Obviously this is a complex issue. While I believe in innocence until proven guilty and I also believe the government uses the process of court as punishment. It seems highly suspicious that Trejan Bridges defense has not been able to either get a dismissal or a satisfactory plea deal.
Then I actually looked into Oklahoma criminal Justice numbers. It isn’t a good place to commit crime and it really the last place you want to commit crime if you are Black.
Their incarceration rate is 3rd in the nation despite reducing the prison population by 21%.
Now all that could be totally irrelevant towards guilt or innocence but it explains why the State is pursuing charges. Without knowing what facts the State has I do believe weapon violence is something we are tired of seeing the State overlook. I can think of recent examples where probation and early release was awarded to offenders with weapon related offenses that led to the death of a player at the University of Utah.
I have a heavy bias in this regard but would be willing to doubt Oklahoma’s prosecutors. The conviction rates remain high in America not because prosecutors are exceptional. They are high because plea deals are part of that number and prosecutors choose what cases to prosecute.
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