White Pine District Judge Steve Dobrescu threw the book at former ESP inmate Mike Newcastle adding at least another 4 and a maximum of 15 years to his original 20 to life sentence earlier this month.
In his ruling now being webcast on the High Desert Advocate’s website www.coyote-tv, Dobrescu said he was surprised by the original sentencing recommendation of a minimum of just two years.
Newcastle’s sentencing
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“This was a very serious crime,” Dobrescu said.
Newcastle was found guilty this October of assaulting a guard with a deadly weapon by a White Pine County jury. It was an alternative verdict to the charge he was originally facing, attempted murder.
During his trial newcastle asserted that not only that he had not assaulted the guard but he was actually rendering aid and that he was tortured by responding guards after the event.
Newcastle did not however give the name of the ‘real’ assailant and his claims of torture were not only ignored by the jury but also ignored by every attorney he has sought to shop his lawsuit to in the state.
But it has not been all bad news for Newcastle, last week the inmate in phone calls and emails, ESP inmate Mike Newcastle informed friends and well wishers that he is now being housed at the High Desert Prison in Clark County.
High Desert State Prison is a Nevada state prison in unincorporated Clark County, Nevada, near Indian Springs. It is the largest institution of the Nevada Department of Corrections and the newest having opened on September 1, 2000.
High Desert is a medium security prison where most inmates have access to basic amenities such as a gym, classrooms and yard time that their fellows at ESP can only dream of.
According to the ESP administration between 75 to 80 percent of Ely Max’s convicts are on permanent lock down 23 hours a day.
ESP is the only maximum security prison in the state and was built to house the worst of the worst inmates, convicts who not only committed the most violent crimes on the outside but also violent crimes while incarcerated.
Serving a 20 years to life sentence for the brutal murder of his wife and convicted this October for battery of a guard, Newcastle would at first glance to be the ideal candidate for permanent residence at Ely.
Just why he was transferred remains a mystery as of press time.
This sentence is a joke, only it isn’t funny. And Mike didn’t just ‘claim’ torture, it was proved in court. It’s despicable that nobody, NOBODY, is discussing the prosecution of Baker and the guards for their role in his torture. And although the judge was more than happy to take into account the ‘reason’ for his original incarceration, he completely failed to take into account the lies on the stand by Ely’s finest, the attempt at sabotage by ESP, the juror’s outrageous behavior and so forth.
He simply made a judgment call that was similar to the jury’s rationalization. “Gee, since he’s in there for something bad, he must be guilty.” Dobrescu is an utter failure here. He failed to hold liars accountable (isn’t perjury a crime?), he failed to hold jurors accountable (major misconduct, only an idiot would justify their behavior), and he failed to hold the felons who attacked Mike or condoned it and stood by during the attack, accountable. Or to even recommend that the matter be investigated further.
It’s as if he’s got pals at Ely whose feathers he didn’t want to ruffle.
Ely isn’t just short a few jurors, it’s minus a competent judge as well. The town should be so proud!
And it should be glaringly obvious why Mike was transferred to High Desert. Too much attention being drawn to the truth about the animals guarding the criminals. How else does one explain ‘rewarding’ Mike’s ‘horrific’ crime with easier time at High Desert? And at High Desert, Mike is actually being treated with respect. His cell isn’t being torn to shreds on a regular basis, he’s not being threatened with violence and his life, he’s not on a leash like some animal, and surprise surprise, the guards are simply doing their jobs, sans the harassment and bullying and attacking. Wow. Guess the ‘worst of the worst’ applies to those guarding the guys at Ely too. And rightly so.