By Alana Bleimann
SACRAMENTO – Judge Shelleyanne W.L. Chang reprimanded defendant Shawn Larkin Monday for making a “mockery” of her courtroom and the procedures of the court after he lied and then coerced his victim to lie on the stand in front of a jury earlier this month Sacramento County Superior Court.
Larkin was found guilty by that jury, and Monday was sentenced for the misdemeanors of domestic battery, false imprisonment and brandishing a gun. He could have received years in prison, but was sentenced to 90 days on Sheriff’s Work Project and three years formal probation.
At the incident, police officers removed multiple firearms from the scene but revealed that there was one missing firearm that was eventually located in Larkin’s ex-wife’s home.
At the trial earlier this month, the defendant and the victim were presented to a jury.
During the jury trial, there was “deadly conduct,” according to the Deputy District Attorney Emilee Divinagracia, who explained that that “during the trial, Larkin fabricated a testimony in which he [Larkin] had the victim be a part of.”
In fact, the jury only took two hours to find Larkin guilty, and admitted they knew he and his victim was clearly lying.
“It’s not just the court that thought you were lying but a jury who came back less than two hours with a verdict,” Judge Chang stated.
Judge Chang insisted “you threatened her [the victim] with a firearm…the jury heard the cocking of the firearm.”
Back in Chang’s courtroom, Assistant Public Defender Nicole Kyan claimed that this was Larkin’s first domestic violence offense, as a misdemeanor, in which there were no injuries.
Hearing both sides’ arguments for Larkin’s sentencing, Judge Chang sided with DDA Divinagracia and agreed that “while it is clear there were no injuries…your (Larkin) conduct cannot be minimized,” adding that “what was most egregious is that you yourself got on the stand (and lied)…you do not have the right to make a mockery and perjured yourself.”
“We live in a civilized and ordered society,” Judge Chang continued, “We are not some Banana Republic where you can come in a make a mockery.”
She ended her statement to Larkin by reminding him that his “conduct is not acceptable,” and that “that does not give you a license to come in here and make a joke of this whole process…you can go out into the world and lie to your friends and family but when you come into this courthouse you cannot lie….and make anyone else a part of that perjury…and that is why the court is imposing the sentence that it is.”
She hoped that Larkin “will learn from this” and imposed a sentence of 90 days in jail to be done on Sheriff’s Work Project, and three years of formal probation with a mandatory completion of a batterers treatment program.
Alana Bleimann is a junior at the University of San Francisco majoring in Sociology with a minor in Criminal Justice Studies. She is from Raleigh, North Carolina.
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