbery, sure, but he shouldn’t be held responsible for his partner’s decision to shoot at the police.

They were shooting at the cops, that's why his friend got shot.

Not going full BLM or anything, but if the guy was white

It has absolutely nothing to do with the criminals race and everything to do with their money. All people get screwed over in a legal sense when they can't afford a high dollar lawyer.

has potential for abuse by racist cops and judges, and in the South, I'm pretty sure they exist.

It's not that they're prejudiced, it's the fact that cops and judges in places like this actually deal with these criminals on a regular basis and they see the cruelty and fickleness towards life and death that they exhibit. I think they operate like this because they wouldn't want to live in a community that gives these savages light sentences and see them come back and commit more heinous crimes. They witness these people come and go through the justice system constantly on lesser charges, so when they're involved in something like this: home invasion, burglary, attempted murder of law enforcement, etc. they do everything in their power to ensure they won't easily be able to carry out more crimes in the future.

 

[RG 448]

They were shooting at the cops, that's why his friend got shot.

I knew the dead one was shooting at the cops, I thought the one with the 65 year sentence wasn’t.

 

[Caesare]

I knew the dead one was shooting at the cops, I thought the one with the 65 year sentence wasn’t.

On Feb. 23, 2015, Smith, along with four other people, broke into two homes in Millbrook. Police responded to calls of the robberies, and the suspects fired at the officer who entered the home they were raiding. The suspects fled the home but continued to fire at the officer.

It says they were firing at the officers. I think you might have been referring to this:

Smith was charged with Washington’s death despite not firing the shots due to the accomplice law.

which sounds like they are saying he was charged with his accomplice's murder despite firing the shots that killed him, not that he didn't fire at the officer.

For-Profit Prisons are America's answer to Chinese factory cities with suicide nets, but with more shankings, racism, and homosexual rape.

I don't like the idea of "for profit" prisons one bit, it just doesn't seem like a good thing at all, but knowing quite a few people that have been in both them and state penitentiaries, they've said the private prisons are super legit when compared to the state pens. And rape in prison hasn't really been an issue in the past 25 years. They've pretty well cracked down on that to the point where it's not an issue anymore. That's not to say people are no longer fucking in prison, they just handle it much differently now. It's more coercion rather than violent attacks. They don't play around with that anymore. They'll slap another 10 years on the back of your sentence for raping another inmate.

 

[neverendingmidi]

It doesn’t matter who shot the idiot. If one of the other hoodrats had shot him by accident when they commited the crime, they all would’ve been charged with felony murder. If the homeowner shot back and killed the idiot, they all would’ve been charged with felony murder. If one of them tripped while commiting the crime and broke his neck, the accomplices would be charged with felony murder.

The rule of thumb is, don’t help other people commit crimes.

Felony murder means you were committing a crime and somebody ended up dead because of the crime who otherwise would not have been impacted. That’s why people aren’t charged with murder for being in a car accident where somebody died, unless they were running from the police for another crime.

 

[IwegalBadnik]

Lakeith
A’Donte
Jhavarske
Jadarien
La’Anthony

These names are the real crime.

Whoever certified birth records with these names is who's really holding the dindus down.

 

[Echo_Ender]

Honestly, if he acted like he had any regret or actually gave a shit that he helped cause his friend's death, he could've probably gotten this sentence reduced to slap-on-the-wrist levels.

But dumbass did the opposite and acted like a cheeky, smug asshole right in front of the judge. He deserves everything he got.

 

[usernames can change now!]

That may be the case, but again, it depends on the specific factors that were in play at the scene. I don't have any pity for the guy but I feel 65 years is wildly excessive and just being thrown at him to make an example out of him. Unless he's got previous charges for something else, which is entirely possible, but I digress.



That's not necessarily true, depending on the crime and the situation, 14-17 year olds can and do get charged and tried as adults if it is severe enough. There are quite a few examples, countless in fact.

Not butthurt over him being charged, but I'm wondering if 65 years is appropriate. Then again, he doesn't seem the type who would ever amount to anything if he was ever released at any time. And basically getting life for an innocuous comment seems harsh. 25, sure, but adding 40 for it? That's just vindictive as fuck.

25 was only with a plea deal. By definition, both sides need to agree for a plea deal to happen. By being a smug little cunt in court, he lost his chance to make a plea deal.

 

[Collections Agent]

Lakeith
A’Donte
Jhavarske
Jadarien
La’Anthony

When you name your Night Elf with the "Randomize" button

 

[Dysnomia]

Right, and on the whole that makes sense, but in this specific case, where it’s the cop that did the killing, it just doesn’t sit well with me.

