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Pre-sentencing

Interview with Tommy

JM: Tell us about the pre-sentencing process:
Tommy: In general, when you are arrested you are taken into booking. There you wait in a holding cell with 15-30 other people depending on the day. They call you out and take down your information (name, d.o.b., social, etc.) and an officer escorts you into a small room to have your charges read to you by a magistrate over two-way video. From there you either have the option to call a bondsman from the phones in the holding cell or wait to be processed and stay in jail until your court date.

JM: Did you have police stop by your house for questioning? If not please give us details on how you came to be arrested.
Tommy: No police officers came to my house. I was taken to the hospital by police when I was initially arrested and from there was transferred to the state psychiatric hospital. Upon release from there I was not given any notification that there was a warrant from my arrest and did not find out until I called the sheriff's department to see if one had been issued. They told me one had and I went and turned myself in.

JM: What was court like? Please give as many details as you recall.
Tommy: I was taken to court from jail. I was handcuffed and had my feet shackled and taken to the holding area in the back of the jail. It is a crude cage made out of steel fencing with several benches inside. There you have to wait until the district attorneys come. They go over people's charges with them and, most of the time, offer them a plea bargain. You can either take that or ask for a public defender. If you take the plea bargain you are usually sentenced that day, if you ask for a public defender you will have to go to court at least two more times before you are officially sentenced. This is the same process of being shackled and taken to the holding area in the jail, except instead of speaking with a DA you speak with a public defender. When it comes time for you to actually see the judge and be sentenced, you are taken in a group of 5-8 people to the smaller holding area that leads directly into the court room. The bailiff calls you out one by one and you go before the judge who reads off your charges and asks for your plea. From there you are taken back to the holding area and then back to jail.

JM: What were your original charges? What did you end up being convicted of?
Tommy: I was originally charged with: Misdemeanor theft, public intoxication, indecent exposure, felony vandalism I was convicted of: misdemeanor theft and misdemeanor vandalism

Read about sentencing in the Rutherford County Jail