Man gets 45 years in Central Austin purse snatching - Polidicks

[quote] A man who was caught on video snatching the purse of an 84-year-old woman outside a Central Austin Sears last year was sentenced to 45 years in prison Thursday, according to prosecutors. Senior state District Judge Bob Perkins sentenced Willie James Sauls, 37, who was found guilty of aggravated robbery by a Travis County jury on Tuesday. Prosecutors Geoffrey Puryear and Amy Meredith said Sauls has previous convictions for retaliation and robbery and is a street gang member. In arguing for a long sentence, Puryear said he noted that Sauls has been to prison and "already had chances to address the issues with his behavior." Puryear said that on Sept. 19, Sauls was in the Sears at the Hancock Center, 1000 E. 41st St., for 30 to 45 minutes before the robbery. "The state's argument was that he was choosing a very vulnerable victim," Puryear said. Store surveillance video showed Sauls moments before the robbery opening the door into the garden center for the woman, according to a police affidavit. As she reached the door, Sauls grabbed her purse and jerked it, launching her into the air and to the ground, the affidavit said. Sauls then ran to a white SUV and drove off, the affidavit said. Prosecutors said the woman suffered bruises up and down her body and still can't completely lift one arm because of a shoulder injury sustained in the attack. She testified that among the items that were in her purse, which was not recovered, were a Bible she has had since the 1950s and a credit card, prosecutors said. That card was later used in a $99 transaction at a Shell station, they said. Police released video of the attack to the media in the hopes of identifying the robber. Meredith and Puryear said it worked: Several people, including Sauls' ex-girlfriend, came forward to identify him. Sauls' was the second 45-year sentence doled out in Travis County for robbery in recent months. In June, a jury sentenced Steven Lawrence Keller, 30, to 45 years for punching a woman, taking her purse and leaving her collapsed in a heap outside the Liberty bar in East Austin last year. That attack was also captured on video.[/quote] [url]http://www.statesman.com/news/local/man-gets-45-years-in-central-austin-purse-2432200.html[/url] Fuck, 45 for that?

Before anyone goes crazy: [quote][B] Sauls has previous convictions for retaliation and robbery and is a street gang member.[/B][/quote] As well as: [quote][B] Puryear said he noted that Sauls has been to prison and "already had chances to address the issues with his behavior."[/B][/quote] And also, he really hurt the woman: [quote][B]Prosecutors said the woman suffered bruises up and down her body and still can't completely lift one arm because of a shoulder injury sustained in the attack[/B][/quote]

Not just that though, says he had previous convictions for retaliation and robbery and is a member of a street gang.

What do we know, maybe he was already convicted for something else, previously! [sp]:v[/sp]

[QUOTE=Morris Vander;37168318]Before anyone goes crazy: As well as: And also, he really hurt the woman:[/QUOTE] I don't think any of that justifies 45 years.

Sensationalist headlines at its best.

[QUOTE=ThisGuy0;37168901]I don't think any of that justifies 45 years.[/QUOTE] Robbery, seriously injuring a woman, [I]being a bloody gang member[/I] isn't 45 years to you? sounds perfectly fair to me.

[QUOTE=ThisGuy0;37168901]I don't think any of that justifies 45 years.[/QUOTE] Well that's what you get in a state that tends to lean towards the retribution side of justice. If he's been convicted multiple times and has had multiple warnings to clean up his act, eventually they'll just take him off the streets for good to save themselves the trouble.

If he has proven to be prone to antisocial behavior and refused rehabilitation, I think this sentence is justified, but it only serves to punish him instead of making him fit to rejoin society.

[quote]were a Bible she has had since the 1950s[/quote] Wow. You take care of that shit for 50-odd years and it gets snatched off you.

[QUOTE=ThisGuy0;37168901]I don't think any of that justifies 45 years.[/QUOTE] He had his chance to change and declined it. He's no good for anyone on the streets.

[QUOTE=ThisGuy0;37168901]I don't think any of that justifies 45 years.[/QUOTE] He was given multiple opportunities to turn his life around, and threw them all away. He can rot.

[QUOTE=Morris Vander;37168956]Robbery, seriously injuring a woman, [I]being a bloody gang member[/I] isn't 45 years to you? sounds perfectly fair to me.[/QUOTE] I haven't even lived half of that in my life. No doubt he should be punished, but 45 years is just a ridiculous number.

[QUOTE=Ridge;37176628]He was given multiple opportunities to turn his life around, and threw them all away. He can rot.[/QUOTE] Considering the quality of American prisons we probably wasn't given any opportunity at all. Most likely he was just tossed into a prison several times that treats him as less than human and then told not to do it again when his sentence was finished without even attempting to rehabilitate him. Really no surprise that he became a repeat offender.