Judge Raquel West SLAMS Teen With BRUTAL 25-Year Sentence — Family LOSES IT!

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: we're done at this we're done no we're done mr mendoza turn around you can say whatever you want but you're going to face me and you're going to get your sentence and if at this time i could give you more i would i promise you but i can't you don't like the whole situation hang on don't over talk me now it's just the time to listen i'm not giving you a bond because you couldn't act right while you were on bond which shows me that no that means i'm going to revoke your bond you're going to jail regardless you put a gun to somebody's head we're lucky you haven't killed somebody because that's the path you're on and mr jackson you were previously in court entered a plea of guilty to the second degree felony offense of engaging in organized criminal activity i've received the pre-sentence report as well as incident reports from the jefferson county jail has everyone had an opportunity to review all of that yes are there any additions or corrections [00:01:04] Speaker 2: no john judge only i i'm sure the court would like mr jackson to take a little bit of a possibility what he did in his version and i would also assume that his next contacts are going to be the talking to that everybody else in the jail is going to be [00:01:21] Speaker 1: mr jackson i've got 16 pages of jail incident reports each page holds two to four do the math on that and that's a lot of you being exceptionally disrespectful to the officers that are there and so what i'm wondering is why you think i mean since you entered your plea in this case you were caught with a shank two different types of shanks and you've been fighting you can speak where i can understand you first speak up you know what do you want to say [00:02:20] Speaker 3: i was talking to the guard i was talking to lieutenant i was trying to talk to him and get that long line they didn't find it on me [00:02:27] Speaker 1: no they found it in your bed [00:02:29] Speaker 3: oh it wasn't [00:02:30] Speaker 1: okay what about the other 16 pages what about telling the officers i don't have to do shit what about telling the officers i don't give a f about none of that what about that is that you over and over and over if you don't give a shit then why should we do you understand what i'm saying you want to spend your life in prison because that's what you're asking for it's no behavior for me to go oh let's just put him on probation it'll be great he's going to follow the rules you can't even follow the rules when you're locked up what makes me think you're going to follow him when you're out i mean the agreement that y'all have reached based on what i understand is very little criminal history mostly because you're young and you haven't had time to do a whole lot um what is the status of the harden county cases do we know [00:03:31] Speaker 4: yes your honor they're waiting for us to resolve these cases um and then they'll be next in line okay every uh when we come to court uh after we leave always inform them what we're doing so [00:03:41] Speaker 2: they're aware okay judge that kind of goes to the notion of obviously we were going to request that the court is in agreement with the following plea isf that he cannot do with those pending so our understanding and our agreement was for isf with the understanding that he would dispose of those cases very timely so that he can then go to isf with that's what fiscal rules okay so here's what [00:04:06] Speaker 1: i'm going to do mr jackson and the rest is going to be up to you okay i'm going to um follow the agreement that you made with the district attorney i'm going to find sufficient evidence to find you guilty however i'm not going to do that i'm going to defer all proceedings for a period of seven years you will be ordered to pay a 500 fine you will be ordered to enter and successfully complete the cognitive track of the isf program that is a whole program especially for you young people to hopefully help you to make better decisions but here's the thing about isf you're going to go to harden county from here take care of those cases and when you do get to isf one incident report is a violation of your probation zero tolerance so you're going to have to prove to me while you're waiting in jail in addition while you're waiting in jail to go to harris to harden county if i find out you misbehave in harden county any of those things are going to be violations of your probation you understand a condition of your probation is going to be that you are follow the rules in our jail in harden county jail and in isf whatever those rules are it's not going to be cussing at and calling names to the correctional officers who are just there doing their job it's not going to be fighting it's not going to be hiding things in your whatever you understand because you may never see the light of day you're going to be right back in here on a motion to revoke your probation and because this is a second degree felony if you are back in here the range of punishment if i find that you violated your probation is minimum two up to 20 years in prison you understand that okay if you take advantage of this opportunity and change the way you're acting and are you successful on this probation this is your chance of a lifetime today because you do not have a conviction on your record you're not a convicted felon and at the end of the probation period if you're