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Pre-sentencing

Interview with Cody and Nicole

JM: Tell us about the pre-sentencing process:
Cody: They had a warrant out for my arrest in December. It went through in November and it took a month to find me. I didn't know about the warrant. The warrant was for discharge of a firearm.
Nicole: I was going back and forth to court as my charges were pending. I was represented by a public defender, who did not have any of my paperwork, as they could not locate it. I was offered to have 5 of the 6 charges dropped if I plead guilty and accepted the felony charge of forgery.

JM: Did you have police stop by your house for questioning? If not please give us details on how you came to be arrested.
Cody: The police came and arrested me at my girlfriends parents house. It was shocking. I had a job and had a 3 month old daugher. I had just gone to sleep because I had to work in the morning. They took me to the police station and booked me into jail.
Nicole: After the incident, the police did show up at my house, to have me sign a couple of tickets, and ask me a series of questions. They came to my home on numerous occasions. Once they realized what really happened, they came to try and arrest me but was never home so they issued a warrant on which I was later arrested on.

JM: What was court like? Please give as many details as you recall.
Cody: I had video court the day after I was incarcerated. They told me that I had to wait a month to go to court. They set bail at $250,000, so $25,000 cash to get out of jail. The court thought I did a driveby shooting in October, but I didn't do it. I remember that day because my girl was having a baby shower and I went to bed early. When I went to court I was told I had to wait another 2 weeks for another court hearing because my lawyer had posted a bond reduction. I paid for a private attorney.
Nicole: In court, each time they kept continuing my case, not getting anything resolved. They could not locate any of my discovery papers or the officer who made the police report. I was tired of going to court, so I decided to tell them I wanted to plea guilty and accept the consequences.

JM: What were your original charges? What did you end up being convicted of?
Cody: I'm not being convicted. I'm going to trial. The charge is discharge of a firearm. My lawyer says they got no evidence on me because it was a false identity. I got bailed out on St. Patricks day. My bond was lowered to $100,000.
Nicole: My original charges were 4 counts of obstruction justice, 1 charge of forgery, 1 charge of driving on suspended, and 1 improper turn signal ticket. I was charged with a felony for forgery. Everything else was dropped.

Read about sentencing in the Winnebago County Jail