My sister-in-law was sentenced today in Judge John Rochester's court in Ashland. I was halfway there when my transmission went haywire and did not make it to the sentencing. My brother did though.
He called me a few minutes ago and said that she was sentenced to 5 years but that the sentence was suspended so that she will go to treatment for six months and then be on probation afterwards.
You know, it's amazing. Ever since Judge Rochester's son was caught trafficking drugs at the Ashland City Park he has done a 180 on every drug defendant I know who has come before him. This is the fourth person that I know personally who was up on serious drug charges who got the same sentence. Treatment and 5 years probation. One of those was a trafficking charge where the defendant was on tape selling to an undercover officer. And he was black to boot! It wasn't the first offense for any of them. In two of the cases the defendant had a record close to a mile long, so to speak.
It's really funny how quickly a hanging judge will change his fucking tune when the laws he has so religiously enforced for years and years come back to bite him in the ass after it is discovered that his own son is nothing more than a common drug trafficker. No better or worse than the hundreds of poor Clay County people he has sentenced to be tortured in an Alabama prison cell over the years.
What I'd really like to know is if he actually fully understands the folly of the drug war now that it has come home to roost or if he is just putting on airs so that he doesn't look like a hypocrite?
Ditching The News
1 day ago
26 comments:
He's been giving people the treatment option for years. You are just now catching on.
Nonsense. Utter nonsense. I grew up there and have been in his courtroom many times during that time and many since and until his son got wrapped he cared nothing for treatment. One of his favorite lines when a lawyer would ask for treatment was "There's a SAP program in prison." Apparently that SAP program isn't good enough for his own child but everyone elses be damned. I know many, many people who have been sent to prison by him for pissant drug charges...and so do you. His record will show that.
Find it.
I've followed your posts and admire your courage.
My question is: if what you say is true and Judge Rochester has in fact changed his sentencings for whatever reason--either due to a reality check, or, as you suspect, simply a way to cover himself regarding his present family dilemma--does he deserve and recieve any encouragement and possibly forgiveness for the effort?
Is generosity in the spirit of forgiveness something that could possibly be directed toward him, or is the hatred regarding past grievances to dominate the present and future?
I'm personally very interested in the idea of forgiveness and sad that there's so little to go around.
Mr Obama seems to grasp the concept. Interesting man.
Loretta just wanted u to know u got a new fan and i enjoy reading your blog. It all hits home..Keep u the good work and keep giving those goverment officials hell. Hopefully all your hard work will pay off someday..
RR Burma...yes there is a very real aspect of forgivness and it is my hope that Judge Rochester will continue handing out sentences in a compassionate way as long as he is on the bench and hopefully one day even speak out against the drug war and join our side to try and reverse some of the damage done to human lives by these inhumane prohibition policies. LEAP would welcome him with open arms.
Courage?? You hide behind some dumb blog. Forgiveness? What does he need forgiveness for? He does his job well. Complain about the laws, but leave the poor guy alone!! You have started all of the aggressive attacks on him. You need to be the one asking for forgiveness. You and RR BURMA!!
He would definitely be deserving of forgiveness, if he truly has seen the light and has not just started ruling this way because his son is/was in the courts for this very thing.
Only time will tell.
@Anonymous
You're getting angry about someone "hiding" behind a blog -- someone who's blogging using their real name, mind you -- while you're using the name "anonymous."
What is it with some people and not understanding hypocrisy?
Just look up the damn word: HYPOCRISY.
Definition: makes you look like an idiot.
Loretta isn't 'hiding behind some dumb blog' you anon dipshit. Her name is used everywhere on this blog as is her phone number and address in some cases. How exactly is that 'hiding'?
My daughter was the victim of Judge Rochester a few years ago. She had just gotten out of an abusive marriage and had started dating another man. One day he asked her to take him to the park to see his cousin. While he was at the park he gave his cousin a pain pill that he had a prescription for. His cousin was caught with it and told where it had come from.
My daughter was arrested simply for driving her boyfriend to the park. Judge Rochester set her bail at $60,000 and sentenced her to five years in prison. She never trafficked drugs.
