How fair is this punishment?

I would say that crime #1 is common and has well established laws to determine the punishment. (I don’t think the punishment was that bad for what he did)

Crime #2 is an oddity and nobody had any precedence to go off of. (I think that the punishment is insanely weak)

Number 2 is completely insane and the guy who did it needs to die while incarcerated.

Hey, I practiced law in Cook County, Illinois. Don’t look here if you’re looking for consistency in sentencing.

However, two things I have learned: 1) Different judges, different lawyers, different days, different results. Law is an art, not a science. 2 + 2 does not always equal 1 + 4.; and 2) Without knowing the full details, you can never effectively second guess the sentence. There are many details we won’t get here. Were both defendants represented by counsel? Was there a plea bargain, or a trial? Were there mitigating circumstances? Prior patterns of conduct (since an Order of Protection had been issued, there must have been some past bad conduct)?

I don’t know if Spokane and Pierce County are similar, but I can tell you here there is a vast difference in sentencing between counties even though all counties in the state have the same criminal statutes. As an example, McHenry County has traditionally been a rural, very conservative, “law and order” county that tends to give stricter sentences, while Cook County, including Chicago and a number of very populous and high crime, urban areas, is the largest judicial system in the U.S., practically collapsing from its own weight, overworked, and much can fall through the cracks or be treated lightly simply due to a lack of time, personnel and resources.

hossman – Yes, in the past he was conviced of Assault 4 (i.e – Domestic Violence) on his now ex-wife. That happened 3 years prior to this incident. Since the DV, however, he was completly free of any mishaps or run ins with the law. Until the Protection Order violation of course. He was defended by counsel and it did go to trial. But in your experience have you ever heard of such a (in my opinion – biased as it may be) harsh sentence for a single phone call after 3 years? To me that seems SO extreme, especially the $99,000 bond. This guy had a job and a new family and the whole bit – They were not however in the position to afford to spend $9,900 to get him out.

Again, I know I am biased in my opinion, but this seems terribly harsh!

psst hoss- 2+2 never equals 1+4 :D

They sure showed him they mean business.

Oops, thanks for the typo catch, Perchik. I meant 1 + 3.

@ Northstate: while I can’t speak for the sentence in the dragging death, with a prior conviction for domestic violence only 3 years prior, if the OP clearly stated no contact, if the defendant was clearly advised and represented by counsel when the OP was issued, unless there is some reason the defendant is not competent to understand no contact means no contact, I would probably give him the same sentence. This is a different matter than a first offense. The offense here is really not that the guy called his daughter. The offense is contempt of the Court’s order. Unless there was some reason the guy didn’t understand the order, then he exhibited contempt for the judicial system and the judge by not complying. Further, no judge wants to be the guy who lets someone off easy for violating an OP, then the defendant he let off easy kills the ex (it happens) and reporters are sticking a camera in the judge’s face wanting to know why he didn’t protect the ex.