The movement to free Jamie and Gladys Scott (two sisters accused of committing a robbery that is alleged to have netted them $11) has been building in momentum for quite sometime.
For those not familiar with the case, the following is a synopsis:
On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1993, Jamie and Gladys Scott were accused of luring two men down a road in Forest, Mississippi, where they were robbed by three teenagers who attacked the men, with one of the teen males striking both men in the head with a shotgun and took their wallets, according to court documents.
The three teenagers–Howard Patrick, Christopher Patrick, and Gregory Patrick–who were accused as accomplices with the Scott sisters, were 14 through 18 years of age at the time. The accused Scott sisters, Jamie and Gladys, were age 19 and 22, at the time.
The sisters, along with the three brothers, were indicted for the crime.
The court transcript gives an account of what happened when the case went to trial.
To really destroy the young women’s case, they had a useless piece of refuse for a lawyer.
Firnist Alexander called no witnesses on behalf of the sisters; he did not allow the sisters to testify in their defense. Just two years later, Alexander would be disbarred for “lack of diligence” in cases where he misrepresented clients.
Five witnesses testified for the state.
In October 1994, the Scott sisters were convicted of robbery with the use of a deadly weapon and have been in prison for the past 17 years.
During the robbery, no one suffered serious bodily injury, but, under Mississippi state law, life in prison is the maximum prison sentence (with three years the minimum) for armed robbery.
Robbery and Armed Robbery
In Mississippi, robbery is defined as “feloniously [taking] the personal property of another, in his presence or from his person and against his will, by violence to his person or by putting such person in fear of some immediate injury to his person . . . .” Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-73. This is “simple robbery,” or it is sometimes referred to as “strong arm robbery.”
In order to convict you of robbery in Mississippi, the State must prove:
- That you had a “felonious intent;”
- that you used force or putting in fear as a means of effectuating a theft; and
- that you took and carried away someone else’s property from the victim’s person or in the victim’s presence.
Moore v. State, 942 So.2d 251 (Miss. 2006). If you are convicted of simple robbery (without a weapon), you can receive up to 15 years in the state penitentiary. Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-75.
Armed Robbery has basically the same elements as simple robbery, with the added element of “by the exhibition of a deadly weapon.” Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-79. With this simple addition, a jury can sentence you to life in prison, rather than just 15 years. And here is a legal concept that most people have a hard time understanding: Participation in an armed robbery is sufficient to make one a principal in the crime regardless of whether that participant was the person holding the weapon. Harrington v. State, 859 So.2d 1054 (Miss. 2003).
The three Patrick brothers involved in the robbery, implicated the Scott sisters. All three of the young men had priors. Threats and coercions forced the men to finger the Scott sisters, because as the 14-year-old Howard Patrick stated: “They said if I didn’t participate with them, they would send me to Parchman and make me out a female.”
By plea bargaining, he was able to avoid a life sentence.
The teens were sentenced to eight years in prison each, and they were released after serving just two years, with Howard Patrick serving 10 months in jail.
The Scott sisters, who protested that neither of them were nowhere near the robbery when it was committed, were each given double life sentences–sentenced to two consecutive life terms in state prison. Jamie is now 38 and seriously ill. Both of her kidneys have failed. Gladys is 36.
These two sisters had no priors before arrest, they were of young age at the time of conviction, they were both young mothers with under age children, they had no long criminal record; no “three strikes” third time or more convictions staring them in the face. Neither sister was offered a plea bargain.
That they both received double life sentences is a prime example of cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the Eighth Amendment. That they are now a part of Mississippi’s draconian convict lease system of (in)justice is all the more barbaric and inhumane.
In 1998 one of the sentenced men signed an affidavit stating that the Scott sisters were not involved with the crime.
The question must also be asked: Why was the prosecutor so gung-ho on sending the two sisters to prison, but, allowed the teens who committed the attack, off with so little time? Why did the court (judge, jury and the prosecutor) have it in for these two sisters?
These two young women have served sentences that would constitute half of their lives. They have not been forgotten. One of their most ardent supporters, Ms. Nancy Lockhart, a legal analyst who has worked over the years became familiar with the case of the Scott sisters, has started a campaign to free them.
The sisters have exhausted their legal appeals, and will not be considered by the state parole board until 2014, until after they have served 20 years in prison.
A pardon from Governor Haley Barbour is being asked of by the supporters of Jamie and Gladys Scott.
It is not just the humane thing to.
It is the most right thing to do.