I don't particularly like it either. It sounds ripe for abuse. When I first started reading the article I assumed that a victim in the robbery was killed. But the dindu who attempted to be immortalized as a cop killer was the one that was firing the shots. Lakeith would have had to sit his ass in the slammer for a long time anyway as he was guilty of breaking into two houses and burglarizing them.

The article says he has consecutive sentences that have to be served together. Maybe they were trying to give him somewhat of a break for the death of A'Donte Washington. But he was too dumb to understand. As I said before I have a feeling this was explained to him over and over again and he was probably too stupid to understand what would happen if he didn't take it. I can just imagine his lawyer pleading with him to no avail. Probably similar to those crime dramas where some idiot won't take a plea and in the next scene he's being sentenced to rot in prison forever.

This dindu isn't sorry for anything. He's acting like a big shot now. But I guarantee he'll be on the phone crying "Mama mama! Help me!" soon. And it will be too late then. It's too late now.

Lakeith was 15 when the incident occurred. That's a pretty dumb age. But we're talking armed burglary not kicking over trashcans and stealing a bike. I'd say "where were mom and dad" but his name is Lakeith and I think that answers the question right there. He's had years to think about what happened. He could have tried to make a case for himself as a remorseful young man trying to turn his life around. But he probably sat around playing vidya and enjoying the thug life thinking his crimes were a joke.

Remember that this all happend in 2012 and every single dindu here was a minor at the time. Except for Jhavarske Jackson who may have been 18 already since it was five years ago and he is 23 now. People's kids were just running around with guns breaking into homes and stealing and we are supposed to feel bad. Why was your kid not at home doing homework? This is why black youth are in such peril. Your communities glorify crime. None of these young men should be in this position. They should all be in college or working honestly. I wonder if the officer was white? Because then we can blame the white devil again for black youth being pipelined directly to jail in huge numbers.

I do think that the accomplice law is a bit too broad. I'd understand if a victim in the crime was killed. But this was a case of a suspect being killed by an officer after firing at him. Although Lakeith deserves to go to jail for the burglaries any any weapons he was possessing I think it's unfair to charge him with a murder under some law that can be abused so easily.

I guarantee this idiot would have re-offended again though. He doesn't care about anyone but himself. The streets are safer without him on them.

https://www.theroot.com/alabama-teen-gets-65-years-for-death-of-friend-killed-b-1825071334

But the brutal truth of it is that this kid embodies the tragedy of criminal justice in America today, certainly no laughing matter to those destroyed by it.

In early March, Lakeith Smith, 18, was convicted of felony murder, burglary and theft for helping in the 2015 break-ins of two homes in Millbrook, Ala.

Smith was only 15 years old when he and a group of cohorts were confronted by police after being accused of breaking and entering.

His friend, A’Donte Washington, was killed by police that night, shot four times for allegedly brandishing a gun.

Yet under Alabama’s accomplice liability law, Smith was not only tried as an adult but also charged in A’Donte’s death, even though it was a cop’s bullet that ended the 16-year-old’s life.

A grand jury found the still-unnamed officer justified in the killing.

On Thursday, Judge Sibley Reynolds of Alabama’s 19th Circuit Court hit Smith with 30 years for murder, 15 years for burglary and 10 years each for two theft convictions, to be served consecutively.

USA Today reports that Smith did not take a plea offer of 25 years, and after losing at trial, he received the heavy penalty.

The prosecutor has made public comments that Smith smiled and laughed throughout the sentencing, and the judge seemed incensed that the teen didn’t seem appropriately sorry.

“I don’t think Mr. Smith will be smiling long when he gets to prison,” District Attorney C.J. Robinson said. “We are very pleased with this sentence. Because the sentences are consecutive, it will be a long time before he comes up for even the possibility for parole, at least 20 to 25 years.”

But Smith’s lawyer, Jennifer Holton, had another take.

“The officer shot A’Donte, not Lakeith Smith,” she countered. “Lakeith was a 15-year-old child, scared to death. He did not participate in the act that caused the death of A’Donte. He never shot anybody.”

Sometimes we wear the mask. Sometimes we laugh so as not to weep.

In the comments people call the officer a murderer. But the officer was being fired at. What was he supposed to do? It's not a case of the officer just firing at teens for no reason. I agree with some of the article. But you also have to remember that Lakeith Smith would have been sentenced for the other crimes anyway and he is not an innocent little choirboy who got into a bit of a scuff.

It's really tragic all around. Maybe over the years he'll come to realise what he's done and try to make whatever kind of life he can for himself behind bars. He's got at least 20 years to build up a good reason to be paroled. But I'm not optimistic because he's dumber than dirt.

Whoever certified birth records with these names is who's really holding the dindus down.

