What the District Attorney failed to mention is that there were 3 boys charged with the crime, yet Alexander was the only one that was held accountable for repaying $14,000 in restitution, according to the official transcript which you can download here Official Transcript 6_2_08 if you would like to read the full text. This is the official court issued transcript from 6.2.08 in which Judge Mark E Powell was presiding, assistant DA Taylor Reid prosecuting and court appointed Bill Jones representing Alexander.

Page 8 lines 5-8, Mr. Taylor speaking: Admitted to having two or three other individuals with him also on that date. It’s my understanding the other two have also pled in this particular case also, Your Honor.

So two others pled guilty to this crime, yet … were not held accountable monetarily. What’s even more puzzling is the fact that the parties involved, the DA the judge and Jones, actually discussed this fact openly in court:

Page 8 lines 22-25, THE COURT: That restitution that you are asking for would be joint and several with anyone else? MR. TAYLOR: It would be, Your Honor, and it would be held jointly and severally with Mr. Samuel Lee Adams and Mr. Scott Alexander Jones.

(on a sidenote Samuel Lee Adams was charged with 3 counts of defacing a grave marker, BUT WAS AFFORDED CONCURRENT SENTENCING which resulted in a mere 6 month sentence. It has come to my understanding that during that 6 month stint in prison Adams racked up 9 infractions. To date Alexander has received NO infractions. This casts a clarity upon who the actual ring leader and trouble maker really was on the night in question)

Lets define “jointly and severally”> Under joint and several liability or all sums, a claimant may pursue an obligation against any one party as if they were jointly liable and it becomes the responsibility of the defendants to sort out their respective proportions of liability and payment. This means that if the claimant pursues one defendant and receives payment, that defendant must then pursue the other obligors for a contribution to their share of the liability.

In short terms, any one/two/three of the boys could have been, and still can be held liable for the monetary damages. To further extrapolate this point let’s read what Alex’s own attorney had to say in reference to jointly and severally:

Page 11 lines 12-18: We’ve also talked about extensively what joint and severally means, and that he could be stuck holding the whole bag for the entirety of what was done there, and he understands that, that you’re going to be looking at a hard road to hoe if you have to pay off all that by yourself, and he and I discussed that, and we actually think that’s what likely going to happen.

and to further implicate all 3 boys the judge also stated on page 17 lines 11-14:

These are the conditions of your supervised probation. First, you are to make restitution in the amount of $13,913 on behalf of Cable Monument, Craig Cable. That’s joint and several with Samuel Adams and Scott Jones.

???????? Why then is my son responsible for the entire $14,000? Am I missing something here?

In a despicable display of personal animosity, Judge powell then made the following statement which I personally witnessed:

Page 14 lines 17-21: THE COURT: Well, sir, maybe you expected I would yell at you. I’m not going to yell at you, but if I could I would send you to prison for every day possible. Trumpets aren’t going to blow. I would forget about you before I even got back to Henderson County.

But, I digress. Let’s get back to the real reason Alexander was revoked: MONEY. I personally witnessed my son ask his probation officer “what if I took out a loan and paid the full amount”? Response: “YOU WOULDNT HAVE A WORRY IN THE WORLD”…….. END QUOTE

My sons probation was revoked not because he committed a crime, not because he busted out on a piss test, not because he didn’t have a GED or a job. His full sentence was activated because he couldn’t PAY THE MONEY. The money that the 3 boys should have shared liability equally for.

How much is 6-8 years of a young mans life worth? How much will it be worth to Alexander when he’s an old man laying on his deathbed to have those youthful years back? Fourteen thousand dollars? How many grave markers equals 6-8 of the best years of a persons life?

Your arguments are commendable from the perspective of a public official who knows little to nothing about the real world, DA Bonfoey. It’s a trait that you share with Judge powell when he asked in open court (page 20 lines 14-15):

THE COURT: Is this community really hurting for available employment?

Actually, we were/are in the middle of one of the worst recessions in our country’s history. Jobs are scarce, even for people without 11 felonies around their neck. Look out the window Judge. Come down from your throne and feel the need and anguish of reality that you normally cruise past in your black tinted mercedes benz.

In reality Mr. Bonfoey’s accounts of what and why these things happened pass the preliminary smell test. Upon further review, which I have provided here, it becomes painfully clear that he’s simply repeating what he see’s on paper, and not what has actually occurred (as I recall, he wasn’t present on the day of sentencing, but I was). I urge everyone to do some soul searching, and ask yourself to answer the following truthfully: “If this were one of my children, would I be content that they had been dealt with fairly”.