Showing that the Mayor cares about your iPods, Mayor Bloomberg criticized the judge who freed Javaughn Higgins, the 16 year old police shot after he stole a man's iPod, on bail. Higgins made his $150,000 bail after he was arraigned for the second degree murder of a man he robbed earlier this year. The Mayor said, "I think this is a perfect example of turnstile justice. This is somebody who was facing a murder charge and a judge just put him back on the streets to threaten you and me and our Police Department." While Judge Margarita Lopez Torres, who presided over Higgins' bail, did not comment, a spokeswoman for the Office of Court Administration tells the Daily News that bail is only a guarantee to make sure a defendant doesn't flee, versus being a punishment. Maybe the legal system needs to work faster in processing cases?
Higgins not only mugged a man of his iPod by flashing a fake gun, but also stole another's cellphone. Higgins, who was shot in the cheek and leg, was released from the hospital and into police custory yesterday.
