Let's Make a Deal

It’s the television show that could drive you nuts. We all prefer to know all of our options before we make a decision, but on this show, contestants only know one of their options and they have to guess whether the one they have is better than the one behind the curtain that they haven’t seen yet. In their hands they have two tickets to a cruise to Bermuda, worth about $6000. But - there might be a brand new car back there. Then again, there might be a year’s supply of lip balm. What to do? What to do?

Some of life’s decisions are like that. Should I take Ashley or Tanisha to the prom? Should I buy a new or an old used vehicle? Should I stay at my current job or take a chance on moving to another state and finding another position?

It’s true with arrests and court cases also.

In New Orleans, in a story from August 18, 2011, there’s a story about Kerry Smith, age 35, who comes up for sentencing on September 1. He has already been convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. He has prior convictions for simple burglary, possession of cocaine and attempted possession of a firearm with a controlled dangerous substance, all from back in the 1990’s. The District Attorney will try to put Kerry Smith away for 30 years under the state’s habitual offender law.

Now, here’s the deal: he was offered a 15 year plea deal. That’s a long time to go to prison, but it’s only half what the D.A really wants. It must be a hard thing to ponder – what will the Orleans Parish jury decide? Will they follow the District Attorney’s line of thinking and send him away until he reaches retirement age? Or will they give a softer sentence than the 15 years that he was offered. Smith must have felt pretty sure that the jury would sympathize with his situation, because he turned down the 15 year plea.

It will depend on the skills of the attorneys, the life experiences of the jurors, and recent trends in thought regarding getting cocaine dealers off of the street and making them serve as a warning for others. Wonder if he’ll end up happy with choosing curtain #2?