Sentenced to life in prison because he was driving the car in drive-by shooting

A man was sentenced to life in prison because he was driving the car when one of his acquaintances who was in the car used a gun to shoot out the window killing someone else.

In other words, he was inside a car that was involved in a drive-by shooting.

Some might view this as "guilt by association". He was "in a group". One of the persons in that group committed a murder, and so he is also going to be viewed as responsible.
Whether or not he even had any idea that shooting was going to take place.

I totally understand why they convicted him of murder and sentenced him to life in prison. But is it really fair?

The young black man claimed that he had gone to a football game. He offered another young man there a ride in his car to an after game party. There were a total of six people in the car.

According to his three sisters, he had nothing to do with the shooting. The person who was killed was actually a friend of his.
In court, the prosecutor painted him out to be a menace to society. According to his sisters, this man's nickname was "Oops", a name that was given to him at birth, but in court the prosecutor said that was his gang name alias. The sisters say he was never in a gang, and that he was college-bound. He had no prior violent criminal history.

He was charged with "felony murder" and "aggravated assault".
The judge stated that due to mandatory sentencing, he had to give him life in prison.

Dr. Phil
Sisters Say They Can't Enjoy Life Because They Claim Brother Was Falsely Convicted Of Murder, Is In Prison
Ashley says life for her and her siblings changed forever on October 31, 2008. She says police showed up at their house, put her younger brother, Jerome, in handcuffs and took him away. Ashley and her sisters, Fallon and Ebony, say they struggle to enjoy life since Jerome has been behind bars.
"My brother, Jerome Burgess, was driving the vehicle, but he had nothing to do with the shooting."

Sisters Say They Can’t Enjoy Life Because They Claim Brother Was Falsely Convicted Of Murder, Is In Prison | Dr. Phil - April 11, 2023

Is this yet another example of how so many innocent black men can end up in prison?

Could the court have been less likely to want to give this young man the benefit of the doubt because this young man was black, and they held the idea that many young black men in that area are involved in gangs and drive-by shootings?

 

Certainly possible. If they were not financially well off, the skill of one's lawyer, can also play a bigger role than most would like to think it should, in what is deemed "justice," in any given case.

 

did he call 911 after and report it immediately?

If he did that, be more likely people would believe it

 

If he didn't report the crime immediately, does that mean he should be found guilty of the murder?

Could you imagine, he might have even been afraid for his own life to report the crime.
He picks up a person he met at a football game who he doesn't know that well, offered to give that person a ride in his car, during the car ride that person sees someone out the window and pulls out a gun to shoot them. In those areas, snitches (someone who reports someone else's crime to police) often get killed.

How much should we punish someone for not immediately reporting the crime, in this type of situation? (assuming we know for certain that person did not shoot the gun)

 

Keep in mind he was driving at the time, he had to keep his eyes on the road in front of him.
He might not have been aware that anyone actually was shot.

Maybe some of the other persons in the car might have later told him what they saw. But then they would have a greater obligation to report to police than him because they were actual witnesses.

I'm just speculating, because we cannot know for sure what actually happened.

 

There is a lot of speculation here, but he is hanging out with murderers... Pick bad friends and something is bound to happen.

 

guessing he did not from that response....

would have helped his case

if a friend kills someone and one helps them bury the body, harder to prove they were not an accessory to the crime

heck if one kills someone in self-defense and buries the body, harder to prove self-defense

 

Only one of individuals in the car was a murderer. (Remember, there were six people in the car) Those other four just did not "snitch" (report to police what they saw).

Everyone in the car must have heard the loud gun shot. But I don't know if we can know for sure exactly who in the car saw that individual shoot the gun out the window, or whether anyone else in that car realized the shooting had been directed at a person outside the car, or that someone had actually gotten hit and been shot.

It's easy to imagine the scene, six people crowded into a car, right after a football game, young black men, talking very loud, with loud music blaring. Maybe they had already drunk a few beers. It might not have been so obvious to all of them what had happened when the incident happened.

 

I agree, and that is (in a way) a similar type of issue, but a different one.
There's a huge difference between helping cover up a crime, and simply not reporting a crime when you have knowledge of it. (Well, in my opinion at least)

 

he was the getaway driver... had he reported it right away, would be more believable he was not a willing participant

 

Yes, that sounds about right. He participated in the crime, and will pay the price. If someone had shot back and killed someone in the car, he'd be charged for that too.

If he could persuade the jury he had no idea there was going to be shooting, it could change things, but apparently he was not able to persuade them, which probably means he admitted knowing, and when he admitted it he probable didn't know it would be used against him.

 

It sounds more like the driver was kind enough to offer a ride to a stranger......

From there, the young man learned early in life that no good deed goes unpunished.

 

But the question is, did he knowingly participate in the crime? The authorities don't really seem to have any solid evidence that was the case. They just suspect it could have been the case.

If he didn't knowingly participate in the crime, then all he was doing was being the driver of a car with other passengers.
And then possibly he didn't report a crime. (And we don't even know for sure how much about the crime he actually knew. For example, did he only just hear a gunshot coming from inside the car? Did one of his friends in the car tell him that one of the other passengers had shot out the window? Did someone else in the car inform him that another person had been shot?)

If he had no idea someone was going to be shot when he drove those passengers in his car, doesn't that change things?

 

Per the court records, the poor little innocent that didnt do nothing was a known member of the 'Murk Mob", was present when the group had the confrontation outside of a football game, drove the gang to a home where they picked up the AK47 used in the shooting, and then drove to the community where they expected to find the gang they had been beefing with. When they couldnt find them they spotted three other people. The driver...the poor little guy that didnt do nothing...parked....flashed his lights...then turned his lights off and drove up on the three.

Seems that there might be more to the story than what the sisters told Dr Phil.

 

I do believe here in the state of Florida if you are involved in an armed felony that results in a death you can be charged with murder as well.

 

The issue is, authorities do not actually know if he was involved in the crime or not; and what "involved" actually exactly means.

 

It looks like the involvement here is pretty clear.

You don't drive a car where someone murders someone from inside of it and claimed that you didn't have any involvement.

 

sounds like it

 

Correct, and same is true even in a situation where your buddy is shot and killed by your target. You'll be changed for your buddy's death.

 

What part of felony murder don't you understand?

 

Entirely possible however, it maybe also totally irrelevant. A get away driver is just as guilty in the eyes of the law.

A caveat, I'm unfamiliar with the case in detail.