While she was in prison I had to raise her kids. We all went through absolute hell for the job you say Rochester 'does well'. He better hope God firgives him for what he has done to my daughter and a lot of other people here in Clay County because I damn sure never will. And if he is stupid enough to run again for re-election in a few years I'll personally take out ads in the paper and put signs on every corner letting people know how when his son got caught TRAFFICKING drugs he used his power as a judge to make sure he got treated special. We may be poor around here but we ain't stupid. I think he should resign now.
Loretta is very courageous for letting the public know when their elected officials are fucking them. And she signs her name to the things she says.
I'll sign my initials so that Loretta knows who I am. I am afraid if I were to use my name Rochester will come after me in some way. I know some other people around here who have had similar experiences with Judge Rochester. I am going to let them know about this blog so they can come here and share their horror stories so everyone can see what Judge Rochester was like before his son got arrested.
I wish criminals would stopping blaming others! Their lawyers, their judges, the police who arrested them, but not themselves.
PS I went to school with Loretta and she is as two faced then as she is now.
Hey anon...do you wish that John Alexander Rochester would also take his medicine like others have to? He is a criminal now as well...except he has a rich daddy to pull political strings and get him out of trouble. Apparently punishment is reserved for those who can't afford justice.
Your 'two faced' comment is bullshit. How is exposing a two faced hypocritical judge who thinks the court system is for every drug trafficker except his precious boy being two faced? You're just pissed because you got caught being a piece of shit. You can call names all you want but that doesn't change the fact that you are a piece of shit who doesn't like getting your ass busted down in public.
You have a problem with Judge Rochester, Judge Simpson, Fred Thompson, Derek Forbes, Keith Warren, and all lawyers in Ashland. Sounds like you have a thing against authority or maybe your jealous of smart productive people. You don't have a job so you have to shit on people that do. You think you're so smart, but your addition holds you back.
It's amazing just how little you know about me anon. My job is to watch the court system and point out abuses by those in power. I'm damn good at it too, as you can see.
All of the people you mentioned abuse the power granted to them by the people. Rochester, Simpson and Thompson all colluded and conspired to see that Alex Rochester got and continues to get special treatment in this drug trafficking case. You find me one other case in Clay County Alabama where bonds were set as low for a drug trafficking case as they were in Alex's case. Find me one case where someone charged with six felonies, four of which are drug trafficking, got to go to treatment. You will never find them because it has never happened before.
Forbes abused his power as a police officer to steal drugs for his own personal use, while putting those he stole them from in jail by testifying against them in the kangaroo court of Ashland.
Warren is about the sorriest excuse for a lawyer anywhere. Hell, most times you'd think he was working for the prosecution. His job whether appointed or hired is to defend his clients. But he doesn't do that, at least not in the cases that I am familiar with. He threatens the clients with scary stories about long sentences and convinces them to take plea deals when there is ample evidence to get the case thrown out. He does not play the advocate for the client that he is supposed to. He goes along to get along and people who have him appointed really have no chance at all. Referring to them as 'criminals' as his camel voiced secretary did should tell anyone all they need to know about him and his skills as a defense attorney.
Your arguments are weak, personal attacks one might associate with a high school student. They do nothing to refute the obvious corruption in the Clay County court system or the clear implications that Alex Rochester is getting special treatment in this case.
Did you read what DC in Ashland wrote? Can you get your head around the unimaginable nightmare this person has lived and continues to live because Rochester sent him to prison over one pill? Can you not understand why people who know about this case are angry as hell about it? What don't you get? What don't you understand?
DC in Ashland....I am sorry for what you have endured. However, I feel that your comments about Katie in high school are inappropriate. I would remove that part but I am unable to edit comments and since your comment is important for people to see I do not want to take it down.
Your argument and testimony about what you have lived through are powerful enough in their own regard. There is no need to resort to the same pointless personal attacks that those defending the judges actions are resorting to. They do that because they have no defense or credible argument. That is not the case with your story.
I would appreciate it if you would repost your comment without all of the high school stuff in it.
This is DC is Ashland. Judge Rochester sentenced me to 5 years in prison for one xanax. I had no prior offenses and qualified for youthful offender status because I was just a kid. Judge Rochester denied the motion for youthful offender and sent me to prison.
Things happened to me in prison that I rarely ever speak of. But this occasion calls for me to revisit those awful times to show people what a monster Rochester is and how he cares nothing for other people's lives or kids.
