Shoes, State Judges

Cool Judge Accepts New Nikes As Bail For Broke Dude

Is this the first time a judge has accepted a pair of sneakers as bail?

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It’s a new year, and it seems that at least one judge has made it his resolution to renew the public’s trust in America’s criminal justice system. Instead of sending a poor man to jail for his inability to post bail, on Friday, Massachusetts Judge Douglas Stoddart of the Framingham District Court allowed him to walk away — shoeless.

How did this come to pass?

It seems that back in 2012, 39-year-old Jason Duval was charged with illegal possession of a controlled substance and driving to endanger. Those charges were supposed to have been dismissed upon Duval’s payment of $450 in court costs. Duval never paid up, and a warrant for his arrest was issued on New Year’s Day.

When Duval arrived at court for his bail hearing, he told Stoddart that he was completely broke and would be unable to post bail for himself. Apparently he was strapped for cash because he was going through a divorce. The MetroWest Daily News has the details on what happened next:

Stoddart told Duval he didn’t trust him to release him without bail because the judge said he didn’t believe Duval would pay any money. He offered to send Duval to jail for a few days and then do away with the court costs, but Duval said he didn’t want that to happen.

“I’ll give you a chance to be creative,” said Stoddart. “If you can come up with a creative idea to convince me that you’ll come back, I’ll work with you.”

It was then that Duval decided to offer up a Christmas present he’d recently received — a brand new pair of Nikes worth $85 — in supplication to the judge. “OK, we’ll take them,” said the eminently awesome Stoddart.

Is this the first time a judge has accepted a pair of sneakers as bail? We wonder what would have happened if Duval’s kicks were less cool. We imagine that a pair of Crocs, a crime of fashion in and of themselves, would have landed him behind bars.

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Duval’s new Nikes will be returned after he pays $100 in four weekly installments of $25, or if he completes 10 hours of community service during the same time frame.

Kudos to you, Judge Douglas Stoddart, for starting 2015 on the right foot.

In lieu of cash, Framingham judge accepts pair of Nikes for bail [MetroWest Daily News]

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