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Pre-sentencing

Interview with Carrie, Michael, Roy, Tiff, Lela and Manuel

JM: Tell us about the pre-sentencing process:
Carrie: I had to sit in the booking department for hours upon hours, waiting to be booked. This is where they take your picture, fingerprints, and ask you a bunch of questions about your self, as far as health, allergies, family history, emergency contacts,and if you are taking any drugs, or prescribed medications. They search you, make you change into their clothes, and they take all of your belongings, such as clothing, jewelry..anything you came in with that is not permanently attatched to you. Then they have you sit in a big room, men on one side, women on the other, you are not allowed to talk to anyone, get up and walk around, unless you have to use the bathroom, and the only thing you eat is hard, cold bread with salami and a spoonful of butter.
Michael: i had the charge released and got probation sentence but violated it and had to go in
Roy: Sat on a big wooden bench for a very long time. Hours and hours of sitting on a hard ass bench.
Tiff: The process took four days for me to get into intake court. where I was then given a lowered bail because of my attitude. NO PR BOND. they made us it in this very small room while the guys were all in the open waiting. No one responded when u wanted to ask a question.
Lela: I have had a complicated journey with these cases and me being in and out of jail. I had caught a possession of narcotics felony in the beginning of 2013 in a suburb of Milwaukee - Cudahy, WI, so they didn't take me to the County Jail right away on that one. They didn't give me an actual ticket but told me they would be in touch. Over a month went by and I still hadn't heard anything from the detective until I caught a 'false swearing' municipal ticket in Greenfield, WI in the middle of February. That detective was a real asshole and asked me what was happening with the Cudahy case and why I didn't have a court date yet.. I said I have no idea, I haven't heard anything. So of course he calls the detective over there and that very day the Cudahy detective called me. Told me I had an appointment with the District Attorney. Well that day came and went because I was still bad in my heroin addiction so then I was just set up with a date for out-of-custody in take court. So basically what happened was they just read me my rights and maximum penalties, they found probable cause, I met my public defender, and they assigned me a judge and a preliminary hearing date. Also, I got a $500 signature bond which is just a 'promise' if you will, to keep me out of jail atleast until the next court date. The main condition was no use or possession of illegal or controlled substances without a valid prescription. So the next week I came in and waived the prelim hearing and pled not guilty. Next court date was set for two weeks later. So the 'State' offered me a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA). Basically meaning that I would stay out of jail and avoid a felony if I were to comply to the stipulations laid out. Mainly being stay clean .. but also no contact with my boyfriend at the time (because he's the one who called the cops on me), obtain part time employment or part time college, 20 hours community service, don't catch another case, and no fire arms. They were offering me a 6 month agreement. So, basically like probation (have to do urine tests at Justice Point monitoring agency but without being 'sentenced' yet. So I had court again a month and a week later and went and my public defender (luckily!) had a medical emergency and didnt make it. So the DPA hearing was rescheduled for a month after that ...
Manuel: At the presentencing process my lawyer told me that he had a person that was going to interview me.so that they could investigate my pass so I had an interview with this person that lasted for about two hours.and this person ask me from when I was a child all the way to adult hood this really helped me with my case.

JM: Did you have police stop by your house for questioning? If not please give us details on how you came to be arrested.
Carrie: No, I was arrested off of a ice cream truck. My friend and I were legitimatly out on July 3rd, selling ice cream by the lake, the place where they host the fireworks every year. As we were driving, the police got behind us and turned on their lights. My friend kept going, as she did not think that they would pull over an ice cream truck. Then, when they kept followng us, she finally pulled over, and they ran up on us like we were hard core criminals! We asked them what the problem was, and they told us to get out of the truck, they wanted to search it for drugs. We asked where that came from, and they would not answer the question. They wouldnt tell us anything ecept that it was supossedly a drug truck. We got out of the truck, as they searched it . Of course, they found absolutly nothing. They searched through the whole truck, freezer and all. They took out all of the ice cream, destroyed the truck and all of its orginization, and then took me to jail, and still don't know why. They also tried to take the truck and say that the registration was no good, but that was a lie.
Michael: yes they stoped multiple times and arrested me there and took me in
Roy: Suspected of driving while under the influence.
Tiff: I became arrested when me and my boyfriend was fighting and I was winning by the time they got there. they did not question me just him and that's how I caught my first case at 24.He said that I jumped on him which was not true so they arrested me.
Lela: I didn't actually get booked by Milwaukee County Jail until two weeks after my previous court date. I was on the North side with my boyfriend and his friend, picking up in my car and we had pulled over to do it. Well we unknowingly were only a few blocks away from the district cop shop and sure enough they came driving by almost as soon as we stopped. So they see us white kids over in that neighborhood sitting in a parked car on a secluded street and naturally turn around to come talk to us. My boyfriend who was behind the wheel starts the car and takes off, runs a stop sign and goes the wrong way down a one way before getting trapped in by several cop cars. So they search the car and us and I didn't personally have anything on me because they had both bought the dope. So long story short, there was plenty paraphernalia in my car and they didn't want to just get me with a misdemeanor so they stuck me with "Maintaining a drug trafficking place" - a felony. So, they took me to the district station and was there for 8 to 10 hours with no food or water. - It was the first 'nice' day outside, being the end of April and they were swamped with inmates, even tho it was a Monday. But they were so full that they had to put me in a cell by the men. We were all in individual holding cells tho, but just the 'bar' style ones. This didn't go too well as all the men were trying to talk to me and showing me their junk and everything and trying to get me to flash them. My boyfriend at the time was in a cell on the opposite end of where I was but he could hear what was going on and it caused problems to where the guards had to come and yell at the men a few times. Eventually they took me over to the county jail where the very long booking process began...
Manuel: On the morning of 3/9/11 at around 6am I heard the door be broke down cause they had a search warrent to search the apartment I was living at they tore up the apartment and found the drugs they must be about 20 officers searching the apartment and then they bring a drug sniffing dog.

