suspect, rederick melton pled not guilty and is taking his case to trial. none of the victims were able to i.d. me at the scene or the party. no dna evidence against me, no fingerprints against me. there is no actual physical evidence against me. on a scale from 1 to 10, i m at a 9. about being found innocent. i know, the lord knows, i didn t do this. he ll judge me. i know justice will be served. tell me what that means to you. me going home. you know? the truth coming out. showing that people are lying. you know? perjury. lying under oath. but all of melton s co-defendants are on record saying melton played a key role,
date, because his case is now resolved. he pled guilty to breaking and entering and sentenced to one year in the kent county jail in addition to the time already served. i knew i would get a year, but i thought he would take into account my eight months and say, okay. you sat eight months. i m going to sentence you to four months in the kent county jail, but it didn t happen that way. it s a long sentence. you know? sentencing is also finally insight for four other inmates. nearly a year earlier, brandon townes, james hodges and dorian jones all pled guilty to charges related to a home invasion robbery in which a female college student was raped. they could not be sentenced until the case of the fourth co-defendant was resolved. rederick melton proclaimed his
26-plus years on the bench, one of the worst cases that i ve seen. each one of the four defendants here pled guilty to criminal sexual conduct first degree and whether they participated directly or were aiders and abettors, there s no difference in the law. all four of these defendants were clearly involved. any one of you could have intervened and stopped it short of really a horrific criminal sexual assault. each of the four men agreed it a plea that allows for maximum sentences, they have banked on the judge being lenient. the first to be sentenced is rederick melton. first of all, on armed robbery, the sentence of this court that you be committed to michigan department of
showing that people are lying. you know? perjury. lying under oath. but all of melton s co-defendants are on record saying melton played a key role, that he not only participated in the crimes but was actually a guest at the party. part of a plan that melton were place the location for the others. if he gets found guilty, he d rather go down saying he fault going down instead of, oh, i didn t take no plea like the rest of them, but when you fight, you ain t doing nothing but pissing them off. you making the judge and victims go through this night again, all this distraught, emotional. so if you do lose, you going to get hit with the max. melton says his co-defendants lack credibility. four against one. that is pretty bad odds, but four criminals. even hoe hodges, jones and townes all pled guilty, they deny having committed the acts. the victim stated she could not identify their faces because they were masked but according to hodges, some of the victims were still able to ide
occurred almost a year ago. 26-plus years on the bench, one of the worst cases that i ve seen. each one of the four defendants here pled guilty to criminal sexual conduct first degree and whether they participated directly or were aiders and abettors, there s no difference in the law. all four of these defendants were clearly involved. any one of you could have intervened and stopped it short of really a horrific criminal sexual assault. each of the four men agreed it a plea that allows for maximum sentences, they have banked on the judge being lenient. the first to be sentenced is rederick melton. first of all, on armed robbery, the sentence of this court that you be committed to