He dealt drugs, threatened his mother, beat his sister ... and stays on probation? | Joseph Gerth

This is the disturbing story of a convict named Freddie Downer and the judge who won’t hold him accountable for what he’s done.

No matter what trouble he's gotten into the past five years, Circuit Judge Olu Stevens has kept Downer on probation and out of jail.

Assault his sister? No problem. Participate in a robbery that ends in the victim's death? No big deal. Threaten to kill his mother and then get caught by a probation officer with a handgun in his home? Don't worry about it, buddy.

It's no wonder that people don't trust the criminal justice system to make the right decisions when you have a judge who continually turns a blind eye to serious and violent crimes.

There are far too many people in our jails and prisons now, especially African-Americans who are incarcerated at a much higher rate than whites.

The growing prison population is even forcing the state to reopen a private prison to handle the increased number of inmates — so it's reasonable for judges to look for people they might cut loose.

But not this guy.

Not someone who has been in trouble with the law consistently since at least 1999, who has multiple felony convictions and is considered by the state Department of Corrections at high risk to commit more crimes.

That's really not the type of person shock probation was meant for. The idea behind shock probation is that you can use a short stint in a prison to convince someone guilty of a felony that behind bars isn't the place they want to be — which in theory would mean they could be released at that point and not be a huge risk to commit more crimes.

Shock probation has not worked for the 37-year-old Downer, who has obviously settled into life as a criminal. So what is Stevens trying to do?

Stevens declined to comment on Downer's case.

Stevens isn't new to controversy. In 2015, he was criticized for accusing parents of instilling racism in their young daughter after the mother wrote that the girl was still afraid of black men after two armed men broke into their home while she watched cartoons.

Last year, he was suspended from the bench for 90 days after he accused Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Wine of racism after Wine challenged his decision to excuse an all-white jury.

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We're not going to run through Downers' entire criminal history, in fact, we'll overlook more than a decade of Downer's criminal life during which time he was convicted of assault, carrying a concealed deadly weapon, wanton endangerment and more.

We'll pick up his life in 2010 when, while already facing a 2007 charge for trafficking cocaine, he was arrested during a drug trafficking investigation when detectives found he was carrying a loaded handgun, which is illegal for a convicted felon.

In 2012, to settle the 2007 and 2010 charges, Downer pleaded guilty to marijuana possession, trafficking cocaine, being a felon in possession of a firearm and other crimes, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Seven months after sentencing, Stevens granted him shock probation.

Downer stayed out of trouble briefly, but a couple of years later, he stole three cell phones from a Walmart store where he was working cleaning floors and was sentenced by another judge to 180 days in jail, probated.

Then in 2014, Downer and three other men broke into the home of Devonne King and one of Downer's accomplices shot and killed King. All four of the men — including Downer — were carrying guns.

Downer pleaded guilty to facilitating manslaughter and agreed that he had violated his probation. The commonwealth's attorney's office asked the judge to revoke Downer's probation. Stevens refused.

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Then, in September of 2016, Downer got into an argument with his sister, struck her in the head with a metal cane and punched her in the face. When she fell, he "banged victim's head against the ground several times," according to the police report.

Downer pleaded guilty to assault and violating probation and was sentenced to a year in jail — with 290 days suspended.

Ten days later, Stevens signed an order rejecting a prosecutor's motion to take Downer off shock probation so he could be put in prison.

It's unclear why Stevens refused to end his probation, however, because the Jefferson County Circuit Clerk's office couldn't locate a video recording of the hearing in which Stevens ordered Downer to remain on shock probation.

In April, Downer allegedly grabbed his mother by the neck, pointed a gun at her and threatened to kill her. He was charged with wanton endangerment, menacing and harassment.

That same month, a probation officer inspecting Downer's home found a revolver in his bedroom and charged him with being a felon in possession of a handgun.

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While in jail awaiting trial on those charges, Downer allegedly attacked a fellow inmate with a mop handle.

Armed with these arrests, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ebert Haegele went back to Stevens to ask him again to end Downer's shock probation and force him to serve the nine years or so remaining on those 2012 guilty pleas for dealing cocaine and possessing a firearm.

Seems like common sense, right?

Nope.

Stevens ruled that because Downer was only 13 days away from the end of his shock probation, he'd allow Downer to serve out the probation — and not ever be punished for violating the terms of his shock probation over and over again.

Downer is now locked up in Metro Corrections on a slew of charges pending against him, but he'll never be punished for violating his probation on those 2007 and 2010 charges.

And people wonder why no one trusts the justice system.

Joseph Gerth's column runs on most Sundays and at various times throughout the week. He can be reached at 502-582-4702 or by email at jgerth@courier-journal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/josephg