Mark Lorenzo Blake, Jr.
Here is another case which will do nothing but make you angry. Mark Lorenzo Blake, Jr. decided to run from CPD and shoot an officer Saturday night. Patrolman Corey Goldstein was shot multiple times by Blake. Goldstein returned the favor and sent Blake to the hospital in a well ventilated state. Unfortunately, Blake wasn’t toe-tagged.
The truly sad part is the incident didn’t even need to happen. If the 9th Circuit Solicitor and your judges had done their jobs Blake wouldn’t have been roaming the streets of Charleston and pulling the trigger on police officers.
Blake’s travels through the 9th Judicial Circuit will cause quite a bit or ire. Keep reading.
2004 Charges:
PWID Marijuana - Dismissed by the 9th Circuit Solicitor.
PWID Marijuana Near a School - Dismissed by the 9th Circuit Solicitor.
2005 Charges:
Unlawful Carrying of a Pistol - Pled guilty in March of 2006 before Judge Michael Nettles. Sentenced to one year and a $50 fine, suspended in favor of six months of probation.
2008 Charges:
PWID Cocaine - Dismissed by the 9th Circuit Solicitor.
PWID Cocaine Near a School - Dismissed by the 9th Circuit Solicitor.
2009 Charges:
PWID Cocaine - The 9th Circuit Solicitor allowed Blake to plead guilty to the lesser charge of 1st Offense Possession of Cocaine. Sentenced by Judge Kristi Harrington to two years, suspended in favor of 18 months of probation.
PWID Cocaine Near a Park - Dismissed by the 9th Circuit Solicitor.
Probation Violation. No status listed.
2012 Charges - Still Pending:
Judge Gosnell set a total bond of $50,000 on these three charges.
Unlawful Carrying of a Pistol
Trafficking Cocaine
Possession of a Stolen Pistol or Obliterated Serial Number
2013 Charges - Still Pending:
Given Blake’s prior criminal history and the fact he was already out of jail on $50,000 bond for three drug and firearm offenses, we find the amount of the bonds in these latest charges abhorrent. We are also troubled by the continued lack of effort by the 9th Circuit Solicitor or the bond hearing judges to revoke the previous bonds.
Trafficking Heroin - $20,000 bond
1st Offense Possession of Cocaine - $5,000 bond. In light of Blake’s guilty plea to this same offense in 2009, this should be upgraded to 2nd Offense Possession of Cocaine.
Three counts of PWID Heroin - $10,000 bond on each charge, total $30,000.
The 9th Circuit Solicitor continues to fail in the job she asked you to entrust to her. Your judges, who are not beholden to the average citizen in any way, continue to fail miserably in their jobs. They are appointed by your state legislators. When will you get angry enough to take action? When you start making noise about firing your legislators over the craptacular performance of the friends they appoint to the bench, you might see some changes.
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I tried to post this in the comments to P&C’s story. But my comments have stopped appearing there. Must be tired of me.
Yeah, nobody reads their stuff much anymore, anyway. Andrew Knapp has been trying to improve the quality of the reporting, but the editorial policies there get in his way.
First, I’d like to point out that I am not agreeing with or am supportive of this activity, however, this is how it was explained to me. Maybe the explanation will help others.
The Solicitor’s Office receives 500 cases a month (not a real number, one merely for this explanation). It can effectively handle 100 of those cases (due to available judges, court rooms, and prosecutors). What this means is that in January the office received 500, dealt with 100, which left them at 400. In February they received 500 cases (total of 900 unresolved over two months) and dealt with 100 (total of 800 unresolved). In March they received 500 (total of 1300) and handled 100 (total 1200). You can see how this is an issue. With so many cases coming in, add to that the reports they receive that make a good collar not prosecutable. Officers leave information out, leave holes where questions, and doubt, fester, or mishandle evidence.
The Solicitor’s Office goal is not to put bad guys in jail. It is to clear a docket. Part of it may be so the don’t look bad (look, I win 90% of the cases I try) but some of it may have to deal with that pesky right to a speedy trial thing. Maybe not.
Point is, it isn’t all their fault. Part of it rests squarely on the shoulder’s of the community. Those people that accept Mr. Blake as a good boy in a bad situation. Those that say he was scared or wasn’t thinking straight. Those that say he didn’t have choices like others did. It is their fault just as much as it is the Solicitors. They all enable him. Or the legislators that push for crime reduction by changing laws to be less harsh (a grand larceny used to be anything over $1000, now it’s anything over $2000.
None of this helps Officer Goldstein, though. I hope he has a speedy recovery. Thanks for putting yourself out there. Now if we could just get the community and our elected leaders to have an ounce of the courage you had to change their perspective so that! maybe, this won’t happen for a long while.