by Travis Mateer
How does the County Attorney’s Office decide what crimes to charge? Since Missoula’s lead County Attorney, Matt Jennings, goes on the radio once a week to give listeners the crime stats like we’re playing a football game or something, we DO get a little insight into the mind of a County prosecutor. From the link (emphasis mine):
The Missoula County Attorney’s Office filed 29 new felony complaints this week, which is 14 more than last week and way above the weekly average. County Attorney Matt Jennings said not to be alarmed by that high number.
“We were catching up on some out-of-custody cases,” Jennings said. “We have cases come to us in two ways. Either someone gets arrested and we have some kind of quick time turnaround to get them charged. Or sometimes there might be something like an embezzlement or a theft where they didn’t actually apprehend somebody. Those get referred to us and sometimes there’s more follow-up and investigation. So those get charged out of custody and we can either summon people into court if they’re not a risk to the public or we will do a warrant.”
Why is Matt Jennings worried about the public being ALARMED at a high number of criminal charges? Maybe managing public perception is a part of the job, and maybe part of that perception management is putting MORE CRIMES being committed into a more palatable political context.
It’s strange to be writing about something I’m directly experiencing, since one of the cases Matt Jennings needs to make a decision on is MY case.
While I wait to see when my supposed felony charges will be officially filed, let’s look at a different jurisdiction and the excuses that are made BY municipal court judges FOR the homeless population they sitting in judgement of. From the link (emphasis mine):
Like many Missoulians, Anthony Andres had seen one too many rent hikes.
So he and his partner moved out of their place this year, he said, and started living in the Johnson Street shelter, saving up money while he works as a cook in a local restaurant.
During that time, the 45-year-old missed scheduled hearings for a pair of municipal court cases accusing him of misdemeanor theft. Warrants for his arrest were issued, one in April and another in June.
“Once I lost my place, I didn’t have access to court,” Andres said, adding that he didn’t have any other mailing address to get notifications on warrants or upcoming court dates.
I’m not going to join the chorus of victim-card playing excuse-makers for Anthony Andres because, unlike the people quoted in this article, I don’t think Andres is retarded. Instead, I’m going to question the premise that NO HOUSING means NO ACCESS to court. Has Anthony Andres ever heard of something called EMAIL? Because that is how THIS homeless person (me) is keeping up with my court dates, although the information I get is not always accurate from the courts.
I can hear the virtue-signalers revving up their excuse-making machine as I write this. THEY DON’T HAVE COMPUTERS! How can they keep up with email? No, they have a TRILLION DOLLAR library, so let’s stop pretending that people like Anthony Andres are incapable of showing up to court dates just because they don’t have housing, because that excuse is bullshit.
Further down in the article, the Municipal Court judge who threatened me with hypothetical charges is acting all concerned about homeless people getting more serious charges. Hilarious.
Felony charges are handled exclusively by the county district court, while misdemeanors within city limits are the province of Missoula’s municipal court. One of the goals of providing a range of resources at shelter court is to stop offenders from working their way up to felonies, Judge Eli Parker said.
“One of the benefits of having a court of limited jurisdiction that is distinct from these more serious offenses is that we can perhaps intervene in individuals’ lives through the course of the process and help them get to resources that prevent them from getting worse,” Parker said.
This judge, who I have written critically about, told me that I am not allowed to go to City Council meetings on Mondays OR Wednesdays due to an order of protection I have against me. And he’s not even the main judge assigned to my case. I’d like to write more about this charade, but until my legal situation gets resolved, I have to remind myself the first amendment doesn’t currently apply to me.
Maybe these helpful judges can point me to a lawyer with cojones big enough to give me a VIGOROUS defense against these kangaroos helping local influencers shut me down. That’s why this shelter program exists, right, to allow the altruistic philosophy of our Westridge Judges to HELP the poor homeless accused of crimes?
The recurring events fit the philosophies of the municipal court’s three judges, all former public defenders who were elected in 2021 after running as a “slate” of reform-minded candidates.
“We’re just giving them a hand, we’re pointing them in the direction of where they can get help,” Municipal Judge Jennifer Streano said. “And people can choose to do so, or not.”
Well, Judge Streano, maybe if you hadn’t been on vacation last summer when the CIVIL process of granting my petitioner her order or protection occurred, you would have more accurately vetted the individual and the REAL reasons behind her lawfare against me.
Since I don’t know IF I will be taken to jail again, or WHEN, I’m going to prepare this blog to CONTINUE in my absence, so stay tuned this week for a post introducing a new administrative personality to the virtual pages of Zoom Chron. And if you’re feeling generous, Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) hasn’t seen a donation in over a month, so please consider supporting me if you haven’t already.
Thanks for reading!