Writing of Datra Johnson Vol. I

American Prison Writing Archive Writing of Datra Johnson Vol. I My life has not been hard, but just in a brief summary, my mother was sentenced to prison in the late eighty's early nineties, around the time Ronald Regan, began this War on Drugs. My date of birth is June, 1985. This isn't a excuse for my lifestyle I've chose, but its a brief beginning for a clear view of a individual to see the circumstances I've grew up in. This is not a biography about Datra, so allow me to begin from the situation that I'm currently in. My charge I'm currently locked up for come from Potter County, from a District Attorney named Richard Martindale, in Amarillo. The city is divided into two county, Potter County (a poorer section of Amarillo), and Randall County, (the more wealthy) side of Amarillo. Most people who govern the city of Amarillo live in Randal County. I received fourteen years in prison for the possession of a controlled substance cocaine. The amount was exactly (0.06 grams of cocaine). "Yes" this is the equivalent to about one-fourth of a sweet-n-low package, if that. What the District Attorney did was use my criminal history to enhance this state jail felony, up to a second degree felony. When I'd informed my lawyer T.D. Hammons, that I'm going to take my charge to trial, the District Attorney told me that, (well he told my lawyer that) if I take the case to trial and lose, he will stack the time on top of the sentence that I'm already on parole for. When I'd received these charges my charges were multiple felonies, were more higher than this state jail felony received. However, my lawyer William McKinney, had the charges dismissed (to my understanding). This is when they indicted me on a state jail felony, with the 0.06 grams of cocaine, and double enhanced it to boost the felony punishment range up higher. No fabrication..... when I received the indictment, my main lawyer, William McKinney, died from a brain tumor that was cancerous. That's when T.D. Hammons became my lawyer. T.D. Hammons told me "that if we were in a different city, a larger city in Texas, the outcome of this charge would be very much different. Unfortunately, we are in the Amarillo courtroom, so we do not have much of a win." T.D. Hammons was right people are always in Amarillo with petty, minute charges and they receive big amounts of prison terms for small altercations. I've witnessed it happen. Even when the evidence is weighed towards the support of the individual being charged, and he should clearly be free, in Amarillo, he still loses. Amarillo's courtroom use the system to help provide punishments that are cruel and unusual, but are justified by the use of backing up their justifications with laws made by past governing. Violating my state parole and federal probation was the result of me being indicted and prosecuted for zero-point zero six grams of cocaine. At thirty three years old, it's a devastating impact on your life hoping you can make parole and continue on with your life. Datra C. Johnson I'm living in the time, when the Justice System is not equally Balanced Criminal Acts do not equalize with the Punishments Distributed, Datra C. Johnson 10/2018