This morning I attended the hearing for the kid that stole my truck last May. I posted about it here. He was caught in my truck 3 days later and was arrested. He spent a total of 3 hours in jail and was released without posting bail. At the time he was about 2 months past the end of being on probation for vehicle theft. That was all I knew till this morning.
The lawyer from the prosecuting attorney’s office filled me in on what happened between then a now. In July a warrant was issued for his arrest. Besides my truck, he was also a suspect in 2 other vehicle thefts. He was arrested in August (in a stolen vehicle) and was held with a $10,000 bail. 2 days later a $1000 cash bond was posted and he was released. In late September he was arrested again in Oakland, California and was held for 47 days, he was originally arrested for breaking and entering and possession of stolen property. Oakland decided not to prosecute and he was released.
The attorney told me he doubted the kid would show up and he was going to ask for a no bail warrant for failure to appear to be issued. At that time the kid walked into the courtroom with a lawyer. The trial was a non-jury trial. The case was called and the prosecuting attorney presented his evidence. Police officers from Seattle and Kent were then questioned by both attorneys, both said they pulled over vehicles in which the suspect was driving and both vehicles were stolen. I was then questions (2 questions from the DA, none from the kid’s attorney) and the owner of the other vehicle, a young gal who had her 2000 Lexus stolen, was questioned.
Then the kid was called to the stand. He claimed that we gave him permission to use our vehicles and that he lost the keys, that is why the ignition of both vehicles were damaged. When asked why we would report the vehicles stolen if we gave permission, he said that we must have forgotten about us loaning him our vehicles. He claimed he has known me for 2 years and the gal for 1 years.
The final statement by the prosecuting attorney took about 2 minutes. His lawyer gave an empassioned 10 minute speach, the kid was disadvantaged, folks he trusted turned against him and that he was turning his life around. I must also add that the information about his other conviction and the arrest in California were not allowed as evidence by the judge.
The judge called a 15 minute recess and left the courtroom. The prosecuting attorney told me and the gal that this should be a slam dunk. The judge returned after only 5 minutes. The judge found the kid guilty of unauthorized vehicle use, a lot less serious charge that vehicle theft. He based this decision on the defendants testimony and the fact neither of the victims (me and the Lexus gal) had our vehicles locked inside of garages. He sentenced the kid to 45 days in jail, no fine, no probation. Then the part that really blew me away. Even though the arrest in California could not be used during the trial, the judge let the kid go because of the time the kid served in Oakland. The judge even made me and the Lexus gal wait 10 minutes in the courtroom so the defendant could leave without fear of retribution. The prosecuting attorney told us that he feared the judge would do something like that as he has had some strange decision in the past. Well life moves on, that ugly part of my past is now over.