OAKLAND — A Pittsburg man was sentenced Monday to twenty-eight years to life in jail for murdering a person whereas he tried to make off with the sufferer’s bicycle.
Curtis Standley was convicted final yr of second-degree homicide within the 2017 capturing demise of 44-year-old Jason Coleman. He testified at trial that he felt threatened for his life, an allegation prosecutors known as “a lie” and another excuse why he deserved the utmost sentence of 43 years to life.
In letters to the courtroom, members of Coleman’s household described him as a caring man and artist who amassed an enormous jazz assortment and obsessively tracked down samples behind “Golden age hip-hop” beats. Lauren Gerber, Coleman’s “accomplice and good friend of 24 years,” wrote that her life hasn’t been the identical since he was killed almost 5 years in the past.
“Once I imagined my future, Jason was all the time there,” Gerber wrote. “Once I would hear the prepare whistling by Oakland, I knew Jason might hear it wherever he was. Now after I hear the prepare whistle I'm crammed with an amazing sense of loneliness and unhappiness.”
Decide Scott Patton, who sentenced Standley, rejected each the prosecution’s request and the protection argument for a 15-to-life sentence. He stated the crime was “tragic” and mindless, however that Standley’s tough upbringing — which included abuse and struggles with homelessness — supplied some mitigation.
After handing down the sentence, Patton stated he took no pleasure in sentencing somebody as younger as Standley, and stated he hoped Standley wouldn’t die in jail.
“It’s not a part of this job that I take pleasure in, however I do assume justice was executed on this case,” Patton stated. He later added: “However I do hope you could reside and switch your self right into a productive member of society while you get out.”
Coleman was killed September 14, 2017 whereas chasing after Standley, who had simply stolen Coleman’s bicycle on forty second Road, close to Martin Luther King Jr. Manner and Telegraph Avenue in Oakland. Witnesses stated that Standley brandished a gun, advised Coleman and others to “again the (expletive) up,” and fired a shot that struck Coleman within the chest. At sentencing, Standley’s lawyer argued the childhood trauma Standley confronted might have made him extra prone to reflexively react to folks chasing him.
In a letter to the courtroom, Coleman’s mom, Susan Trout, wrote that her son’s bicycle was one among his best passions.
“Jason cherished his bicycle and knew all the pieces there was to find out about bike upkeep … it’s unimaginable for me to go a day with out lacking Jason, realizing that I’ll by no means once more hear him say ‘I really like you mother,’ when he calls,” she wrote, later including, “I’ll by no means perceive why this homicide needed to occur.”