Even though a federal jury found him not guilty of murder, he was sentenced to life in prison. Virginia prosecutors want to keep it that way.

When police arrested Richardson in 1998, he was facing the death penalty. Afraid of potentially putting his life in the hands of a white jury in the South, Richardson, who is Black, took a guilty plea for involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in state prison. Claiborne, who is also Black, took a plea deal on a misdemeanor charge, as an accessory to Richardson’s crime.

But after outcry over what Gibson’s family viewed as a lenient sentence, federal prosecutors brought additional charges against the pair, accusing them of selling crack cocaine and murdering a police officer during a drug deal gone wrong.

In 2001, Richardson and Claiborne went to trial in the federal case. A jury found them not guilty of Gibson’s murder, but guilty of selling crack. In an unusual move, federal judge Robert Payne sentenced Richardson and Claiborne to life in prison using “acquitted conduct sentencing,” a legal mechanism approved in a 1996 Supreme Court ruling, which allows judges to sentence defendants based on charges for which they were acquitted.

Archived at https://ghostarchive.org/archive/zjFXZ

  • _haha_oh_wow_English
    160•3 months ago

    How the fuck is this even possible?

    a legal mechanism approved in a 1996 Supreme Court ruling, which allows judges to sentence defendants based on charges for which they were acquitted.

    What a shit ruling and yet another example how how incredibly broken the US “justice” system is.

    • originalucifer
      82•3 months ago

      when you realize its not a ‘justice’ system, but a ‘revenge’ system, it all makes sense.

      • Diplomjodler
        36•3 months ago

        It’s about punishment and revenge but most of all it’s about keeping minorities “in their place”.

    • @[email protected]
      29•3 months ago

      There was a Law and Order episode where a porn actress was assaulted. Trial ensues, jury comes back with a “guilty” verdict. Judge overrides them and finds the assaulters not guilty. This story reminded me of that episode.

      • @Zahille7
        16•3 months ago

        Was that the one where the DA wanted to go after the judge for very obvious sexist rulings?

      • DominusOfMegadeus
        4•3 months ago

        I’ve also seen a television episode like this. In that one the judge states that the State did not make their burden, and so the juries guilty verdict is set aside. Which actually seems pretty good. This other thing though, I cannot fathom.

    • ceoofanarchismEnglish
      10•2 months ago

      Are you crazy should people be let out of prison just because they are “innocent”? How will we keep the prisons full and the lower classes demoralized?

    • anon6789
      7•2 months ago

      It’s interesting how they are using this case.

      US vs Watts decided this wasn’t a violation of so, but it’s still a crime of which they were not found guilty of beyond a reasonable doubt.

      The 2 situations used in the case was a man being charged with possession and also with growing marijuana in his home as 2 separate charges,.and a womannhlwho had been acquitted of selling cocaine once, who was then later convicted for selling cocaine on another occasion,but was sentenced for both.

      Memo from US vs Watts

      In the case this post is about, the guy was coerced into a confession where evidence proving his innocence was withheld from the defense, and the judge still thought he was getting off easy and convicted him of selling crack and the murder of a cop during a drug deal.

      It sounds like now even though he’s acquitted of the murder, they’re still trying to keep him in jail on the other added on charges, if I’m reading things correctly.