successful uh the case gets dismissed you'll never be a convicted felon the other side again though one hiccup you're on zero tolerance from the beginning on this you're back in here with the motion to revoke and going to prison do you understand um a condition of your probation also if it's not in here is going to be that you are not allowed to be in the possession of or around any firearm um so if there are firearms in your house where you're living that aren't yours you they have to be locked up or you are not allowed to have them you're not allowed to have a firearm period do you understand okay okay just for the record uh we just believe that he'll be able [00:06:41] Speaker 4: to make this uh this probation and won't be back here his family is here they've always been here so they're ready to support him with whatever he needs to make sure that he makes it over to home i hope so [00:06:51] Speaker 1: i'm glad that they're here and here's the thing you probably don't like their rules either guessing from how you're acting i don't think you like anybody telling you what to do but at this point in your life until you get off this probation there's going to be a bunch of people telling you what to do and you're just going to have to take that because you're the one who engaged in this behavior right so grow up take responsibility good morning good morning how are you doing i'm okay how are you pretty good so you're corbin rayleigh yes ma'am and mr rayleigh you were here just last week or the week before and you pled guilty to an offense and you were told to go to the probation department do a free sentence report and i've gotten a um a memo from them that has some unfortunate information in here about how you acted while you were there and visiting with them yes ma'am uh i i was over the phone but [00:07:52] Speaker 3: you mean the lady was arguing and stuff i was just i just wanted the information uh on when i was supposed to link to these that was it that's that's not how this reads they were so frustrated with you [00:08:06] Speaker 1: that they said they will not do a pre-sentence report while you're on bond so do you know what that means no that means i'm going to revoke your bond and you're going to go to jail and then they're going to come to the jail and do the pre-sentence report and you're going to be respectful to them or i don't have to go along with this plea agreement yes so listen it's time to get a whole different attitude about all of this i understand i remember now when you were here you don't like the whole situation hang on don't over talk me because that's going to show me what you're doing to them okay now it's just the time to listen all right and just do what you're told there's not an excuse for what you did that's not you didn't just try to ask for some information okay they wouldn't [00:08:53] Speaker 3: have sent this they're very very patient i just i just want to listen i got a whole different view about it on the whole situation now too i just got to meet my son for the first time on friday so well [00:09:02] Speaker 1: this is very unfortunate so you'll but here's the thing there's no reason for you to still not get this probation but i don't have a choice now but to get this pre-sentence report done so i'm going to hang on i'm going to revoke your bond in your case at this time you're going to go with the bailiff probation is going to come to the jail they're going to do this pre-sentence report probably not today i'm not giving you a bond because you couldn't act right while you were on bond which shows me that [00:09:31] Speaker 3: that you see where i'm yeah can we can we just like revoke the deal and take it to trial i can't [00:09:36] Speaker 1: afford to go to jail please you're going to jail regardless why because do you want me to read the [00:09:43] Speaker 3: memo the whole thing yeah can we play the voice recordings of the phone call in here today too if that's the case because if she if you're just going to believe what she says then i believe i have the right to fight on the half of what i have to say we need to be able to play those phone you're going to [00:09:57] Speaker 1: go do that you're going to go do that pre-sentence report and you're going to go and hopefully be respectful and hopefully get this probation and not ruin your life over this so this is very long as you think i'll be in it's a very temporary situation mr rocos can come back and talk to you i'm revoking your bond at this time i find it's in the best interest until sentencing that they're not [00:10:15] Speaker 5: be a bond you can go back with the bailiff he pulls a gun on a 14 year old kid and steals not only that he's uh dirt bike but also a small amount of cash from that that 14 year old the psi indicates that 14 year old is so traumatized by this they can't even attend public school anymore judge uh when he was apprehended with that stolen dirt bike there was a vehicle associated with this defendant and in that vehicle were other subjects who had four firearms in that vehicle judge and as if that was not bad enough he goes on to uh to taunt the victim of the umv on social media as well judge he is useful i'll acknowledge that he does not have any adult criminal history on i would acknowledge that but your honor what he has engaged in is beyond the pale he needs prison time in my opinion and that's what we're asking this court to do if somehow in any way shape or form the court's considering community supervision we'd ask