The Case of Tammy Gibson

Unlike most of the cases I blog about, the subject of this one, Tammy Gibson, is not a sex offender. Instead Gibson assaulted a sex offender with a baseball bat and has been sentenced to three months in prison. From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

A woman who beat a sex offender with a baseball bat last summer after she saw him chatting up her young daughter will spent the next three months in jail. And even after her conviction Friday on assault charges, Tammy Gibson says she still has no remorse for what she did.... 
On June 19th, Gibson, an area resident, went to Baldwin's house in the 1800 block of River Road and asked for him.
When Baldwin stepped outside, she claimed she was going to kill him because Baldwin had molested her children. Gibson then proceeded to hit Baldwin repeatedly with her bat, the document said, leaving him with an injured arm....
We talked to Gibson Friday, now back in jail a second time. Again, she didn't mix words if she regrets what she did.
"No, I'd do it again if not better," she said. "I don't care if it hurts me, I don't regret it. It got him away from my kids and all the other kids in the neighborhood."

Gibson is an odd case for such lenient treatment given her: 1) complete lack of remorse; 2) premeditation of her act; and 3) statement that she would do it again. In another situation, those three factors would be the basis for a defendant receiving the maximum allowable sentence, especially given that the plea deal allowed Gibson to be sentenced under a lesser offense. The leniency, of course, is best explained because of who the victim is. Doug Berman at Sentencing Law & Policy had these thoughts:

I am very sympathetic to the concerns of parents who are eager to protect their kids from serious threats (this is why, for example, I am a vocal advocate for tougher drunk-driving sentences and a big supporter of the work of groups like MADD).  But there is every reason to think that modern sex offender laws (including national registration and notification requirements) already do a pretty good job empowering parents to deal with real risks in responsible law-abiding ways. 

Simple Justice took an even stronger stance:

The Tammy Gibson case is perhaps the antithesis of jury nullification.  It is institutional nullification, where the officials who make the wheels of the system grind, the police, prosecutors and judges, are unable to muster the degree of anger toward Tammy Gibson to do more than go through the motions. A three month sentence for beating another person with a baseball bat is, under almost any other scenario, trivial.  Why should this be different....
Of course, William Baldwin did not harm Tammy Gibson's daughter.  William Baldwin was inside his home, doing nothing wrong, when Tammy Gibson chose to attack.  As much as Baldwin may be relegated to the human junk heap in the eyes of many, he was a human being entitled to exist without being the target of death of any person who felt entitled to pick up a bat and beat him to death.  Certainly, we can't have moms trying to murder people at will for perceived wrongs that never actually happened.  Certainly, people can't simply decided that sex offenders are perpetually fair game for harm....
This is a dangerous and unacceptable message.  Tammy Gibson feels no remorse.  Another parent may well accept three months in jail for the chance to beat a sex offender.  The message to parents, and to sex offenders, is clear.  Sex offenders are fair targets and moms who beat them, or worse, deserve our understanding and sympathy.  

I completely agree with the sentiments in that post. The notion of allowing the status of the victim to severely limit the sentence is a very dangerous precedent. I would not be as upset if the case had gone to trial and the jury had nullified by accepting a ridiculous self-defense argument. In such a case, I could accept that twelve citizens had failed in their duty. However, in this case, the problem is potentially more systemic. The prosecutors, probably believing that a conviction and high sentence would be difficulty to achieve, made a very generous offer. The judge, who was either sympathetic to the mother or worried about a public backlash, accepted a plea that might have been rejected with a different victim. And now, Gibson has the audacity to say she was right in her actions and her supporters are complaining that the sentence was too harsh. This story reminds me of the many Texas cases where murderers received probation sentences. In those cases and in Gibson's, cultural biases, particularly about victim status and sympathy toward defendants, distorted criminal justice.

Comments

[Anon]

The man was over 7' tall. What if he knocked her lights out in self defense? Or what if he pushed her away, she fell, hit her head and died? Though he has a right to self defense, there would be no sympathy. The danger here cuts both ways. As yet, no court has ruled RSO's lost the right to self defense. It could get ugly.

[Sex Offender Issues]

And check out this post, from the OTHER side, where they are saying we should kill all sex offenders. Clearly this person does not know that 4 year old kids are labeled sex offenders.

http://stopannoyingme.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/should-pedophiles-be-protected/

And visit my blog:

http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com

[Sex Offender Issues]

Not including the fact the person is showing their ignorance, by calling sex offenders all pedophiles, which they are not. A very few actually are, based on the legal term.

[The Fallen One]

I posted this up at my site, www.oncefallen.com --

"I'd do it again, if not better." -- Tammy Lee Gibson, 2/27/09

"If it were up to me, I'd kill him... I just wanted to hurt him" -- Tammy Lee Gibson, 6/19/08

"She has no remorse for what she did."-- KOMO News, 2/27/09

"[Gibson] is not a soccer mom in a minivan who lost her temper. She's been in jail before on drug and assault charges... If everyone went out and beat up a sex offender, we're going to have to stop doing notifications." -- Det. Ed Troyer, Pierce Co. WA Sheriff's Dept., 6/19/08

A travesty of justice, dangerous vigilante with a mile long record gets a slap on the wrist for a brutal attack on a Registered Sex Offender. So apparently you can get more time for beating a dog than a Former Sex Offender these days.

I have the name and address of the judge and DA at my site if you wish to write them. I did send them a scathing email myself.

"Anon", I am an RSO, and I was told that the only "weapon" I was legally allowed to carry is a "whistle." A whistle? What am I supposed to do with a whistle? Be that as it may, if it had been me, I would defend myself. And I'm sure people would have called for my head.

[lawdoc]

William Baldwin committed his crime in 1998. He was 24 when he was attacked in 2008. This meant he was about 14 when he committed the crime. No one has bothered to put that fact forward.

Given his gigantic stature I have my suspicions that his appearance caused him to be treated as an adult as far as the criminal justice system was concerned.

[Renee Perez]

hey this is Renee but if u would like to talk to my mom Tammy Gibson there is her number 310-2216