Woman Sentenced to Two Days in Prison; Ends Up Trapped for 154
A woman from ClarkCounty, Indiana, was held in jail for five months after being ordered to spendonly two days there.
Judge Jerry Jacobisentenced Destiny Hoffman, 34, to 48 hours in jail for failing to pass a drugtest — one of the conditions of her drug court programs, which are notoriousfor being terrible forms of rehabilitation.
He instructed theSheriff’s office to hold her with no bond, and not to release her until”further order of the court” (it is currently unclear why a non-violent drugoffender needed to be held indefinitely, without bail).
Hoffman wassubsequently (and illegally) denied a hearing and any form of legal counsel, and wouldprobably still be in jail if it weren’t for Deputy Prosector Michaelia Gilbert,who noticed something was amiss while she was looking over old case files.
Gilbert quicklyattempted to set the record straight by entering a motion for a status hearing,and Hoffman was finally appointed a lawyer, who “expect[s] this will result ina lawsuit for the county.”
Judge Jacobi didnot appear in court, and has not been reached to comment on the case.