for shock probation some prison time uh up front then shock him out on community supervision judge again this is just beyond people but i think the psi speaks for itself thanks mr chopin [00:11:55] Speaker 1: these cases for me is your age are so hard and i have for a very long time tried very hard to give chances but all of the guns and the riding around i mean so you january 2019 you're put on january of 2019 you are put on probation juvenile probation you violated it one two three four five six on your seventh time to violate they finally sent you to tjjd right seven times you were given an opportunity you go to tjjd obviously you're not there very long because you get out and then in december of 2022 you commit an unlawful carrying a weapon evading arrest or detention and you're again put on probation you're given another opportunity in january of 2023 so in this year you were put on on probation for a gun case and an evading case while you're on that probation after you've been to tjjd you commit these three offenses while you're on probation so none none none of it makes sense that i want to do better and i mean all this riding around with guns and mask and stealing and it's just crazy it's just crazy um going to have to see the jury box i'm going to think about this one some more for a minute what i've done in addition to obviously just thinking about it and looking at all of this a little bit more is ask and get any incident reports that you've had since you've been in custody and mr chopin i appreciate mr lewis and what he's done and the arguments he's made for you and like i said before it it it it really kills me to what i feel like i have to do uh to you young people but we are in jefferson county tired of young people running around here with guns you put a gun to somebody's head we're lucky you haven't killed somebody because that's the path you're on you've had opportunities at probation and unfortunately those haven't worked you've actually already had two you were sent to tjjd you got out you still committed offenses and then you got probation again and then you're here so all this talk if i want to do right i'm going to do better is just a bunch of baloney the way you can't follow the rules in jail shows me same pattern you can't follow the rules so at this time and cause number 23 dccr 0993 i'm going to find sufficient evidence to find you guilty and at this time find you guilty of an authorized use of a vehicle going to sentence you to a term of two years in the state jail prison you will receive credit on that sentence for any time that you've been in custody that the law gives you the right to receive and cause number and these were all just open so in a cause number 23 dccr 0991 i'm going to find sufficient evidence to find you guilty and at this time find you guilty of evading arrest or detention with the use of a vehicle i'm going to sentence you to a term of 10 years in the institutional division of the texas department of corrections you will receive credit on that sentence for any time that you've been in custody that the law gives you the right to receive and cause number 23 dccr 0992 i'm going to find sufficient evidence to find you guilty and at this time find you guilty of aggravated robbery sentence you to a term of 25 years in the institutional division of the texas department of corrections you will receive credit on that sentence for any time that you've been in custody that the law gives you the right to receive i am making an affirmative weapon a finding of a deadly weapon these cases will run concurrently which means together at the same time so i am denying the state's motion to accumulate which is a gift to you um i am going to grant the state's motion to forfeit the weapon uh which is a taurus millennium g2 pistol bearing serial number t ip 10158 um i'm going to hand you i need a um there should be a admonishment showing that i signed it it wasn't a plea agreement but i don't see one printed out mr chopin i take no pleasure in giving out a sentence like this but i feel like what i have to do is protect jefferson county for people like you who have continued to show that you're just a danger and becoming more and more of a danger instead of learning from the opportunities that you've been given you will be handed in just a minute a trial court certification um in each of your cases that shows these weren't agreements so you do have rights to appeal and you can talk to mr lewis about that i hope you take advantage of any programs you're still young you're going to get out of prison and you're going to be young still and have a lot of your life ahead of you i hope what you do while you're in prison is do what you're saying you really want to do is get your life together there's programs you can get out you can have education when you get out they offer that and hopefully be a productive member of society instead of going down the wrong path that you've been going all right unless you can go back with the bailiff we'll get those forms i've printed out paid in fontanette mr rojas it's a sentencing good morning are you kayla uh kayden is fontanette and this is 25 dccr 1759 mr fontanette was previously in court entered a plea of guilty to the first degree felony offense of i've provided robbery it was an unagreed plea i've received the pre-sentence report have you both had an opportunity to review that report we have everyone the status judge are there any additions or corrections to the report not from