I have read the article regarding Perry's plea deal and some of the hand wringing about playing a "convicted felon". That is not what's happening here.
Perry has pled guilty under a statute that has been on the books for a long time: the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act(YTA). The YTA statute basically offers a legal second chance to kids who have no record and acted stupidly, but usually without real intent to commit a serious assault type crime. Normally the Judge, the prosecutor, the involved police officers and sometimes the victim agree on the result up front. Whatever plea is made is made "under the Youthful Trainee" Act. If the Judge doesn't want to go this route, he/she advises the defendant that the plea won't be accepted under the YTA statute. That didn't happen here. The plea got accepted.
Under state law, resisting arrest is a two year felony. It covers anything from beating the officer who is trying to arrest you to simply running away. If you do either of those two things or anything in between, you'll be charged under Michigan state law with a felony.
Under the YTA, once you enter the plea and the Court accepts it, you are under the Court's thumb for a period of time. While under the YTA status, you must comply with the Judge's terms and you MUST stay out of further trouble. If you do that, you come out the other end with no conviction. It is not a situation where you were convicted and the conviction goes away, it is a situation where you were never convicted.
To me, this situation indicates that the Judge, prosecutor and police recognized this as a situation where an intoxicated college kid did some inappropriate activities that do not rise to the level of requiring the system to extract a criminal conviction. So long as Perry keeps his nose clean, he is allowed to return to normal life and be a student again. I think that we should accept their decision and quit pontificating about Perry or Michigan or whatever else. This kind of deal is routinely entered into by high school and college age kids, and most go on to never sin again. Perry has endured a lot more public scrutiny and scorn than the average YTA kid, he has missed games and been suspended for months. Probably time for fans to move on.
Perry has pled guilty under a statute that has been on the books for a long time: the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act(YTA). The YTA statute basically offers a legal second chance to kids who have no record and acted stupidly, but usually without real intent to commit a serious assault type crime. Normally the Judge, the prosecutor, the involved police officers and sometimes the victim agree on the result up front. Whatever plea is made is made "under the Youthful Trainee" Act. If the Judge doesn't want to go this route, he/she advises the defendant that the plea won't be accepted under the YTA statute. That didn't happen here. The plea got accepted.
Under state law, resisting arrest is a two year felony. It covers anything from beating the officer who is trying to arrest you to simply running away. If you do either of those two things or anything in between, you'll be charged under Michigan state law with a felony.
Under the YTA, once you enter the plea and the Court accepts it, you are under the Court's thumb for a period of time. While under the YTA status, you must comply with the Judge's terms and you MUST stay out of further trouble. If you do that, you come out the other end with no conviction. It is not a situation where you were convicted and the conviction goes away, it is a situation where you were never convicted.
To me, this situation indicates that the Judge, prosecutor and police recognized this as a situation where an intoxicated college kid did some inappropriate activities that do not rise to the level of requiring the system to extract a criminal conviction. So long as Perry keeps his nose clean, he is allowed to return to normal life and be a student again. I think that we should accept their decision and quit pontificating about Perry or Michigan or whatever else. This kind of deal is routinely entered into by high school and college age kids, and most go on to never sin again. Perry has endured a lot more public scrutiny and scorn than the average YTA kid, he has missed games and been suspended for months. Probably time for fans to move on.
