Florida man goes to jail for 2 years for rap song with threats.

madfloridian

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Fri Jul-31-09 01:12 AM
Original message

Florida man goes to jail for 2 years for rap song with threats.

Edited on Fri Jul-31-09 01:18 AM by madfloridian

ACLU is looking at the case, as is a lawyer from Orlando. They are concerned that some rights were violated.

Lakeland Man Goes To Prison For a Song

Picture from Lakeland Ledger

LAKELAND | Authorities say a Lakeland man who used music to vent his frustrations with law enforcement will spend two years in prison for writing a threatening rap song.

Antavio Johnson, 20, was charged with two counts of corruption by threat of a public servant after a Polk County gang detective found the song on a MySpace page belonging to Hood Certified Entertainment in February. In his song, "Kill Me a Cop," Johnson mentions two Lakeland police officers by name, according to the Sheriff's Office.

He said the ACLU may look into Johnson's case. Lawrence Walters, an Orlando lawyer who is not affiliated with Johnson's case, said he's also concerned that Johnson's rights were violated. The Web site for his law firm - Weston, Garrou, Walters & Mooney - says the firm is "dedicated to the defense of freedom and the protection of creative expression."

"I believe that these lyrics were protected by the First Amendment," Walters said.

The fact that the song was put on a public site does not mean that it was a direct threat, Walters said.

Everyone in Central Florida knows that there are tough sentences handed out in the area.

Punishments in Polk Courts often extreme.

..." 20-year prison sentence slapped on Orville Lee Wollard in Bartow a few days ago for shooting a revolver inside his house to scare his daughter's 17-year-old boyfriend with no injury to anyone. Judge Donald Jacobsen imposed sentence."

.."2 years in prison given to Lindsay Justine Kezal in Bartow for a 2006 DUI collision that killed her 4-year-old daughter. Judge Michael Raiden imposed sentence."

.."Some old-timers might remember his "Christmas Beer" fiasco in which he sentenced John Edwin Powell to 15 years in prison for smuggling eight cold Budweisers into Lakeland Community Correctional Institution on Christmas Eve in 1986. Then there was the case of Joseph Woods of Winter Haven who Durrance sentenced to six months for uttering a four-letter word within his honor's earshot. (I guess the judge doesn't go to many movies.)"

.."On Thursday, Durrance sentenced a man involved in a car crash that killed five people to five consecutive life sentences. He then lectured Juan Rodriguez, reminding him about all the things he won't get to do with his unborn son.

...'In 1984, he rendered a judgment against a witness who wasn't even a party to a lawsuit. After hearing the testimony, Durrence summarily excused the original defendant, named the witness as a defendant and entered a judgment against her for $566. The ruling was reversed by another judge.

In 1987, he sentenced an inmate in a work-release program to 15 years behind bars for bringing eight cans of beer into a corrections facility on Christmas Eve.

In 1989, he jailed his cousin. He ordered the Fort Meade man held in jail on charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct. A legal expert interviewed at the time said Durrance should have stayed out of a case involving a relative.

Many of his sentences were overturned by appellate judges. Between 1987 and 1989, the Lakeland-based 2nd District Court of Appeal issued 48 opinions on Durrance's cases, with 18 reversals. That's more than one-third of his cases -- 37.5 percent."

..."On Thursday, Durrance sentenced a man involved in a 2003 Winter Haven car crash that killed five people to five consecutive life sentences. He then lectured Juan Rodriguez, reminding him about all the things he won't get to do with his unborn son.

This sentence for writing a rap song seems almost like pre-crime, thought crime, that a crime might be done in the future. Possible future crime.

While I don't approve of threatening to kill anyone...I do get uncomfortable feelings about this one.