'Fairness' Can Be Elusive Outcome in Criminal Sentencing

By Emily Lane
Clarion-Ledger
February 8, 2013

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20130209/NEWS01/302090024/-Fairness-can-elusive-outcome-criminal-sentencing?nclick_check=1

John Langworthy (right) and wife Kathy walk into a courtroom at the Hinds County Courthouse in Jackson. / Rick Guy/The Clarion-Ledger

One man used his position of trust as a minister to sexually abuse five children and will serve no time in prison. Another man drove a get-away car in an armed robbery and will spend the next 35 years of his life behind bars.

Is it fair?

In the eyes of the law, prosecutors and even victims, it’s not that simple.

On Jan. 22, John Langworthy pleaded guilty to five felony counts of gratification of lust. As part of a plea agreement with the Hinds County District Attorney’s office, Langworthy will not go to prison.

Hinds Circuit Judge Bill Gowan sentenced Langworthy to 10 years suspended on each of the five counts, and five years of supervised probation. He is forbidden to have contact with any of his victims and must register as a sex offender.

The deal, in some ways, was a way to ensure Langworthy would be punished without getting off on a legal loophole.

Tony Lawrence, outgoing president of the Mississippi Prosecutor’s Association, said there are three factors to consider when making a plea deal.

First is the victim’s input, second are legal possibilities of going to trial and last is the trauma victims will go through during the trial process.

“We have an adversarial system in our country,” Lawrence said.

“We have to make deals sometimes we are not 100 percent happy about,” he said, “but if our victims are happy, and we think we do the right thing then that’s what we do.”

Although the victims named in the Langworthy indictment didn’t like the fact he didn’t get prison time, they signed off on the recommendation — in part, because prosecutors admittedly worried a court would rule against them on whether Mississippi’s statute of limitations applies to such crimes that happened nearly 30 years ago. Langworthy also had changed his mind on a previous plea agreement, officials said.

“I’m not happy with that, but we agreed to this,” one victim said. “His life is wrecked. He can never be over a youth group again. I do think it’s great that Mr. Langworthy won’t be able to slide into another church.

“He won’t be able to manipulate (children and families) as he has over the last 30 years.”

The Clarion-Ledger does not name victims of sexual assault or abuse.

If the victims hadn’t agreed to the recommendation, prosecutors said, the case would have gone to trial and victims would have given compelling testimony.

But a conviction could have been thrown out had Gowan’s denial of the motion to dismiss been later overturned by a higher court.

“This has been a pretty lengthy and difficult journey because of the legal issues and the number of victims,” Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith said after Gowan handed down the sentence. “We did have a legal issue that we had to consider, and we explained that to everyone. It could have gone either way. We had to factor that into the plea.”

Likewise, he said, Langworthy and his legal team had to take that into consideration. If the case had gone to trial and Langworthy had been convicted, he likely would have gone to prison pending the resolution of appeals.

All judges, including the one in Langworthy’s case, make clear to defendants they have discretion in sentencing, despite any recommendations from the prosecutors.

“But you have to understand that 99 percent of the time the judge follows the recommendation because the state is the one talking to the victims, talking to the defense attorney,” Lawrence said.

“The judge only knows what he’s told at sentencing hearing.”

In addition to the satisfaction of an admission of guilt that comes with a plea deal, prosecutors have legal incentives for securing a guilty plea.

“When you plead guilty you waive your constitutional rights, (including) your right to an appeal,” he said. “You are a convicted felon at that point.”

But when comparing simple facts of the case to other cases, like the case of Canton resident Lyndon Myers, it puts the justice system into perspective.

Myers, 28, was sentenced to serve 45 years with 10 suspended after being found guilty of three counts of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon. The convictions stemmed from his part in a 2012 robbery of a local Dollar Tree.

With news of both sentences breaking the same day, the comparison was noted in the local social media arena.

“This piece of trash should rot in prison for the rest of his life, and even that is too good for him,” wrote Pearl resident Jody Renaldo on Facebook. “The judge should be ashamed of himself for suspending all 50 years of his prison sentence, and the Hinds County District Attorney’s office should be ashamed of themselves for even agreeing to such a deal. And yet, the guy who drove the getaway vehicle in the Dollar Tree robbery gets 35 years in jail …”

Rankin County District Attorney Michael Guest explained the sentence: “As an employee of the store, Myers’ actions placed the lives of his friends and co-workers at risk. His disregard for their safety and his cowardly act of recruiting his younger cousin to commit the crime, because he knew that he would be identified, justified sending Myers to prison for most of the rest of his life.”

Houston, Texas, resident Amy Smith, who spent more than two years trying to convince church and school officials that Langworthy is a child molester, is among those disappointed he isn’t behind bars.

“While it is likely that more truth would have come out if this case had gone to trial — including what other church and school officials knew about Langworthy’s crimes, and when — we are glad that the victims in this case are spared the pain of having to testify,” Smith said on Wednesday.

“We are disappointed that as a condition of this plea that Langworthy will not be sent to jail because kids are always safer when predators are behind bars. We are grateful, however, that he will be made to register as a sex offender for life, which will allow parents and community members to know that he is a potential danger and will prevent him from freely interacting with children.”