Hello, my name is Jason W. McDonald (#1196192), and I am 42 years old. I have been incarcerated for 11 years now. I was sentenced to 26 years active imprisonment despite Virginia’s state guidelines calling for a range of only 5.5 to 12 years (these guidelines reflect the presentencing report done for everyone convicted of a felony to determine how much time that individual should serve for their crime). I have no prior violent offenses, only two DUIs from 2006 and a misdemeanor driving on a suspended license. This current lengthy sentence is for convictions for aggravated malicious wounding, malicious wounding by mob, and conspiracy to commit malicious wounding. Yet I was part of one single fist fight. The victim was dating my friend’s sister and had physically abused her. I see now that this response was wrong and truly wish I could take it back.
Even then, I was not a threat to society. Although my poor, regrettable decisions and actions during that incident were terrible, it is not the person I am. In fact, it is far from it. I am not a violent person. I reacted poorly in the heat of the moment, a reaction that is out of character. I am a hardworking man and always held a job. I was about to purchase my first home later that year. I also supported and helped take care of my quadriplegic brother. These are but a few examples of the man I really am.
The starting point of my extreme sentence was the common pattern of overcharging, or “charge stacking”, where the prosecutor charged me with multiple serious violent felonies (four, with one dropped during trial) for a single violent act. This is done to pressure guilty plea deals and discourage actual use of rights to trial, but the effect is it means my one act where no one was killed or permanently harmed left me facing life plus 35 years of imprisonment.
I was punished severely for using my Constitutional right to trial and attempting to defend myself. Because I chose to do so, the prosecutor was allowed to force me to accept a jury sentencing, which almost always leads to more time. I took a jury trial and was found guilty. The jury recommended a sentence of 26 years, the lowest they could by law with those convictions, suggesting they wanted less time, yet more than double my highest guidelines.
The jury has to recommend an additional sentence for each charge, according to state law. For aggravated malicious wounding, they had to recommend between 20 years and life. On malicious wounding by mob, they had to recommend five to 20 years. On conspiracy to commit malicious wounding, the required range was one to five years.
Because the prosecutor was allowed to force these jury sentencing rules, I have to serve much longer. Virginia judges have the right to suspend part of juries’ recommended sentences to match guidelines from presentencing reports (again, 5.5 to a max of 12 years for me). If I had been permitted to have a judge sentence me alone after trial, he would have been somewhat bound by those guidelines. Going outside that range would have required a written explanation of why. However, standard practice in Virginia is for most judges to ignore guidelines with jury sentences, enacting whatever juries are forced to suggest, usually much longer than guidelines recommend. The judge in my case, Timothy Sanners, has a 99% record of going along with the jury’s artificially lengthy recommendations with no regard for the presentencing report. This clearly punished me for going to trial. Also in my case, the prosecutor (Russel McQuire) argued at my sentencing hearing against the guidelines, saying they should not matter now since I took a jury trial.
What makes all this worse is it’s set in stone. I have no way to get this sentence changed now no matter how much I have grown or I am needed by my family.
Attempts at reform have so far left me out. In 2020, the General Assembly partially addressed the unfair sentencing laws regarding jury trials, passing a law to more fairly protect Constitutional rights to trial by jury. As of July 2020, an individual can go to a jury trial and still choose whether they want a jury to recommend a sentence or have a judge do so within the guidelines from the presentencing report. I feel this is a great move by the General Assembly, but it does nothing for guys like me who were already sentenced to harsh and unfair imprisonment just for using our Constitutional right to a trial by jury.
Additionally, expanded earned sentence credits do not apply to me because my conviction was violent. I am not eligible for parole. There is currently no avenue for my sentence to be shortened, no matter how well I have demonstrated rehabilitation.
I have remained charge free throughout my incarceration. I earned my GED and a degree in Business Software Applications. I have completed DOC’s “Thinking For A Change” program and maintained employment at all times. Currently, I have worked 4 years at the VCE Print Shop, where, in addition to working nearly free during COVID to produce state documents, I have continued my educational training and professional development. While there, I completed a Prinect Production Manager Course (conducted by Heidelberg, a private company specializing in typesetting and printing).
I have done everything I can possibly do during my incarceration to improve myself and prove that I am not a threat to society or myself. I have attended DOC’s recommended programs, continually sought ways to further my education, remained infraction-free, and been a trusted professional employee at a necessary state enterprise. I am just one example of a person behind bars worthy of a second chance, who has earned a second look at an extremely lengthy sentence. Yet none are currently available. Beyond myself and my family’s heartache, keeping incarcerated those of us who have proven ourselves ready to be released to be productive citizens is a heavy cost for society.
Thank you sincerely for your time.
Jason McDonald
1196192
Beaumont Correctional Center
3500 Beaumont Rd.
Beaumont, VA 23014