A Steep Price for a Ten-Cent Robbery
A cumulative sentence law in Washington State leads to a twenty-year prison sentence for a man who robbed a bridge pedestrian of only a dime.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
SEATTLE, June 30. For robbing Charles Benjamin of 10 cents, W. H. Martin will be sentenced by Judge Tallman to serve a term of 20 years in the state penitentiary. The extreme sentence, resulting from the cumulative sentence law, imposes a sentence of twice the length that a man has served previously for the same crime. Martin has served a term of 10 years at Walla Walla, hence his second punishment will last for 20 years. The hold-up occurred on the Grant Street bridge last February. Martin was assisted by a boy, D. Danhauer, who has already been sentenced to a year's imprisonment. The hold-up occurred at twilight; Benjamin described his assailants as a man and a boy. The man held the gun and the boy searched Benjamin. In his nervousness, he overlooked a watch and several dollars in the victim's pocket and took only 10 cents.
“The extreme sentence... is a result of the cumulative sentence law, which imposes a sentence of twice the length that a man has served previously for the same crime.”
This 1904 report highlights the draconian consequences of early 'habitual offender' or 'three-strikes' style sentencing laws. While modern criminal justice reform in Washington has begun to scrutinize the legacy of these mandatory sentencing structures, the stark disparity between the crime and the punishment here remains a chilling example of historical judicial severity.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.