Inside the Fishbowl: Life sentence seems unduly harsh

The ongoing saga of Eugene "Jake" McBride grabbed our online community by the throat, and caused me to re-examine our role at the Journal. There were 48 comments this morning on the July 2 article we published about the 29-year-old Auburn third-striker on our Web site.For a variety of reasons, we missed Jake McBride's last court appearance and have followed up on the story of the Auburn man who now faces an upper term of 69 years to life after being found guilty of his third strike.I talked to Loretta Stiles, McBride's grandmother, by phone last week and assured her we would do our best to fairly portray his plight, even though we missed the court appearance. Stiles feels strongly that "Jake," as he's known, has gotten a raw deal.At my request, veteran Journal reporter Gus Thomson researched court records and interviewed Jake by phone from Placer County Jail for his top-of-page 1 report.Jake was found guilty of carjacking, auto theft and petty theft with a prior conviction.Stiles told Gus she believes Jake is "totally not guilty of any of this." I am not sure if Jake is guilty or not. What I am sure of is that a life sentence for a 29-year-old who hasn't killed anyone seems – on the surface – unduly harsh.Jake doesn't appear to be the brightest light in the chandelier and he doesn't come from the upper echelon of Auburn society. But that should not matter.He deserves a fair trial, competent legal counsel and a punishment, if found guilty, which is fair and just.Jake returns to court July 18 for sentencing. I encourage you to read some of the comments on the original story. Some are heartfelt from family members, including younger siblings who claim Jake was repeatedly beaten as a youngster.Other family members, including Debra Tennant of Grass Valley who had a letter published in today's Journal, claim Jake is a menace to society and he "deserves every day of his life in prison."So far the victims in this case have not been heard from in the Journal, nor has the prosecutor, Doug Van Breen or defense attorney, John Lyman.We chose to publish what we had and will follow up in a fair and balanced manner, doing the best we can under the circumstances (note: if attorneys are not available to return phone calls, we still publish and keep calling them for future reports.)Our goal is to get the news out. We might choose to editorialize on this case, especially if the prison sentence is out of line with reality. The proposed upper-term penalty seems unjust but all the facts are not yet known. What I can promise is we won't let this important story be swept under the rug.Our role is to report on stories of interest to the community. The online commenting on this particular case is on the edge. We have allowed some racist inferences and strong opinions to be aired on both sides. Stories like Jake's deserve to be told and the three strikes law is in need of further debate to ensure justice is truly served.If you would like to use your real name and be quoted in the Journal on the Eugene McBride sentencing, e-mail me at dericr@goldcountrymedia.com.This is a story with legs.Sidebar: Our cops/court coverageWe do not cover every court case in Placer County. We watch the dockets and pick and choose cases that might be of interest to readers. Sometimes the District Attorney's Office or local law enforcement agencies tip us off. Other times we get calls from readers, and sometimes defense attorneys or family members inform us about cases of interest.In the business we call cultivating these relationships "developing sources." Developing sources in the law enforcement community and with attorneys representing both the prosecution and defense takes time. Whether it's an attorney, suspect or victim, it takes time to develop trust between those in the court system and a reporter and/or editor. As many of you know, we have a relatively new court reporter, Jenifer Gee, who is doing a great job for us. Reporter Jenna Nielsen has taken over the cops/fire beat, which used to be combined with courts and under former reporter Penne Usher.With Usher's departure to be closer to her children and pursue other interests, we split the two beats up and are trying a new approach with some young talent.Click here to read more of Deric's blogs, Inside the Fishbowl