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Dukes trial scratched after plea
Published Tuesday, February 2, 2010
VIDALIA — The trial date for a Vidalia man accused of murder has been scratched off the Seventh Judicial District Court calendar after he pleaded guilty to lesser charge two weeks ago.
Ricardo Dukes was to stand trial today for the stabbing death of Frank Holmes, 50. Dukes pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge Jan. 22, Assistant District Attorney Ann Siddall said Monday.
First charged with second-degree murder, Dukes initially rejected a plea bargain offered by the DA’s office in December.
Dukes’ sentence hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. March 5. He faces a maximum 40-year sentence without benefits, Siddall said.
“This means he cannot be probated or have a suspension,” Siddall said.
Louisiana Department of Corrections officers will conduct a pre-sentencing investigation, and the family of Holmes will have an opportunity to speak on the victim’s behalf at the sentence hearing.
“Some of the evidence that would have been presented at trial will be presented to court at that time,” Siddall said.
The Dukes case began April 2, 2008, when emergency responders found Holmes unconscious and with no pulse on the bathroom floor of 103A John Dale Drive. He had two stab wounds to his chest.
Police at the time said witnesses at the scene identified Dukes as the suspect.
The stabbing was reportedly the result of an argument that escalated following an evening of otherwise friendly drinking.
Comments
Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on February 2, 2010 at 11:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
looks like he'll spend the rest of his life behind bars.....doesn't LA have the death penalty for murder? oh yeah he pled to a lesser charge, did the state have to show him such mercy?
Posted by snowgarden (anonymous) on February 3, 2010 at 8:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I just love how if they admit to being guilty, they can get a lesser charge and spend less time in jail. Sometimes our system is a crock.
Posted by consider_reason (anonymous) on February 3, 2010 at 8:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
2nd Degree murder penalty - Whoever commits the crime of second degree murder shall be punished by life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
Manslaughter penalty - Whoever commits manslaughter shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not more than forty years. However, if the victim killed was under the age of ten years, the offender shall be imprisoned at hard labor, without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence, for not less than ten years nor more than forty years.
If the judge doesn't tank the sentencing for some political gain, he's looking at most of his natural life.
If you were up on 2nd degree and you had life as an outcome, wouldn't you take it to trial and hope for a technicality to get off?
It's not a matter of anything but cost efficiency and expediency; 40 years vs a lifetime and a week of trial vs no time at all.
This one is squarely in the judges lap - I dont know who is doing the sentencing, but you have one who almost always looks out for the poor downtrodden (example, asks every guest of the parish "have you been abused or mistreated by law enforcement at anytime") or one who is due to retire and has nothing to worry about no matter what they do.
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