I had my first ever experience in criminal court today. It was not an experience I would care to repeat. And let me tell, it's not quite like they do it on TV.
My friend Maggie Wiley, whom I have known for several years and who attends our church faithfully was on trial. Maggie worked as a corrections officer at the Indiana Juvenile Detention Facility. It was a job she hated. Before beginning this job, she had worked in the juvenile girls facility, which was closed. In her job she was often harassed, and it was not uncommon for her to receive on the job injuries. But despite all of the hard parts, and the fact that Maggie really hoped for a better job (there aren't a lot of good careers out there for someone with a BA in Criminal Justice), she tried to be a good Christian in her work. Maggie is incredible about helping people. There was a 16-year-old boy at the facility whom she thought had a future. She wanted to help him to be able to get past his crimes. So she corresponded with him with letters offering friendly advice. Then since he seemed to be making good progress and since she thought it would be good for, she requested that he be allowed to help her out with cleaning and such at the facility.
This decision had vast and unintended consequences. First the boy alleged that she had acted inappropriately toward him. Maggie was fired. Then several months after the alleged incident, Maggie was arrested. The boy said that the notes she had written to him contained illicit suggestions. And then worse, he claimed that she had coerced him into a sexual relationship. I know Maggie and I know this is false. The prosecution raised a number of outrageous charges against her. Among these charges were child trafficking!!! First Maggie had a public defender assigned to her, and this lawyer told her she should plead guilty. Fortunately, a gentleman from our church was able to find her a lawyer who would work with her.
In order to have the other charges dropped and to avoid a 20 year prison sentence, Maggie agreed to plead guilty to one count of sexual misconduct with a minor (class D Felony). For which this charge the maximum sentence is 2 years in prison. Her lawyer argues that the judge should be lenient and that he should suspend her sentence and allow her to spend the time on probation. To argue his point he called for character witnesses to vouch for her character.
By the time the character witnesses were done, no one could argue that Maggie was not an upstanding citizen. Character witnesses included:
the mother and grandmother of her "little sister" (from Big Brothers Big Sisters), who shared how Maggie has had an impact on their family for years.
Maggie's family:
Her mother, father, and older sister. They shared her desire to always be learning. Her diligence to be in the top 10 of her high school class (despite playing both basketball and volleyball) and to work her way through college. And her help with her niece Isabell.
Her husband, who stands behind her one hundred and ten percent. He shared how much she takes good care of him, and how much his son loves her.
The young man who she and her husband have taken in as a roommate. He shared how he was in a living situation surrounded by drug dealing and use, but Maggie and Jonathan have taken him in and cared for him. He said that Maggie is like an older sister to him.
Other family friends who have known Maggie for years shared how she has impacted their lives and how they see how much she strives to help the community.
Church Members:
Here's where I come in. Several church members vouched for her. We shared how she has been faithful in attending church and doing whatever she can to help out even after the allegations came out. We talked about how she helps in the nursery. I shared that I trust her with my children, and also that I feel that she is a wonderfully caring person.
It was a little awkward to testify in court, but it was very easy. I had to state my name, address, how I know Maggie, and why I think the judge should be lenient toward her.
Then the pastor vouched for her. And I think they took his statement with greatest credibility. He has only known Maggie since the beginning of February when he began at our church. But he was able to share that he has seen nothing but positive things about her.
Maggie's lawyer also produced written statements from people unable to be present in court.
After lots of testimony. You could see the judge was visually disturbed.
Then the prosecution present its case. Basically, they said "The defendant has plead guilty to this act. She admits that she did it. She needs the fullest punishment possible" Then the superintendent of the correctional facility read a prepared statement about why having sexual acts with juvenile inmates is harmful (there is nothing about his statement that I could argue with. I felt awful for Maggie and Jonathan at this point. Maggie was in tears. They did not produce the boy making the accusations against her as a witness, they did not need to with her guilty plea. They did not mention the letters she had written. The letters corroborate her story, since they contain friendly advice and not innuendo. But people can interpret things the way they want to.
It was very upsetting for her to have this guilty plea. But I can totally understand since the risk of winding up in prison is not something to take lightly.
After the lawyers made their comments, the judge was silent for a long time. He bowed his head for a while. He stared at the ceiling for awhile. I can understand his turmoil. This would not be an easy decision. Finally, he stated that she would have a two year sentence, suspended. With home detention for six months. This would mean that she would have two years of probation. The lawyer mentioned that it was unreasonable for her to serve home detention because of Indiana laws relating to the distance that a person under home detention must be from schools, and playgrounds. Their apartment is right beside a playground. Also, there are not allowed to be any children on the premises and at this point her stepson and niece both stay part of the time in their home.
So the judge was exceptionally frustrated. And the lawyer did not seem to have a workable solution (since the judge was obviously not going to suspend her sentence).
Finally the judge asked "Pastor, does your church participate in the One Church-One offender program? Please tell me you do!" Pastor Mike replied "I never have before, but I certainly can now!"
So her sentence is to participate in this program. I'm not sure yet what this entails. But I'm sure Pastor Mike does by now.
And so ended the trial.
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3 comments:
It was frustrating reading the account in the paper. Somewhere it should say that she was pushed to make a deal instead of standing up for herself. People reading about it can only make incorrect assumptions. At least she is free.
This is a very unfortunate story--and surprising since it is usually men who are most at risk to be falsely accused in these sorts of situations. It's too bad she was pressured into making the guilty plea--but like mom said, at least she's free.
It's too bad that we have a justice system that cannot defend against such evil. But think what a reward is waiting for Maggie in heaven! I know this is no consolation now, but I could not help but think of a blameless Christ on trial for ridiculous charges while reading that story. The saddest thing is, having plead guilty to such a charge, will she not have to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life? I think this will haunt her for years to come. I cannot think of a worse perversion of justice.
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