‘ Normally, when I get arrested over here…’

‘ Normally, when I get arrested over here…’

Some defendants apparently have a routine with Judge Thorne

news@theeveningtimes.com A man in jail was called up.

Judge Fred Thorne in West Memphis Municipal Court on Friday asked, “Is there anyone here from Points of Light?”

A lady stood up. “He was kicked out of two facilities.

We tried to get him a job but then he went back to jail,” she said.

“Where was he kicked out?”

“Life Strategies and Mid-South.”

“You people get money from the state to take care of people like him. Who is supposed to help the guy? He won’t listen to me!”

“Yes, sir, I’ll listen to you,” said the man in jai.

“No, you won’t.”

“We are going to try and transfer him to Helena.”

“That would be good. Jail, keep him till Monday. Points of Light people, I want you to get back to me.”

“I wasn’t panhandling. I was in for disorderly conduct,” said the man in jail.

“You were stopping cars asking for money.”

“I just stopped one car. That was my boss.”

“See you on Monday if you can make bond,” said the Judge.

A woman in jail was called up.

“Anybody here for her? How many times have you been in front of me?”

“Not so much as you think.”

“One, two, three… that ain’t bad. What were you doing talking about the National Guard, your principal and your remote control being microwaved? Go see the public defender.”

A man with a homicide charge, a man with a rape charge and another man with a 2nd degree escape charge.

They were all told to talk to the public defender.

To the next man called up in front of Judge Thorne: “I know who you are. You asked to see me because you said you had sickle-cell.”

“Yeah.”

“This man said he had sicklecell but then he went on to tell me he was ‘sick of being in a cell.’” The audience roared.

A man in jail was charged with possession of marijuana.

He pled guilty.

“How old are you?”

“18.”

His mother and sister stood up in the courtroom.

“What are you doing with your life?”

“I am in school. It is my last year.”

“Mother how do you feel about him having dope?”

“I don’t like it.”

“What would you like for me to do about it?”

“I hope you would dismiss it.”

“I’m not going to do that!”

“$500 plus court costs. One year jail, suspended to six months probation with the Justice Network. Complete your sentence and I will dismiss it. If you don’t complete it, you will do jail time. Who has the key to the jail?”

“Not me.”

“Yes, you do. I’ll see you on November 7th. If you are not coming in smarting off you will be done. If you are, I’ll

Judge Fred Thorne put you in jail.”

A man in jail was charged with loitering. He pled guilty. “Normally, when I get arrested over here you send me home.”

“Maybe in about 30 days I’ll send you home.”

Another man in jail wanted to change his plea on a disorderly charge from not guilty to no contest.

“You were cussing your mother out?”

“Not her, my nephew.”

“That cussing cost you 15 days.”

A man in jail was charged with public intoxication. He pled no contest.

“I was coming from the store on my way home and they arrested me.”

“Well lets see. How many other charges have you had. I have 14 pages here and at least five charges on each page. Are you employed?”

“Yes.”

“How long?”

“A month and-a-half.”

“$250 plus court costs.”

“We have an outstanding warrant for him,” said the court clerk.

“Jail, he has an outstanding warrant. Don’t let him out till we serve it.”

A man in jail had charges of no driver’s license, possession of marijuana and running a stop sign. He pled guilty to all charges.

“I made a mistake. I admit that it happened.”

“You have had lots of burglary charges. Some of these were in the ‘80s.”

“I was just a wild teenager.

I’m not like that now.”

“You must be the oldest teenager I ever saw. You have lots of past charges. I have your record from Chicago.

Maybe you made a mistake coming to Crittenden County.

$75 plus court costs on the driver’s license. $75 plus court costs on the stop sign and six months jail on the possession.”

Judge Thorne told a woman in jail she could get out tomorrow at noon.

“I have to work tonight.”

“Out at noon tomorrow. Wait, come back up here. When do you have to be at work?”

“Tomorrow morning at 7 a.m.”

“I thought you said you had to work tonight?”

“I got confused.”

“Jail, let her out at 10 p.m.”

A man in the courtroom was charged with no proof of insurance, illegal window tint and failure to appear. He pled not guilty to all charges.

“Show me proof that you had insurance and we can take care of that today,” said Judge Thorne.

“I don’t have it.”

“I knew you didn’t. You are just buying time by having to come back for a trial.”

A woman in the courtroom came forth.

“How old are you?”

“16.”

“How do you plead to no driver’s license?” “Guilty.”

“No Tags?”

“Guilty.”

“No insurance?”

“Guilty.”

“Whose car were you driving?”

“My friend.”

“Have your friend come up with you and your mother.”

“This is my grandmother. My friend is not here.”

“No, they never come with you. They aren’t your best of friends. Grandmother, what do you think about this? Does her mother know?”

“I have guardianship over her but she recently moved in with her mother. I was very upset about this. I was out of town at a funeral. She was supposed to be at home in the house.”

“What kind of grades does she make?”

“A’s and B’s.”

“Why didn’t you have a license. You seem smart enough to pass the test.”

“I just didn’t.

“24 hours community service on the insurance and 8 hours on the tags.”

“Can she do the community service on the weekends?”

“No, it has to be during the week.”

“You can pay $75 plus court costs on the driver’s license and $195 plus court costs on the insurance. I’ll dismiss the tags.”

“Is there a way she could do it in a day? I could take her out of school for one day.”

“I don’t think you could do that much in one day.”

By the Evening Times News Staff