What are your thoughts on this case? Take a minute and vote….
Jordan Valdez, 17, Is just learning to drive and apparently she has not learned to drive very well at all.
At the age 17 she was in an accident which cost a homeless woman her life.
Valdez was at the wheel of the car according to investigators and at first she was charged for careless driving. However, that citation was dismissed when the officer failed to appear in court to testify in the case.
Now the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office decided to charge the teenager with leaving the scene of an accident with death.
Valdez was allowed to turn herself in later that night.
According to media reports she appeared calm as she walked into the criminal registration unit to be processed for her charge.
Now here comes the best part... Her defense attorney claims Valdez has been very emotional since the incident. (I would hope she has been, after all she took a life and then left the scene)
The defense is also claiming she should have been charged as a juvenile since after all she is a juvenile. The defense went on to talk about her maturity level and her worldly sense…
Now my question is if she truly has a maturity level or worldly sense that is not up to par, what in God’s name is she even doing driving? Or is this just another ploy by a defense attorney to interfere with the justice system?
The police have the evidence to place Valdez at the scene of the crime (paint chips and the electronic Sun Pass toll records to place her at the scene of the crime)
The victim was a 33 year old, Melissa Sjostrom, the accident occurred when Sjostrom tried to cross Hyde Park Avenue near the Davis Island bride. Sjostrom later died from her injuries.
According to the court she could be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison, however, according to the defense the prosecutors are working on a plea agreement that involves probation and not prison time.
So what are your thoughts on this case?
Take a minute and look over the poll and let us know what you think….
5 comments:
To those that voted on the poll, please re-vote. I changed some of the selection on the poll. I wanted to make sure I had included something about the plea deal and left it off of the first poll...
Thanks and sorry... Please re-vote..
Thanks
AKA The Jakester
She's 17. Legally she IS a juvenile. She probably left cause she got scared and freaked out. Not saying what she did was right but 17 yr old brains don't work the same way adult brains work.
Cheryl,
Thanks for the comment….
I have a couple different issues with this case…
First, even though she is 17, she just killed another human being.
This juvenile took someone’s life.
Is this really something that needs to be dealt with in a juvenile court?
Where she could get probation and counseling?
Granted, she needs all the help she can get right now, but would it be fair to allow her to get away with a smack on the wrist and told not it do that anymore…
Secondly, what is the justice system suppose to do when a juvenile commits a crime?
If she gets probation we just gave her a license to kill. She will learn that as a juvenile even though she took a life, it makes no difference that she tried to lie and cover up her crimes by leaving the sence since she is a juvenile.
Thirdly, I thank we need to know more about her. Her attorney was saying something about her maturity level and worldly sense…
If she is truly that immature and lacks that worldly sense, why in God’s name is she even driving?
Where are her parents? Surely her parents would know that their daughter lacked the maturity and worldly sense to be allowed to be out driving without a responsible person with her…
Granted I know those statements were probably just a defense attorney trying to clear the path for a probation plea deal, but none the less those statements open up a whole new aspect to this case.
Do we as a society actually allow people that are not mentally capable to obtain a drivers license? Apparently we do… But should we????
Anyway, this teen was allowed out and she killed another human being. Not saying she is a murderer, I would hope she did not plan to take a life when she started her fun filled night running around town…but now that it has happened, what do we do about it..
Slap the wrist and send her to juvenile court with a probation sentence and let her know what she done was ok since she is a juvenile?
Or do we make her take responsibility for her actions and send her to adult court to stand trial…
The biggest issue I have with this case is she left the scene. People have got to take personal responsibility for their actions.
This teen killed a person and left the lady for dead in a feeble attempt to cover up the fact she ran over a lady and left her for dead….
I’m a big fan of the juvenile courts for juvenile matters. Some of the juvenile courts do a pretty amazing job with kids, however, when kids decide to act as an adult and commits a crime; I’m more for that kid to stand trial as an adult. Kids and adults need to learn they have to take responsibility for their actions...
Anyway, just wanted to say thanks again for the comments and we will continue to follow this case and see what happens….
AKA The Jakester
I am pretty sure that leaving the scene of a crime is illegal. I believe she should be judged to the extreme extent of the law. Especially since she had an opportunity to at least see if she needed to help this woman that was killed.
Prosecutors offered Jordan Valdez, the 17-year-old accused of hitting 33-year-old Melissa Sjostrom, a sentence without prison time, but she has not accepted the deal.
Her lawyer has indicated he has no intention of taking the case to trial.
This information was posted at baynews9.com
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