the defense not from the state judge and mr coleman you said you have a witness or some evidence actually judge mr uh rohouse has uh [00:18:45] Speaker 6: graciously um stipulated to the admission of the surveillance video from the convenience store in question sorry i need to call my custodian record with the course creation first of all i'm offering [00:18:55] Speaker 1: states one no just make that states two because this one was the uh the plea admonishment documentation [00:19:01] Speaker 6: please i'm offering states two no objection states two is admitted permission publisher yes sir judge i think that's all i wish to publish unless the court wants to see the entire video but i think [00:19:13] Speaker 1: that's enough any other evidence and or witnesses oh just just brief argument any other evidence or um witnesses for um mr rohouse no you're not mr rohouse you may make argument for you and obviously after [00:19:27] Speaker 7: seeing that video it makes what we're asking for order to do what we're here asking for this morning judges probation mr fondness defend he is a young young offender i know the court is tired of seeing hearing the same story over and over in young guys with guns in here he's got a limited criminal history though i believe this is his first felony he's never been on any kind of felony supervision or felony probation unfortunately he's just fallen into the same situation that we see so many other useful offenders fall into he's got no direction in life he's very little supported and all i see no way out of the situation that he's in so he goes and decides to rob some money rob a store and get some money um did the wrong thing what and if his story in the psi is to be believing for what i believe is the right reason he's trying to help small men at home trying to pay some bills keep the lights on certainly there are better ways to go about doing that uh and i hope that the time in jail has taught mr fontanus said um sorry god he's you know we've got options here just we can send him to prison we can put him on probation certainly the the he's on the road with if this conduct continues he's on the road of prison i don't know that the day is the best time to make that exit for him you know he's got a long life to live we can send him to prison he can be there for a few years and come back out i don't know that he's going to get the help that he really needs in prison there are programs available on probation that if he's serious about turning his life around like he says in the psi those programs can help him and if he does take advantage of those it in turn would make the community a little bit safer because it'd be one less guy going around with a gun when he does get out of prison if that were the road that you chose to save went on living at home with his mom i think he has some some younger siblings there to his benefit he before he was even arrested he started the ged i think on the night that this happened uh he had just finished a gev class and made a dumb decision to go hang out with these guys that he should not have been hanging out with and uh did this robbery again judge you've got two options you can send him to prison or you can try to get him some help on on probation and hopefully he will take advantage of that and certainly if he doesn't we're going to know pretty quick and you'll have another chance to uh send him to prison probably for a longer time all right thank you uh what is [00:21:47] Speaker 1: the status of the other two uh code are there co-defendants have they been charged they have been charged judge and i have both of their cases and and they have not been um sentenced yet or anything like [00:21:59] Speaker 6: that okay all right go ahead mr yeah i'll be brief whether it's the pine club apartment so rogers park or a speedy mart uh you've seen this and we've seen this in this community all too often i'm preaching to the choir judge prayer vigils and advisory committees all that stuff's fine but you judge where the rubber meets the road you are you are that person that can protect the community from somebody like this defendant you are that person that can uh either let him walk out of this courtroom on probation with a piece of paper with conditions and promises that he won't resort to this kind of violence that you saw on that video or you can ensure that the community is safe by putting him behind steel bars concrete wall and razor uh wire fence i'm just asking i'm not having a begging but on behalf of this community i'm begging that you send us this defendant to to prison the message that needs to be sent to this defendant and his circle of friends and anybody who would want to be like this defendant is that if you pick up a gun with the intent to commit violence you're gonna pick up a 15 20 25 year prison sentence judge uh and i'm just asking that you do this on behalf of people who live at the pine club apartments who just want to live in peace people who want to go take a walk at rogers park and not be uh robbed and somebody that wants to stop at a speedy mart convenience store and pick up some snacks without becoming a victim of a of a robbery that's that's all i have judge thank you mr coleman [00:23:30] Speaker 1: so mr fontanette there was a time some years ago that there really wasn't even a question uh everyone state's attorneys were recommending youthful offenders probation let's give everybody an opportunity and things have just changed in such an incredibly dangerous