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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Minnesota’s judicial system has been in the national spotlight several times over the last few years.
With those high-profile cases came scrutiny over sentences and what was appropriate.
WCCO-TV investigated the records of several Hennepin County judges, and we wanted to know: In any given case, how often are sentences below the recommended guidelines?
The pain of sentencing day for her son’s killer hasn’t subsided in Katie Wright.
“Judge Regina Chu was hurting us. She was literally making us feel like we were the ones that had committed a crime,” Wright said.
A jury found former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter guilty of manslaughter in the 2021 death of Daunte Wright. Judge Regina Chu shed tears as she handed down a sentence that was more lenient than what state guidelines recommended for Potter.
“I cried,” Wright said. “To hear her have so much sympathy for somebody who just took our son from us.”
Chu was within her rights as a judge to depart from sentencing guidelines. Recommended sentences are determined in Minnesota by the severity of the crime, and the guilty person’s criminal history.
(credit: CBS)
“It’s designed to make sure that you eliminate bias and racial prejudice, and you take into account a rational and consistent way to sentence people,” said Joseph Daly, professor emeritus at Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
WCCO-TV looked at every felony crime Chu sentenced to prison from 2018 to 2020. She went shorter than what was recommended more than 30% of the time.
That wasn’t as often though as several of her colleagues on the Hennepin County bench. Judge Paul Scoggin was lenient on nearly half of his prison sentences.
“My friends who are judges tell me this is really hard. You are taking the freedom of a human being away,” Daly said.
Judges can go even further than giving shorter sentences. When state guidelines call for prison, judges can decide to not give any prison time at all barring a probation violation.
Judge Carolina Lamas did that on 60% of her cases. Chu was in middle of the pack here among her cohorts.
Lawyers can appeal judges’ sentencing departures, but prosecutors have said they won’t be doing so in Potter’s case.
Wright says they’ll continue to say Daunte’s name, and celebrate him.
“Around this time next year, she’ll be free to be able to go home to her children, while we still have to visit a memorial,” Wright said.
An important caveat with the departure rates is that while judges have the final say, the most common reasons given for going outside the guidelines are plea agreements or the recommendations of prosecutors.
Source: CBS Minnesota
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