#oh and it's a formal parole also known as a felony parole

[hoperays-song]

The Gang’s Jail Sentences

I should preface this with my favourite lovely warning: I AM NOT A BOARD CERTIFIED ATTORNEY OF LAW. I do NOT have a degree in this. I have done research, yes, and come up with somewhat of a defense and timeline but still, I AM NOT A LAWYER. I’m just a hyperfixated idiot. Enjoy!

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During the events of Sing One we see Johnny’s family/the Gang commit several crimes. However, they are only caught after one failed heist. So, I will be calculating the charges they faced as well as providing possible defenses and my version of sentencing. Everyone ready for a ton of legal mumbo jumbo? Great! Let’s dive in.

Ps. I’m so sorry for the delay y’all, I know I promised this a long time ago but I really wanted to do it right. I hope y’all enjoy!

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Definitions:

I wasn’t kidding when I said their would be actual legal vocabulary here so let’s go over what it all means.

Wobbler: a special class of crimes involving conduct that varies widely in its level of seriousness.

Misdemeanor: a non-indictable offense, regarded in the US (and formerly in the UK) as less serious than a felony.

Felony: a crime, typically one involving violence, regarded as more serious than a misdemeanor, and usually punishable by imprisonment for more than one year or by death.

Parole: the release of a prisoner temporarily (for a special purpose) or permanently before the completion of a sentence, on the promise of good behavior.

County Jail: a facility operated by or for a county for the confinement of persons accused or convicted of an offense.

Sate Prison: is for inmates serving lengthier sentences on crimes that are more severe in nature.

Sentencing: declare the punishment decided for an offender.

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Crimes and Their Sentences:

Grand Theft Larceny - Wobbler (anywhere from less than a year in County Jail to 3 years in State Prison)

Wearing a Mask - Misdemeanor (up to 6 months in County Jail and a $1,000.00 fine)

Gang Involvement - Wobbler (anywhere from less than a year in County Jail to 3 years in State Prison)

Marcus Exclusively: 

Escape from Custody - Wobbler (anywhere from less than a year in County Jail to 3 years in State Prison with no parole)

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Maximum Sentencing vs. My Sentencing:

Max: 6 months in County Jail, $1000.00 each, 6 years in State Prison (plus 3 years in State Prison and no chance of parole for anything for Marcus).

My Sentencing: 7.5 months in County Jail, $1000.00 each, 2 years of formal parole, 400 hours of community service for Stan and Barry, and 490 hours of community service for Marcus. All of them also were ordered into court mandated counseling/therapy due to the results found by the court appointed psychologist for the enterity of their incarceration and parole.

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Explanation and Defenses Used:

Now, you all might notice that my sentencing was much, much, much lighter than the maximum sentence. However, that is because I believe they were not prosecuted for some of the potential charges and they also were allowed parole in change of some of their sentence.

Firstly, I do not think they would be prosecuted for Gang Involvement, mainly due to they barely qualifying as a gang by California State Law. By their definition, a gang is:

“a criminal street gang is any ongoing organization, association, or group of three or more persons, whether formal or informal: 1. That has a common name or common identifying sign or symbol; 2. That has, as one or more of its primary activities, the commission of [a crime listed in Pen. Code §186.22(e)(1)-(25), (31)-(33)]; AND, 3. Whose members, whether acting alone or together, engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity.””.

Now why wouldn’t they be prosecuted for this? We see them fitting those descriptions after all. And while we saw those defining actions, the prosecutors definitely didn’t. 

We see how criminally smart the gang actually is multiple times in the movie. For one, we never see them try to physically confront anyone that tried to stop them, they just ran. That allows them to avoid all the potential aggravated assault on peace officers charges. 

Secondly, when they are captured, they immediately surrendered, no fighting, no running, they immediately surrendered. This allows them to escape literally all evading the police charges as well as them instantly being marked as cooperative, which is extremely useful in their case. 

Third, they seem to move fast. In the first heist we see them pull off, the alarm does not start ringing until they break the window. Now, why would that mean they move fast? Banks and jewelry stores both have something called silent alarms that can be subtly triggered by staff in case of a robbery. Judging by the obliviousness of the nearby officers, that alarm was not triggered. Meaning, no one knew that the gang was there until they were escaping. In fact, it’s hinted that the main heist we see is the longest one yet. Judging by how down to the second everything is planned, they were a bit more nervous about this heist than the other ones. And most of that time is traveling discretely so they aren’t caught. Not only do they see to move fast, they seem to be non-violent offenders.

Finally, the fact that there were only three of them (they clearly covered for Johnny, he wasn’t even shown to be questioned so they definitely denied his involvement) and they view each other like brothers, they definitely denied being a gang and instead identified themselves as brothers who committed a crime together. Also, Johnny wasn’t recognized by the Bear Gang (to be fair they were busy, but still) and you would think he would if have been if he was viewed by other gangs as the son of a rival gang leader. Therefore, I believe their actually identity as a gang was not that solid and they weren’t seen as one in a court of law. And that lightened their sentence considerably.

In the case of the other crimes, I think that Marcus’s escape and the Grand Theft Larceny were both demoted to misdemeanors. Why? Because in the eyes of the court, they are first time offenders. From what we can tell, they were not linked back to their previous crimes, and therefore I will not be calculating that into my sentencing. Sentences for first time offenders (in some cases) are considerably lighter and I think that was part of the case here. 

The rest of the case here is public opinion. Your court sentence is largely based on what the judge deems appropriate. And public opinion can definitely influence that by swaying the judge’s view on the case. The thing is, the public of Calatonia would definitely be on the gang’s side. Why? Because Johnny, that’s why.

Johnny would have just appeared on tv as a performer at New Moon Theatre and as we saw, he drew in a bit of a crowd during his performance during the ending scene. Those fans would definitely want Johnny to be reunited with his dad sooner and could petition the court for a lighter sentence. Not only would his fans potentially influence the sentencing, but Johnny’s mere existence would too.

From what we can tell, Marcus is a single parent. And while Stan and Barry might lend a hand here and there with helping him with Johnny, Marcus is clearly doing majority of the parenting work. Whether his other parent is dead or just divorced, it’s clear that Johnny doesn’t see living with them as an option (he chose to stay in the garage alone). Why is this important? Because Johnny’s primary caregiver (Marcus) and his two other caregivers who he’d probably be sent to in an emergency (Stan and Barry) are now all incarcerated. That means that Johnny (he is implied to be around 17 in Sing 1 so that’s what I’m going with) would be sent to foster care. And if Johnny had happened to recently gone through a traumatic event, like for instance, just throwing it out there, being trapped in a flooding building, or having all of his family be sent to jail, he would more than likely be evaluated by a psychologist to see what the potential effects of sentencing could have on him.

I don’t think it would surprise anyone if I said that I believe that the psychologist would more than likely decide that Johnny would be negatively affected mentally and emotionally if he was kept from his family the full maximum sentence. What kid wouldn’t be? That, along with the gang being non-violent, first time offenders who had (in the court’s eye) been just every day citizens til then, they would have more than likely been given lighter sentences that would have resulted in their release a few weeks before the events of Sing 2, around only a year later.