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Friday, July 16, 2010

Ind. Decisions - "Pair released from prison 13 years after stabbing"

This April 9, 2010 ILB entry was headed "Girls convicted in 1997 Jeffersonville stabbing seek reduced sentence: Prosecutor wants judge Fleece removed after comments at hearing." The entry quoted from the Jeffersonville News & Tribune story of that date. Here is part of the quote:

Former Clark County Superior Court No. 1 Judge Jerry Jacobi sentenced them to 60 years in prison — 30 for attempted murder and 30 for robbery. After exhausting their appeals, a petition for post-conviction relief was filed in February 2009.

In the petition, Chicago-based attorneys for the girls argued the consecutive 30-year sentences violated Indiana’s common law double-jeopardy principles since both were enhanced by the same act of the stabbing.

The attorneys also argue that the judge failed to consider any mitigating factors, such as the defendants’ youth, remorsefulness and lack of prior criminal history.

“The original trial court only paid lip service to the fact that these girls were among the youngest girls in the country to receive such harsh sentences,” said Steven Drizin, a professor at Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, who is part of a team representing Shackleford and McDonald pro bono.

Presiding Judge Vicki Carmichael recused herself from the case because she had represented McDonald on appeal. She appointed Senior Judge Steven Fleece to preside over the post-conviction relief proceedings.

During a status conference in judge’s chambers in May, Fleece reportedly made comments about the case that prosecutors believed showed bias. Prosecutors filed a motion to change judges, asserting that Fleece described the trial is “divisive” and said the girls had to be released from prison in order to accomplish “healing” in the community. He also was accused of saying the girls had spent enough time in prison and that “everybody” believed the sentences were too harsh.

Fleece denied the motion, responding that the prosecutors had mischaracterized his statements and took them out of context.

“The state has correctly inferred that the judge now views sentence-modification as desirable,” Fleece stated in his ruling. “This is a preliminary conclusion not based on any bias or prejudice or outside influence, but upon analysis of the pleadings and undisputed facts of the case.”

The ILB entry from May 19, 2010 references another story from the same paper and notes:
The story reports "There was confusion from the outset of the hearing Tuesday." That confusion is reflected in the story itself.
That story is still available online for those who wish to read it.

Here is the July 13, 2010 report by Ben Zion Hershberg of the Louisville Courier Journal headlined "Women who attacked pizza delivery man with a knife in 1997 released from prison." Some quotes:

Two women who attacked a pizza delivery man with a knife in 1997 were released from prison on Tuesday, a day after their 60-year sentences for the crime were sharply reduced by a Clark County judge.

Shayla Shackleford, who was 14 at the time of the attack, and Devonna McDonald, who was 15, served 13 years.

Sha Hua, a member of the Chicago defense team who argued for the women's release at a hearing last month in Clark County, confirmed they were released on Tuesday from the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis. * * *

She said she has told them not to discuss their situations publicly while the state attorney general is deciding whether to appeal the reduction in their sentences. * * *

According to statements at their trial, Shackleford and McDonald stabbed Yeager with a plan of taking his car to visit a friend in Alabama .

They were tried as adults, and each was found guilty of attempted murder and robbery with serious injuries to the victim, each charge a Class A felony with a recommended sentence of 30 years.

Clark Superior Court Judge Jerry Jacobi sentenced each to 60 years in prison by requiring them to serve their sentences for each charge consecutively.

But on Monday, Special Judge Steven Fleece reduced their sentences to 30 years, agreeing with their lawyers' arguments at a post-conviction relief hearing last month that they should not have been given consecutive sentences because the same acts and same injuries to Yeager were the basis for both charges.

Fleece ruled the sentences were an example of double jeopardy -- two convictions for the same crime.

As Indiana allows a day off a sentence for each day served with good behavior, Shackleford and McDonald only were required to serve 15 years. And since they had earned four years of education credit for getting their GEDs and college degrees while in prison, their sentences were complete.

Jerald Muhammad, a cousin of Devonna McDonald, said he hopes the community will welcome back the two, now 27 and 28 years old.

"What they did is inexcusable," Muhammad said, "but they have served their time."

He said he is "not the same person I was when I was 14." * * *

Fleece said his ruling was based only on the law, but he believes the women's chances for a successful adaption to life outside prison are "excellent" because of what they accomplished while incarcerated.

He noted that an assistant warden was so impressed by them that she sought help for them from defense lawyers.

"It's a rare situation when a Department of Correction official goes to bat" for prisoners in that way, Fleece said.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 16, 2010 07:20 PM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions