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Pre-sentencing

Interview with John

JM: Tell us about the pre-sentencing process:
John: ( I'm a trifle uncertain if I was ever " sentenced " , or doing suspended sentence time , originating in an initial arrest I experienced on January 21s 2013 and an initial court date on January 23d .I did , as I will outline , about a month over a month-and-a-half period or slightly more if you count over a three month's-ish period . ) My primary arrest was on the evening of April 11th for breaking probation . At that time , I was brought first to Dominican Hospital because of a medical condition I have , to check me over/see if I could go to jail-what , if so , care might be needed . I was there some hours I guess with the arresting officer outside of my room . Time passed , and my being considered healthy enough to go to jail , I was taken to the main facility on Water Street . From there , I spend three weeks-plus in the CJ and got out on May 3d and hen got arrested again on or near May 16th then was let out on the 21st after a hearing but then got arrested again that afternoon by the SC Police Department and brought back to the CJ before midnight and then , finally , let out aftre a hearing on the 23d I think it was from memory . At the time I was finally released my probation remained , running til' Jan. 23d 2015 and my suspended sentence hangover me still remained , increased from 20 days to 9s days than cut , by coutning the time I had served , 22-23 days IIRC , and then doubling time served , to cut the suspended sentence still over me to 45 days where I believe it is now .

JM: Did you have police stop by your house for questioning? If not please give us details on how you came to be arrested.
John: I was arrested on Pacific Avenue in SC , the " Pacific Garden Mall " ( I think that's the name of it . ) " downtown drag " district of SC . The same policeman who threatened to arrest me earlier in that day showed up and arrested me . I am homeless . The April 11th policeman threw away all of my clothing , etc. , in my duffle bag/s after the April 11th arrest , as he had threatened to do when , earlier on April 11th , he had threatened to arrest me (I suspect that he - or other police - had been the ones to take a previously stolen set of bags roughly one week previous about April 4th/5th . ) . He arrested me at the street bench where I was panhandling . As he put me into the wagon , he said " Hey , if you want me to I'll take your blankets out of your bags and save them ' to which I said " I can't stop you but I won't give you approval " , or similar . When the same cop re-arrested me on about May 16 , he confirmed that he had destroyed my property that he took on April 11th and , instead of turning over my bagged pocket/personal items ( ID card , ATM card , extra glasses...) to the Sheriff's department/the CJ as had been done before took those items and placed them in my bag which led me o be sent to the SCPD on May 21st or so when first I was released from that stay and have the SCPD refuse o give me my ultra-needed - ID Card , SS card , Medical , etc. , remember... - personal items (Or my duffle bag/bedding either . Not the one from April 11th that the SCPD had destroyed , a replacement one . ) , and when I peacefully refused to leave until I received my personal items until the SCPD arrested me again - the same policeperson as on April 11th and May 16th - and took me to the SCCJ again , the arrsting officer and his partner saying such hings to me on the way then as " We might throw away your personal items " and " You don't need money ! You sleep outside and eat garbage ! " . When I finally got out May 23d I did , finailly , get back my personal items and my duffle/bedding from the SCPD - The fact that TV crews were doing local news stories live from the outside of the station while I was waiting for the property department to open and I made friendly with the TV people and told them of my troubles with getting my MUCH-NEEDED property back and mentioned casually that I had been speaking with the TV people when I , finally , got to speak to the people re: my property JUST MIGHT have had a LEETLE to do with the fact that , yes , I did receive my personal items and duffle/bedding back then !!!!! Ya THINK ?????

JM: What was court like? Please give as many details as you recall.
John: At all times I visited court ( The initial arrest-based visit on Jan 23d being the first . ) I came as a chained prisoner . I waited in the appropriate waiting room downstairs until my time when I came up chained in my uniform and sat in the prisoners' box . It was OK considering as an experience , I was safe .

JM: What were your original charges? What did you end up being convicted of?
John: On January 21st I was arrested for a whole lot of homeless camping tickets that had piled up and hearings for them that i didn't go to , as I couldn't afford to pay such fines . After a while , this turned into a warrant against me , of Failure To Appear . On Jan 23d , I went to court and copped a plea , after wich I was given 2o days suspended sentence and a stay-away order from the PGM area . (They do this quite a bit - and not just for the PGM - in Santa Cruz . My camping tickets were all , IIRC , from areas other than the PGM . I did return to the PGM , and ,) On April 11th I was arrested for breaking the stay-away order dating from Jan 23d that barred me from being in the PGM . I was arrested for that again on or about May 16 , let out o-o-a May 21st , at which I time I went to the police station on the other side of town from the Sheriff's office-run county jail , where I was held , to retrieve both my personal clothing , etcetera , in a duffle bag as well as my personal items - . At that time I was rearrested by the SCPD and brought back that night to SCCJ and , finally , released from it on May 23d with no returns there to date . Again , if we count the Jan 21st-Jan 23d confinement along with the April 11th-May 3d and May 16-may 23d confinments together we have about a month of behind bars time if we only count the April-May arrests we still have , essentially , a month's time total . Though I would go into thelegal details of the broken probation et al , I would describe it - including to folks therein - as " I'm in for being homeless "

Read about sentencing in the Santa Cruz County Jail