Cody Journell arrested and charged with Class 2 Felony

[CUTigerTillDeath]

I feel so bad for this kid. Awhile back I was over at a friends house and me and another person there ended up getting into a fight (stupid decisions over women), and a chick there who didn't like me called the cops. I then left, and when the cops came and left I made the stupid decision to go back to the house because my friends were there. The cops were called back by the same girl and I was arrested.

I was vastly overcharged with CLASS 3 FELONY BURGLARY and ended up getting the charge dropped because of it. My buddy who owned the house even told them he didn't want to press any charges but the cops said they had the right to do so for him in this instance. It was actually snowing in south carolina at the time and I ended up being stuck in jail for 2 1/2 weeks waiting for bail to get set because those felonies allow them to deny bond. Cops can be real dicks and abuse their power. I hope this kid gets the charge dropped, there was 3 of them and a(one) weapon. We don't even know this kids role in the incident. You have to feel for the kid because with all of the things kids are exposed to today, they don't realize how bad their actions can effect their future, and how serious the consequences for doing stuff like this are.

It just goes to show you how messed up our judicial system is. For example, say a kid from a poor family makes a stupid mistake and gets overcharged for doing something stupid, such as this, just because the crime fits the "definition" of a charge. Their parents can't afford a good lawyer to defend them and the kid has never been through anything like this before and doesn't know what to do. That kid could end up spending 20 years in PRISON for making a stupid mistake. I can hear his appointed lawyer now with 50 other clients he is worrying about saying, "ok buddy I got you a great deal, you only do 5-10 years OF THE PRIME OF YOUR LIFE if you plead guilty." FUCK THOSE BASTARDS, all they care about is getting fucking money, even if they ruin peoples lives.

 

[Chrish1023]

It just goes to show you how messed up our judicial system is. For example, say a kid from a poor family makes a stupid mistake and gets overcharged for doing something stupid, such as this, just because the crime fits the "definition" of a charge. Their parents can't afford a good lawyer to defend them and the kid has never been through anything like this before and doesn't know what to do. That kid could end up spending 20 years in PRISON for making a stupid mistake. I can hear his appointed lawyer now with 50 other clients he is worrying about saying, "ok buddy I got you a great deal, you only do 5-10 years OF THE PRIME OF YOUR LIFE if you plead guilty." FUCK THOSE BASTARDS, all they care about is getting fucking money, even if they ruin peoples lives.

Those lawyers are way too busy trying to figure out how to keep actual criminals from being convicted! That's what the system is all about these days. And yeah it is some bs. I mean there are certain situations when people should get in trouble, but arresting people just for the sake of arresting them is ridiculous. Cody should play the football player card; worked out for donte stallworth, ray lewis, jerome simpson, and countless others that i can't think of off the top of my head.

 

[wildturkey]

Those lawyers are way too busy trying to figure out how to keep actual criminals from being convicted! That's what the system is all about these days. And yeah it is some bs. I mean there are certain situations when people should get in trouble, but arresting people just for the sake of arresting them is ridiculous. Cody should play the football player card; worked out for donte stallworth, ray lewis, jerome simpson, and countless others that i can't think of off the top of my head.

Actual criminals? That makes it sound like what Cody and Crew did wasn't very serious as if its some "boys will be boys" stuff. They did something quite serious. Pretty damn stupid as well and they better thank God it didn't end up worse. If they would have pulled that shit on some people in my neck of the woods, there's a good chance they'd be dead. They're not waiting around to see if the people invading their home with a fake gun are serious or not.

 

[Chrish1023]

Actual criminals? That makes it sound like what Cody and Crew did wasn't very serious as if its some "boys will be boys" stuff. They did something quite serious. Pretty damn stupid as well and they better thank God it didn't end up worse. If they would have pulled that shit on some people in my neck of the woods, there's a good chance they'd be dead. They're not waiting around to see if the people invading their home with a fake gun are serious or not.

It was more of a statement regarding the current state of the american legal system than it was the severity of the crimes committed by Journell and Co. What he did can only be described as stupid and for his sake, I hope his life isn't ruined because of this.

 

[HokieEsq]

With all of this talk of bashing defense attorneys, let us not forget who charged the offense (the police and magistrate judge) and who prosecutes it: the prosecutor. They can reduce the charge at any time. They have "discretion" to drop a charge if they want to. They are the ones who would be asking for a deal that involves months-years. It's not the defense attorney proposing a deal that would screw their client over, it's the prosecutor.

And if the justice system is skewed, it's skewed by giving too much power to the prosecution: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/u...rs-push-for-plea-bargains.html?pagewanted=all

Virginia has tough sentences, has jury sentencing, and the prosecution has rights to ask for jury trials in cases such as this one. If that happened, and the jury convicted after a trial, then they would be giving 20 years on a class 2 felony.

