Life Without for J.J.?

Our favorite sociopaths number around 10. Unless we've miscalculated, all but one are either incarcerated or awaiting trial on some new charge. When we write about one in particular, his family/friends/girlfriend always accuse us of some sort of vendetta or even fascination with that particular criminal. We understand that kind of thinking has its own term in aberrant psychology, but we won't go into that today.

Current Status of Case

No, today we're discussing John James Common, aka J.J., who is currently incarcerated in the Franklin County Jail in lieu of 350K bond. We doubt that he's getting out before his court date. Charges? Attempted Murder, Shooting into an Occupied Building (home with three people inside), and three counts of drug trafficking, not to mention a few counts of simple drug possession.

That brings us to the habitual offender law in Alabama. We're not sure how many previous convictions J.J. has. We do know he has both state and federal convictions that include trafficking, assault, and arson. If convicted on the current charges, trafficking being the key if not the attempted murder, with J.J.'s three previous felonies, he will be looking at a mandatory life sentence. If three of those previous felony convictions were for violent crimes (and we're not sure about that one in J.J.'s case), he would be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

J.J.'s current girlfriend has written us to tell us what a changed man he is. It seems the community college student was on his way to Bible study when he was arrested this past month. Will this carry any weight in a case with video footage of both the shooting and the arrest (depicting the drug haul found in J.J.'s vehicle)? Remember, he hasn't been out of the legal system in 15 years.

Community college? We're pretty sure there's no financial aid for those with drug convictions within the past five years. Even with the caring family that we're told J.J. has, living is expensive. A little drug dealing can go a long way toward those extra expenses.

No, we don't see a way for J.J. to beat this one. We're stocking up on popcorn...

*****

For those who say the legal system is skewed toward prosecuting blacks, think of J.J. running free for so long after so many convictions, yet Wes Akin, with no convictions for violent crimes, sits in the Limestone Correctional Facility doing 25 years.