Jackson Jambalaya

JPD issued the following statement:


Darion Givens, 24, is in custody after being arrested at unknown residence on Tifton St. by authorities Monday AM.

Givens

JJ broke the news last week that Givens was mistakingly turned loose:

A man indicted for murder was turned loose to commit more crime. A JPD message posted on Twitter last night stated that JPD is looking for Darion Givens as a suspect in an armed robbery that was committed yesterday. Givens was indicted for murder last September. WAPT reported he was given no bond upon his arrest for the murder a year ago. However, court records indicate that Givens fell through the cracks and was free to commit more crime.

A Hinds County grand jury indicted Givens in 2014 for house burglary.  The docket states that Judge William Gowan sentenced Givens to four years in prison for receiving stolen property in July 2015 but the four year sentence was suspended.  The docket contains a second sentencing order that was issued in January 2016 that sentenced him to 90 days in a technical violation center for violation of his original sentence.  MDOC confirmed that he served 90 days and was subsequently released.

Police arrested him for murder in July 2015.  A Hinds County grand jury indicted him for first degree murder and a convicted felon possessing a firearm in September 2015.  The docket consists of only the following documents: indictment, capias, capias returned, and a continuance order.  There is no bond or arraignment mentioned in the docket. Copy of indictments

MDOC said it did not receive any notice from any agency that stated there was a "hold" on Givens and that he should be returned to custody in Hinds County upon completion of his 90-day sentence.

Kingfish note: I will repeat what I asked last week:  "That was the news, now for the opinion.  Givens was sentenced a year ago to four years in prison but the sentence was suspended.  However, the suspended sentence can be imposed upon the defendant if he is arrested for a felony.  Givens was arrested for murder weeks after he got his break from the court.  However, Judge Gowan stuck him in a technical violation center for only 90 days instead of sending him to prison for four years.  There is no excuse and any defenses offered to by the judge or prosecutors will be scant comfort to yesterday's victim."


The prosecutors can ask for a ninety-day sentence but the Judge has to approve the request.  There is nothing stopping a judge from ignoring the recommendation and imposing a harsher penalty.   Some readers will defend the judge and say the prosecutors should have asked for the harsher sentence. Others will blame the judge.  That is the damn problem.  An alleged killer could've gone to jail immediately for four years.  The judges and prosecutors point fingers at each other.  Meanwhile, said alleged killer goes back to the streets to his ways of thuggin' and JPD bangs its head against the wall as it gets backstabbed.... again.