way with young people doing what i just saw you do on that screen um i cannot imagine the fear that that person had that was working in that store that he now has just trying to go to work make a living and go home and he has three people come in and not just grab a little quick something and run out but terrorize him for quite some time pulling them around yanking them around putting guns in his face all three of you i also in addition to the psi get jail incident reports and you apparently like to fight and jump people which is what's been happening in the jail so it makes it very difficult for me to go oh this is somebody that's going to get out and behave who can follow the rules because you can't even follow the rules in jail and the pre-sentence report shows that you're a high risk level which tells me that after they've looked at everything that you don't have unfortunately a good likelihood of being successful if i were to put you on probation and mr coleman's right we're tired of it and there's got to be something done so in cause number 25 dccr 1759 i'm going to find that you enter your plea of guilty uh freely and voluntarily i'm going to find sufficient evidence to find you guilty and at this time i'm going to find you guilty of aggravated robbery i'm going to sentence you to a term of 25 years in the institutional division of the texas department of corrections you won't receive credit on that sentence for any time that you've been in custody that the law gives you the right to receive i'm handing you the trial court certification this was not an agreement you have some rights to appeals i have also handed you a written admonishment regarding your ineligibility to possess a firearm or ammunition because of the judgment entered against you you're ineligible under texas law to possess a firearm or ammunition possession of a firearm or ammunition could lead to charges against you you can talk to mr rojas about any questions you have about that i am making an affirmative finding of a deadly weapon mr fontanette i understand that this is harsh and i know you believe this is harsh but i think this is necessary i hope that you go and you make things right you can get out of prison you're still going to be young and you can make your life better that's going to be up to you okay you can go back with the bailiff good morning are you anthony mendoza yes ma'am and mr mendoza was previously in court and entered pleas of true to counts one through thirteen in a motion to revoke probation currently on probation for driving while intoxicated third or more that was a six-year sentence that was probated [00:27:09] Speaker 8: for six years having to having to go to work but yet he's not supposed to drive and so he's driving with uh with an invalid license and he then he's not able to work and he can't he can't afford to pay for the things you know he needs to do such as the 12-step program the gd program all those things uh require money and that's one of the big issues but more the things i'm concerned about is [00:27:37] Speaker 1: that it says that he went to the safety relapse program positive again for alcohol and cocaine which i understand he denies the cocaine but that's what this alleges and in october of 2022 i'm assuming through an administrative hearing was granted relapse safe p yes there was a motion to [00:27:58] Speaker 9: revoke that was followed and came before the court and he was uh ordered to go to relapse safety and he absconded and he never went so he wasn't in custody yeah okay and then so we didn't get see him [00:28:15] Speaker 1: again until august 11th of 2023 when he was arrested in houston so here's the thing whether you you probably didn't get any paperwork come up here to the front in the middle here from at least october of 2022 until august 11th of 2023 you wouldn't have known about anything because you quit going to probation you were an abscondor and the only reason we found you is because you were arrested in houston for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and then in may we get you back here and you were sanctioned to 180 days in jail so this is the third time it looks like to me that you would have been given an opportunity to remain on probation i gave you upfront time continue you on probation courtesy supervision was sent to harris county and then we have the scram device issues still alcohol violations interlock violations aggressive behavior ongoing alcohol use so if you didn't do the relapse safety it's not anyone's fault other than your own because you if you didn't know about it it's because you weren't going to probation um mr nichols judge i think it's pretty clear [00:29:33] Speaker 10: he was put on zero tolerance a couple years ago and here we are on the road second time third multiple times yeah and uh i don't know what else we could do so obviously i agree with the probation department's recommendation for replication but i think he's had more than enough chances in fact there's one thing i want to make the court aware of i can call miss uh martinez sure miss martinez [00:29:55] Speaker 1: would you please raise your right hand do you swear from the testimony you're going to give in this hearing will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god thank you go [00:30:01] Speaker 10: ahead um miss martinez you were uh supervising that was his only reply to me uh did i ask you to print me out a copy of that yes showing you on mark the stakes of one pair of persons of this