The Predatory Lolita | Cup of Joe
We are live!
This week’s case immerses us into the dangerous side of social media and spotlights the dark side of a predatory teen’s psyche. Let’s go!
Kristine was arrested when she was a teenager. She was 19 years old but looked much younger. Kristine went by another name on social media – she called herself Lola.
Lola had connected online with a 25-year-old man that she had been grooming for some time, establishing an emotional connection with him and building something akin to trust, making him feel wanted, and assuring him that a teenager finding a 25-year-old interesting was a fine and rare catch. His name was Humbert. Humbert is the victim in this week’s case. Here’s what happened:
HUMBERT: Kris had been messaging me on social media for a while. Eventually she suggested that we, you know, meet.
PROSECUTION: What was your response to that?
HUMBERT: After I talked with her about coming over to my apartment to smoke weed, she told me she didn’t have her kids and she will be over.
PROSECUTOR: Did Kris come over?
HUMBERT: Yeah. She got to my apartment around 8 p.m., and we smoked and talked for about 20 minutes. And like out of nowhere, two men broke into my apartment and demanded to know where my marijuana was.
PROSECUTOR: Were they armed?
HUMBERT: One of the males had a pistol that appeared to be a 9 mm. He pointed the gun at me the whole time. I gave them the weed right away when they asked for it. It was about a half a pound. Then the two men then began to beat.
PROSECUTOR: What was Kris doing?
HUMBERT: She was like watching and then I saw her grab her phone charger and purse, said “I’m sorry” and left the apartment. And those guys kept kicking me and asking for other drugs, I didn’t have any more. They took $300 in cash and my cell phone. They started tying me up and I tried to get away. When I got to the door, I turned around and the guy was pointing the gun at my face. I saw a flash and I felt something hit my neck and I just went down. When I came to, I went downstairs and banged on doors before another person called the police.
Kristine is arrested and charged
The police were able to track down Kristine through her social media accounts and she was arrested. It was an easy case to prosecute so she pled guilty to robbery in the second degree. As part of the agreement, it was agreed that Kristine would not be sentenced to more than 4 and ½ years in prison.
The judge advised Kristine that it would not be bound by the plea agreement to impose the promised sentence of, at most, 4½ years of imprisonment plus five years of post-release supervision if Kristine was arrested on new charges before sentencing or if Kristine failed to appear for sentencing.
So, all Kristine had to do was stay out of trouble until the next court date and to actually appear on the scheduled date. Kristine failed on both conditions – she was re-arrested, and she did not appear at the next court date.
Kristine is arrested... again
If someone is arrested for a different crime while waiting to be sentenced, the prosecutor will immediately try to have the sentencing time enlarged. That is what they wanted to do with Kristine. What happens next is that the court will have to determine if there was probable cause for the second arrest. This is done at a hearing – it is called an Outley hearing.
At Kristine’s Outley hearing, Kristine’s new victim testified that Kristine brandished a knife and threatened to stab them before spraying the victim with pepper spray.
The court properly determined that there was a legitimate basis for her arrest; and, therefore, the court was not bound to the sentencing agreement.
As a result, the court determined that Kristine had violated the terms of her plea agreement and sentenced her to 5½ years in prison with five years of postrelease supervision.
Kristine Appeals
On appeal Kristine insisted that she did not know that she would be sentenced to the maximum sentence and argued that she gave a reasonable excuse for missing her court date.
The appeals court ruled that the judge gave Kristine fair warning of the conditions and rejected her reason for missing court.
If Kristine had not be arrested again and had appeared in court, there was at least a chance, because of her age, that she would not have done any time in jail at all.
Kristine is now serving 5 and ½ half years in prison.
Justice done? Let us know what you think.
See you next time.
Read the case here.