Since I was just a kid and not a hardened criminal horrible things happened to me in prison. I was raped repeatedly. Now I am infected with Hep C and I have to be tested for HIV every six months. All for one xanax.
Meanwhile Alex Rochester, who I went to school with and used drugs with gets to sit in a nice safe treatment center when he is charged with a much more serious offense than I was. When my lawyer requested treatment Judge Rochester said just what Loretta claims he says to most everyone who used to ask for treatment. "There's a SAP program in prison."
My life is forever damaged. I'll likely never be able to marry because no one wants a disease or to be afraid for the rest of their life that their partner might suddenly develop HIV. All for one fucking pill. I didn't deserve any of this. I had and have to this day never harmed anyone.
To the vicious little person posting things about Loretta in high school Good God you are a fool. I went to high school with the Rochester kids and the daughter Katie used to tell people that "My daddy will put your daddy in prison" instead of "My daddy can beat up your daddy." She was a stupid, big nosed, self-absorbed, holier-than-thou person then and apparently she still is. She has this superiority complex, thinks she is better than everybody else and therefore entitled to being treated special.
I hope Alex goes to prison. Fair is fair after all and if Judge Rochester really believed in the justice system then he would stop interfering with the process and let his boy get what is coming to him. I hope that Alex doesn't get raped in prison. No one deserves that. No one.
Loretta, I am sorry for my earlier comments and momentary lapse of reason. Reading people defending these actions is hard to take.
STOP PRISONER RAPE
Thank you for editing and reposting your comment DC. I appreciate that.
I NEVER said any of that about my father. My dad has never been in a fight in his life. Why would I say that? Why lie about me? I'm sorry that you hate me and my father. I'm sorry that I have a big nose, and that you would attack someone that isn't even in this conversation. I hope my own brother goes to jail too, for his own good. I'm the one getting hurt and attacked and I haven't done anything. I try to do the right thing and follow all laws. Why am I getting attacked?
DC is a liar!!!
sucks you went to jail, but what does that have to do with katie? why hammer her? she was cool in high school and she is pretty.
why doesn't dc sue the jail system?
sounds like hiv girl is bitter. I bet she'd rather have a big nose than hiv.
DC is a liar. find out the facts.
DC Ashland. I am confused? Why get mad at the sentencing judge, when a whole system failed you before you reached him? Hes just sentencing you from guidelines. Why not be angry at the officer that arrested you for one xanax or the DA for bringing charges or your lawyer for not getting you a deal. This story just doesn't sound right and making fun of the judges daugther says a lot. Loretta you got so angry you posted a blog when someone googled your children. Why post something hateful about the rochester girl?
Wow. I leave for a day and get 20 comments on this thread, 18 of which are from the same IP address as the one the person claiming to be Katie Rochester posted from. Many of them responding to comments made but not yet posted. You give yourself away too eaisly.
And what a bunch of drivel they are.
Here a man named DC in Ashland shared what must be the worst experience of his life and all Ms. Rochester can do is whine because he said she had a big nose, thereby proving what he claimed about her personality in school. Amazing...just amazing.
The high school comments are just hysterically funny. Especially considering they are likely coming from a person who still rides round and round the square and around Dairy Queen on Friday and Saturday nights.
You people supporting Rochester in this are vile.
To the monster who thinks it's cute that I could possibly have HIV due to being raped in prison all I have to say is there is a special place in hell for you. I don't have HIV I have Hep C. I am a man and not a woman. Is man on man rape easy to make fun of too? Wonder if you will think its funny when it happens to Alex. It happens every day in prison.
To the person who asked why I haven't sued theres a a lot of reasons. The rape reports I filed in prison disappeared. There is no record that I ever filed them. How convinent. I'm sure they are all destroyed because if everybody who got raped in prison sued then Alabama would go broke. No records = No lawsuit. Even if I had records I wouldn't be able to afford a lawyer and no lawyer wants to take a case like mine if there ain't no reports from prison. They sure ain't gone take it for free cuase they know there gonna lose.
To the one who said I'm lying. Prove it. State some facts for everyone here to see. If you got some then lets see them.
And to Katie you proved just what I said. You ain't changed a bit.
DC in Ashland
Post a Comment