I'm starting to think that we need laws like they do in New Zealand to keep parents from giving kids retarded names. No one named La'Quadre is going to win a Nobel Prize. Those names are hella ghetto and make you sound uneducated regardless of how smart you are.

There was a kid in my neighborhood named Rafiki. I know it's a real name but come on, it's the name of a monkey from The Lion King. Doesn't naming your black kid something that people automatically identify with a famous Disney monkey seem like a bad idea?

How the hell do you pronounce Jhavarske anyway? Sounds like a last name. The only thing I could find was that the name "Javorsky" is a Czech surname. Makes you wonder if they saw a signboard or a truck advertising Javorsky Plumbing or something like that and decided to ghettofy it.

 

[Salt Water Taffy]

I got a theory.
These names exist out of spite.
We all know niggers can't speak correctly.
For generations they probably got really tired of being corrected by white people all the time.
Instead of, ya know, learning how to talk English, they decided to start naming their kids dumb names so when white people can't pronounce them they get to be the smug ones correcting people.
Pure revenge.

If I'm not mistaken, that's true - I wanna say the story is around the time of the Civil Rights movement there was a push for people to give their kids African names as an act of reclaiming their roots. However, between misinformation floating around about what real African names were along with plenty of people just making up names that sounded vaguely African, very very very few of the names like that that are floating around in black communities nowadays are even remotely African. For example, "Deshawn" obviously has its roots in the name "Shawn" which is the Anglicization of the Irish "Sean", which is the Irish form of the name "John". Not African in the slightest (LaAnthony is particularly glaring). And that's one of the tamer names!

 

[Cheesegirl78]

If I'm not mistaken, that's true - I wanna say the story is around the time of the Civil Rights movement there was a push for people to give their kids African names as an act of reclaiming their roots. However, between misinformation floating around about what real African names were along with plenty of people just making up names that sounded vaguely African, very very very few of the names like that that are floating around in black communities nowadays are even remotely African. For example, "Deshawn" obviously has its roots in the name "Shawn" which is the Anglicization of the Irish "Sean", which is the Irish form of the name "John". Not African in the slightest (LaAnthony is particularly glaring). And that's one of the tamer names!

Isn't the La prefix the feminine one?

 

[QB 290]

I don't particularly like it either. It sounds ripe for abuse. When I first started reading the article I assumed that a victim in the robbery was killed. But the dindu who attempted to be immortalized as a cop killer was the one that was firing the shots. Lakeith would have had to sit his ass in the slammer for a long time anyway as he was guilty of breaking into two houses and burglarizing them.

The article says he has consecutive sentences that have to be served together. Maybe they were trying to give him somewhat of a break for the death of A'Donte Washington. But he was too dumb to understand. As I said before I have a feeling this was explained to him over and over again and he was probably too stupid to understand what would happen if he didn't take it. I can just imagine his lawyer pleading with him to no avail. Probably similar to those crime dramas where some idiot won't take a plea and in the next scene he's being sentenced to rot in prison forever.

This dindu isn't sorry for anything. He's acting like a big shot now. But I guarantee he'll be on the phone crying "Mama mama! Help me!" soon. And it will be too late then. It's too late now.

Lakeith was 15 when the incident occurred. That's a pretty dumb age. But we're talking armed burglary not kicking over trashcans and stealing a bike. I'd say "where were mom and dad" but his name is Lakeith and I think that answers the question right there. He's had years to think about what happened. He could have tried to make a case for himself as a remorseful young man trying to turn his life around. But he probably sat around playing vidya and enjoying the thug life thinking his crimes were a joke.

Remember that this all happend in 2012 and every single dindu here was a minor at the time. Except for Jhavarske Jackson who may have been 18 already since it was five years ago and he is 23 now. People's kids were just running around with guns breaking into homes and stealing and we are supposed to feel bad. Why was your kid not at home doing homework? This is why black youth are in such peril. Your communities glorify crime. None of these young men should be in this position. They should all be in college or working honestly. I wonder if the officer was white? Because then we can blame the white devil again for black youth being pipelined directly to jail in huge numbers.

I do think that the accomplice law is a bit too broad. I'd understand if a victim in the crime was killed. But this was a case of a suspect being killed by an officer after firing at him. Although Lakeith deserves to go to jail for the burglaries any any weapons he was possessing I think it's unfair to charge him with a murder under some law that can be abused so easily.

I guarantee this idiot would have re-offended again though. He doesn't care about anyone but himself. The streets are safer without him on them.

https://www.theroot.com/alabama-teen-gets-65-years-for-death-of-friend-killed-b-1825071334



In the comments people call the officer a murderer. But the officer was being fired at. What was he supposed to do? It's not a case of the officer just firing at teens for no reason. I agree with some of the article. But you also have to remember that Lakeith Smith would have been sentenced for the other crimes anyway and he is not an innocent little choirboy who got into a bit of a scuff.