hearing is this a copy of the email what is your reply to you to the defense attorney on it uh for purposes of this hearing offer states of one it's admitted um and is that pretty consistent with his level of cooperation that attempts to provide probation while he's been supervised yes sir another question your [00:30:34] Speaker 8: honor all right any questions uh just a couple i want to clarify on the relapse program you said he was in y'all came to court on motion revoke is that my understanding yes and so the safety relapse was ordered by judge wicks yes and and he was here the defendant was here mr mendoza's here at that time yes sir well wouldn't he have been taken into custody [00:31:01] Speaker 9: looks like the hearing was completed over the phone he wasn't on here he was over the phone with the supervisor at that time um um due to him residing in houston he reported he had a lack of transportation to report back to the hearing at that time because he had tested positive for alcohol and cocaine the supervisor had recommended uh complete relapsing i have no questions for your honor thank you miss [00:31:31] Speaker 8: martinez we we i think he wanted to address the court but we never did because we talked with her go ahead to tell the court do you want to tell the court [00:31:43] Speaker 11: you know i'm saying i went to safety twice i never missed nobody's saying you went to safety twice [00:31:48] Speaker 1: we're saying you went to safety hold on don't listen i'm going to let you talk but don't talk over me we're saying that you went to safety and then that you were ordered to go to the safety relapse but you never came and turned yourself in after that phone call where you were told that there was to be a warrant for your arrest so no you never went to safety relapse [00:32:11] Speaker 11: go ahead she said i was supposed to turn myself in that was after i did the nine months okay so when i got when i got when i was here y'all let me out and then i was trying to work and they kept saying that i was uh messing with the scrum device okay so i was actually at work and she sent me a message to my phone and i was trying to work and trying to pay you know for the devices and stuff since they were violating me for the operating my truck without corporate issues so that's when i just didn't [00:33:05] Speaker 1: turn myself in right so did you respond is that email that was what that's what you thought about all [00:33:12] Speaker 11: that yes ma'am i did actually say that you thought that was funny it's because no it was because i was agitated and i was i was i was taking lunch at work you know and i was trying to do things trying to make money to take the classes but with being on the scrum device well you had money to buy [00:33:37] Speaker 1: alcohol you hadn't because you kept drinking because you kept messing i mean mr mendoza you have been given so many opportunities on this probation and i understand that those things are expensive however if you had at any time stopped testing positive and having blood alcohol readings that were positive on those things then you could have eventually gotten off of those i don't keep people on those for very long but the reason we had to keep doing it for you is because you kept drinking you kept messing up and so you don't get to say i kept messing up i mean seriously you got the initial probation in 2021 you got rely i mean you got safe pee you got some upfront time because of the harris county issue didn't revoke you haven't revoked you three times haven't revoked you and here we are [00:34:33] Speaker 11: with all of these violations through the tbcj program i was doing what i needed the only time i had issues when i had the foot problem that i got from the halfway house that's the only reason they said i ascended from the tbcj program okay i've actually done well through the program through with the supervised the only time i messed up is when they stopped supervising me and made me go do these things by myself well i mean how old are you how old are you i'm 43 43 years old and i have no felonies on my [00:35:13] Speaker 1: record except for this that doesn't mean anything you have this felony you have six years hanging over your head and you've been given all the tools you went to safety you got aftercare at some point you have to take those tools and do for yourself and not come in and say well they made me do it for myself so it's somebody else's fault that i kept drinking we gave you the tools we're done at this we're done no we're done mr mendoza turn around you can say whatever you want but you're going to face me and you're going to get your sentence and if at this time i could give you more i would i promise you but i can't so i'm going to find that you entered your pleas of true to counts one through thirteen freely and voluntarily find those counts true find sufficient evidence to revoke your probation and at this time revoke your probation sentence you to six years in the institutional division of the texas department of corrections you will receive credit on that sentence for any time that you've been in custody that the law gives you the right to receive i'm going to hand you a certification of your right to appeal this was not an agreement so you do have some rights to appeal you'll need to sign that before you leave right now you need to sign that you're getting a copy of it and then we'll give you your copy and then when you're done with that you can go back with the bailiff