We learned from a story in Summit Daily News on Dec. 4 that the man accused of menacing and threatening school district employees is entering a guilty plea to a felony, with a stipulation of no prison time. Two other misdemeanor charges will be dismissed. This means that subject to any paperwork for community corrections or parole, the man will walk out of the courthouse after acceptance of the plea.
This is a problem because this is the same man that has been held in the Summit County Jail, at taxpayer expense, for over 300 days since he was, according to the 5th Judicial District attorney Jeanine Svoboda, “a community safety risk,” an article from Oct 9 states.
The District Attorney’s Office should not be able to have it all their own way. If an accused person is actually a significant risk, then a no-prison-time plea should not be an option. If the accused is not such a risk, holding them in jail for nearly a year because of an excessive bail should not be an option. Of course, the worst case of all would be agreeing to this plea after holding the person for nearly a year in jail because the district attorney finally figured out that they had a weak case.
I don’t feel safer because of the actions of the district attorney, nor do I feel confident in the fair administration of justice in the district.