It's really tragic all around. Maybe over the years he'll come to realise what he's done and try to make whatever kind of life he can for himself behind bars. He's got at least 20 years to build up a good reason to be paroled. But I'm not optimistic because he's dumber than dirt.



I'm starting to think that we need laws like they do in New Zealand to keep parents from giving kids exceptional names. No one named La'Quadre is going to win a Nobel Prize. Those names are hella ghetto and make you sound uneducated regardless of how smart you are.

There was a kid in my neighborhood named Rafiki. I know it's a real name but come on, it's the name of a monkey from The Lion King. Doesn't naming your black kid something that people automatically identify with a famous Disney monkey seem like a bad idea?

How the hell do you pronounce Jhavarske anyway? Sounds like a last name. The only thing I could find was that the name "Javorsky" is a Czech surname. Makes you wonder if they saw a signboard or a truck advertising Javorsky Plumbing or something like that and decided to ghettofy it.

Short answer to a long post but in the words of detective pendansky from the punisher comic: "he may have been a kid but when he picked up the gun, he grew up real fast".
His pride cost him his life, just like his friends bad aim cost him his.

 

[Takayuki Yagami]

Right, and on the whole that makes sense, but in this specific case, where it’s the cop that did the killing, it just doesn’t sit well with me.

Didn’t their little band of sociopaths kill someone earlier in the spree?

 

[Marvin]

C'mon guys he's just a kid. Everyone commits armed robberies when your that age.

Just another example of the system keeping poor black boys down. Don't they realize that kids with stupid names like Lakeith, Jhavarske, Jadarien, La'Anthony, or A'Donte don't know any better?

Lakeith
A’Donte
Jhavarske
Jadarien
La’Anthony

These names are the real crime.

It's a low grade murder, but murder nontheless.

Most states have some version of "Felony Murder' on the books, different names, different places, different elements, but it's fairly common. In my state it's "Third Degree Murder" , but the idea is the same.

ANY death that occurs during the course of a FELONY as a direct result OF that felony is on you.

Accomplice gets smoked by a cop during a robbery? That's on you.

Cop crashes his car chasing you and dies? That's on you.

Pull a gun on the bank teller and the little old lady next to you freaks and runs to get away, trips over those rope-belty-thingies and falls over and splits her head open? On you


These have been on the books for a hundred years in some places, if it was going to be the gateway for some kind of systematic legal abuse, it'd have happened by now. And my compassion for getting booked for someone you didn't directly kill is muted because the necessary prerequisite is, well, a goddamned FELONY.

It's more of a philosophical issue. To me, the title of the charge should be the action you took. If you sold someone drugs that was later used to date rape some girl, the charge should be selling drugs (with maybe some modifier to make the punishment worse). Not, y'know, date rape.

I think expressing the nature of the crime to the public should be as accurate as possible.

It should be on you, just with a more descriptive charge.

 

[repentance]

I wonder how many of these cases get tried this way?

I linked to three others which are currently underway upthread (the accomplices were shot by homeowners in those cases, but it's a distinction without difference).

People seem to be overlooking the fact that this group had already killed someone at the beginning of their two day crime spree. The death of the accomplice was not the only death caused by this group.

I'm perfectly happy with "acting in concert" type laws. If they didn't exist, the Murphy brothers and Michael Murdoch would be free men now because they would have only been convicted of the kidnapping and rape of Anita Cobby and John Travers alone would have been charged with her murder.

I think expressing the nature of the crime to the public should be as accurate as possible.

It should be on you, just with a more descriptive charge.

The nature of the charges is fully described in the legal codes which underpin them.

Where I think a philosophical argument arises is that Western legal systems have a principal of the law being predictable - ie, similar cases should be dealt with in similar fashion. The judge choosing to run the sentences consecutively in order to extend the period of incarceration is arguably a dick move in that respect and I wouldn't be surprised if it's appealed.

Modern legal systems are also supposed to reflect the values of the community they serve. While it's the role of the legislature to ensure laws reflect those values, rather than the police or the courts, the question arises of whether these types of charges do reflect what the community wants.

 

[Varg Did Nothing Wrong]

He deserves to go to prison for the armed robbery, sure, but he shouldn’t be held responsible for his partner’s decision to shoot at the police.

He deserves to be held responsible for his decision to participate in a crime that resulted in someone dying. Which carries a felony murder charge.

 

[jace821]

How the fuck was he supposed to get money fo dem Jordans?