The criminal just system failed Marlina Medrano in so many ways.
When Medrano contacted the police about be assaulted by Thomas Hartless and he left with a handgun, in my opinion an arrest warrant should have been put out for him due to the facts that (1) he threatened to kill her (2) it wasn’t the first time he threatened her, and (3) he left with a handgun which was a felony due to his prior felony conviction. My thoughts are the criminal justice system failed to protect Medrano as the police knew of all of this and didn’t issue a warrant until 11 days later.
When Hartless went to court for this, he pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. The criminal justice system failed here again. The victim, Medrano, had been threated and Hartless committed a felony by
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The system failed here again by not putting him in jail.
Two months later Hartless attempted to run over Medrano as she ran from him. Although a police report was taken, he fled the scene. It was never mentioned if this attempt of murder was in the police report. It was just mentioned that Medrano was seeking medical attention for an early injury. If it this was in the police report, this should have been an attempted murder charge.
Judge Michael Higgins found him guilty of three separate counts of domestic violence on and sentenced him to 90 days in jail and attend a batterer’s group. The court system failed here again as Hartless only served 11 days in jail and was placed on one year’s probation. This lenient double standard sentence was given with little value due to his violent background.
When Hartless went to his appointment with his probation officer, he was given a risk assessment but the probation officer failed to complete a second MANDATORY assessment to measure his readiness for behavior