JM: What was court like? Please give as many details as you recall.
Carrie: Court was pretty much weird and scary. I had to sit and listen to all these people tell me all of these things that they said that I did, yet, I didn't do. Everyone was looking at me like I was a hard core criminal, yet I wasnt. You could see peoples opinions on their faces. Noone wanted to believe me, it was like police say it, that means its true. I sat and wondered what these people were thinking about mw and all of the things that was being said. I was cncerned and afrais to go to jail, that was not where I wanted to be. Whwn the judge made his ruling, which ended up being 90 days, I felt like crap cause I did nothing to deserve this.
Michael: long boring always getting new court dates
Roy: No court.
Tiff: Court was a long process to get in. And when I went before the commissioner the public defender did not even say what we jus talked about he went off the police report which was wrong.There was an alleged threat that I had never said. but was accounted for in court.
Lela: Well when they took me in they were just about to do a 'mass movement' from the county jail to the house of corrections and vice versa - like 1200 inmates - for political reasons. ($$$) So when they finally brought me up to the cell block the officers downstairs obviously didn't know they were doing a 'shake down' of that specific dorm and all the cells, with the dogs and everything. So I had to wait in this little 'professional visiting room' with a few other girls. This lasted a couple hours and we all were sleeping on the floor because after booking taking forever we were all exhausted and I was already sick withdrawing because I didn't even get to do the dope we got before I got arrested. Anyways, I didn't get to go to in-custody felony intake court until my 6th day there, (technically on the 7th day after being arrested, but booking takes so long, I wasn't 'in' that jail until Tuesday) I assume because of all the craziness with the inmate movement... and I hear that it usually only takes about 3 days tho. So they brought me into a holding cell for a while and then had me talk to someone about my case to help me understand what my charge was and then to my temporary public defender because it was a Sunday and she wasn't working. So I went in front of the commissioner, I think it was, and it was the same thing - just reviewing my case and my rights and possible penalties and they had me sign another $500 signature bond with Turn Over To (TOT) Justice Point. Meaning that the people at JP (a court monitoring agency - they drug test you) had to come "get me" in order for me to be released. So I had to wait until the next day, Monday. And I was rescheduled for about a week or two after that.
Manuel: Court was a killer not knowing if I was going to go to prison the case kept being continued three diffrent dates the da kept looking for more evidence to put me in prison but my lawyer kept talking to the judge and the da until finally they came up with probation when the judge said probation I felt a sigh of relieve

JM: What were your original charges? What did you end up being convicted of?
Carrie: Original charges were posession with intent to sell, I ended up being charged with obstructive and resisting arrest.
Michael: Felony Burglary reduced to recieving stolen property a misdemenor
Roy: DUI
Tiff: My original charge was battery which eventually was amended to a disorderly conduct
Lela: I got out and immediately got a paid attorney. I thought since I was facing two felonies now I would really need a 'real' lawyer. I think in my situation it was a waste of money because I only got to 'keep' them for two months because I found myself in court so much and didn't want to pay them any longer. They knew I wasn't going to be able to get clean 'on my own' and tried to talk me into presenting a deal to the DA where I would sit for 60 days and then walk away no probation or anything. But, I obviously would be stuck with atleast one felony still and am not a felon yet and have 3 years at the University here and definitely want to go back so I did not want to take that deal. - And am very happy that I didn't in the long run. So I ended up getting my two cases combined and they were still offering me the DPA, but extended it to 9 months because I was still dropping dirty before I even signed it. In the long run I haven't even been 'convicted' of anything yet but I got the Maintaining a drug trafficking 'dismissed but read in' and I plead guilty to possession but the deal they gave me says that if I complete the agreement, they will reduce that to a paraphernalia misdemeanor and thats what I will end up with.
Manuel: Manufacturing with intent to deliver

Read about sentencing in the Milwaukee County Jail