Thursday, June 08, 2023

Judge Raag Singhal shows us what real judging is like... issues sentence of time served.

 Check out the sentencing transcript below.  We need more judges like Judge Singhal, who recognizes that not every conviction requires jail or even probation:

It's the judgment the Court that on this particular

case Mr. Cherenfant not be placed in custody, be technically

sentenced to a sentence of time served.

With regard to probation, what I'll do just for record

purposes, I'm going to place him on one day probation with no

special conditions. And I'm going to automatically early

terminate it once I finish what I have to say.

So Mr. Cherenfant, the other people in this courtroom

have heard this before, but you come to me, and I'm in a

position where I've presided over just about 10,000 sentencing

hearings. That's a lot more sentencing hearings than most

people. Between being a lawyer and a judge, I've been in the

criminal court system every day since June 5th, 1990. So this

is actually my 33rd anniversary of being in a criminal court.

And you did something wrong, but I've never had a

defendant appear before me who has had such an exemplary past.

And one thing that criminal lawyers know is that you try to

take the full measure of a man when you sentence them, and you

don't judge them by their worst day. And frankly, that

argument's designed for people that have had a lot of bad days.

And so that's why they talk about the worst day. You don't

even have a lot of bad days. I mean, I'm stretching to find

another bad day. I don't think the traffic ticket's

necessarily a bad day. I mean, it caused you to make positive

changes in your life.

But, you know, you did a lot of things here to try to

help you. You worked with the government in the sense that

this case came before the Court via an information, not an

indictment, and you worked with your lawyer, and you admitted

your guilt. And I know that you and your children and your

wife will be very successful going forward. You just have to

keep doing the things that you've been doing. And, of course,

if you travel to Haiti again, you know what these requirements

are. And I do wish you the best of luck. 


Cherenfant Sentencing by David Oscar Markus on Scribd

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:30 AM

    David, he imposed the exact sentence the Government recommended. Come back when one of these federal judges imposes a sentence like this when the Government is seeking prison. Must be a slow news day in the district.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:22 AM

      Interesting take. As if in federal court judges follow recommendations across the board. I think it’s obvious from reading the transcript this judge thought about this sentence well before any “recommendation” and that this defendant’s advisory guidelines suggested 6-12 months in custody. To me, the most significant part of this is not what this commenter says—seems like the type of person who would complain about everything—but this:

      “And one thing that criminal lawyers know is that you try to

      take the full measure of a man when you sentence them, and you

      don't judge them by their worst day.”

      Delete
  2. Anonymous7:40 AM

    Good on the judge. But when you read the transcript you have to wonder where the fuck prosecutorial discretion went, and why they even chose to file charges against this man.

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  3. Anonymous9:43 AM

    7:30 speaks the truth. this is a nothingburger. Love how the judge pumps himself up though. #narcissism.

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  4. Anonymous10:32 AM

    Anyone know what the charges and underlying facts are?

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  5. Anonymous11:39 AM

    Two things. First, I’ve never seen no jail and no supervision on a federal court felony before. Second, if it comes down to DOM saying we need more judges like this versus ANONYMOUS saying “slow news day”, “nothingburger”, “narcissism”, I’m going with DOM 100% of the time every day of the year.

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  6. Anonymous1:37 PM

    @1032 - nice guy takes trip back home to Haiti. Accepts care packages from local friends to be delivered to family back home. Imagine old clothing and envelopes with a couple of hundred bucks a piece. Nice guy receives the care packages but doesn't really check them out (nice guys can be stupid). It turns out that one of the care packages contained around $11k in cash. Nice guy ballparks what he thinks he's carrying and declares $10k. Turns out that it was more like $17k. #felony.

    Meanwhile, the judge is acquainted with the defendant because the defendant works at the judge's local publix and apparently, the judge has stuck up a friendly relationship with the nice guy defendant over the years while ordering baked goods.

    It's a nice-ish story that the judge didn't throw the book at him. More judges should do the same. But the real story here is that the feds even prosecuted this guy. Real shame. No justice was done.

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  7. 1:37 -- the judge did not know the defendant; it was defense counsel who knew him.

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  8. Anonymous3:28 PM

    1:37 is right. If all of those facts are true why was he prosecuted. Meet the new boss same as the old boss. This is the district where justice goes to die.

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  9. Anonymous9:48 AM

    It was $17,000 bulk cash smuggling. I got time served from Judge D on a bulk cash case 5 times that size. So, I get what you’re trying to say, but it’s not that unusual.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:49 PM

      And no supervision? That’s great! Judge D is an excellent judge.

      Delete