 

[VT_Football_Fan]

I would hate to see them get 20 years HokieEsq. Just my personal opinion but I think thats way too much given every thing.

 

[HokieEsq]

I agree. This is a situation that doesn't deserve anything like twenty years. Or hell, even one year. (I was just pointing out that Virginia's criminal justice system can be weighted heavily against anyone charged with an offense).

There is something going on here that needs to be addressed. I don't what it is, because I am getting my information from the news and this board, but before we (society) start judging anyone, we need to know exactly what they are going through and try to fix the situation. I don't think that these are bad or broken kids. I think (assuming that everything is true) that someone wasn't thinking and did a stupid thing. Thank goodness no one got hurt. But jail isn't going to correct the problem, it may even make it worse.

I have to stop talking about this, . I just hope that CJ makes it out of this a better man and that the team can learn from this situation.

But let's focus on the Sugar Bowl and beating one of the most storied programs in college football.

Go Hokies!

 

[wildturkey]

I think you all need to stop looking at the maximum sentence for every crime and panicking.

 

[HokieChamp]

5 years with probation and a hefty fine would be my guess for CJ's role in this mess...but as others have said, it really depends on the evidence presented, the defense and prosecution attorneys, judge and jury as to what goes down.

 

[VTscores]

Cody has been released on bail, as he was thought not to be a danger to the victim, and the weapon that was used by his roommate was described by the Commonwealth's Attorney as a Crossman PRO77 BB Gun.

 

[NickVT10]

I haven't been following this too much lately. Was the break in still believed to be over a drug deal?

 

[VTscores]

I haven't been following this too much lately. Was the break in still believed to be over a drug deal?

No additional info on that.

 

[NickVT10]

I don't think they should be getting very much time for this but there should be penalties beyond probation which is a joke. Community service and a good dose of it would be the best thing IMO. Even if they weren't holding the BB gun they still knew what they were doing and the purpose of the weapon to scare and intimidate as if it was a real gun. I still think CJ should be off the team as well as any other player who commits a legit crime. (not some speeding ticket) It pisses me off to no end when these guys get away with things normal guys go to jail for and still get to play football on a scholarship.

 

[VTscores]

I don't think they should be getting very much time for this but there should be penalties beyond probation which is a joke. Community service and a good dose of it would be the best thing IMO. Even if they weren't holding the BB gun they still knew what they were doing and the purpose of the weapon to scare and intimidate as if it was a real gun. I still think CJ should be off the team as well as any other player who commits a legit crime. (not some speeding ticket) It pisses me off to no end when these guys get away with things normal guys go to jail for and still get to play football on a scholarship.

I'm not sure the number of people that go to jail for this kind of thing on a first offense is very high. Time for Journell to do some serious thinking about where he wants his life to go, though.

 

[HokieEsq]

This is all based upon a conviction, which hasn't happened yet, but...

With this being a BB-gun active jail time is probably not in the cards. It comes down to the sentencing judge, but the recommendation should be for a suspended sentence, probation and whatever other requirements the judge puts on him. I don't know the judge down in Montgomery County, so this is based upon the average judge.

Community service, not likely, unless it is part of a plea-deal. The biggest part of this is the felony conviction. It's like a big "F" tattoo on you when you try to get a job. Probation, well, it's being supervised, likely doing drug-tests and staying out of trouble. Screw that up and you can go to jail/prison. It's not like Lindsay Lohan probation here in Virginia.

 

[Lumbee09]

I haven't been following this too much lately. Was the break in still believed to be over a drug deal?

Been away for a few days so haven't been able to get online.

To answer your question, yes this break-in was over drugs. CJ and friends believed that Sean Allen stole marijuana (I believe 10 ounces) from them. The break in was them trying to get back at Allen.

The fact that this is all about drugs can't help their case.

 

[Sleepy T]

Been away for a few days so haven't been able to get online.

To answer your question, yes this break-in was over drugs. CJ and friends believed that Sean Allen stole marijuana (I believe 10 ounces) from them. The break in was them trying to get back at Allen.

The fact that this is all about drugs can't help their case.

No, it cannot help their case at all. And if that much (reefer) was actually involved and the law enforvement knows that (even second hand), its not like that is just a little bit. You are getting up close to a pound there and that opens up all kinds of other doors including the authorities asking questions about trafficking and distribution (not that they could prove it..but it could come into play if you know what I mean (cough<informant>cough>). I think the fact that he is a FB player may even hurt him more than help him .

 

[wildturkey]

I doubt they could do anything severe unless they actually got some "dope on the table" (The Wire FTW!). I'd imagine it opens things up for search warrants however. I would advise Mr. Hudson to clean out his apartment of anything suspicious ASAP.