"I'm Not Joking!" Judge West DESTROYS Clueless Defendant With MAX Sentence

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]Devon McGee, cause number 38631.

[00:00:05]>> Your Honor, I'll wait for my client, but he has informed me that he wants to withdraw his plea.

[00:00:09]>> Yeah, I already know that.

[00:00:14]All right, sir. Are you Devon McGee?

[00:00:15]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:00:16]>> And Mr. McGee was previously in court entered a plea of guilty to uh the first-degree felony offense of burglary of a habitation with the intent to commit aggravated assault. And that was uh the agreement was for a cap of 30 years in the institutional division of the Texas Department of Corrections. I have received a uh presentence report.

[00:00:37]Has everyone had an opportunity to review that report?

[00:00:40]>> Yes, Your Honor.

[00:00:40]>> I have. I've also received, it looks like a letter from uh Mr. McGee that I have uh taken notice of, as well as a couple of uh looks like some incident reports from the jail.

[00:00:56]Have you all had an opportunity to review those?

[00:00:58]>> Yes, Your Honor.

[00:00:59]>> I have. Are there any additions or corrections to that presentence report?

[00:01:03]>> Your Honor, the only additions that I would have is that I've received two letters from family members.

[00:01:10]Uh I'd like to have the court have access to that before making a decision.

[00:01:14]However, I'd like to read from some of the letters as part of my closing. So, I'd like to hold on to them, but then I would like to present them to the court.

[00:01:21]They're written by two close family members. Uh and then further, the only other correction in the presentence report, I guess we need clarification.

[00:01:29][snorts] Uh while the defendant was previously in court and pled guilty, he's informed me this morning that he wishes to withdraw his plea. I let him know that that was up to the court, that's not up to me.

[00:01:41]>> So, uh Mr. McGee, when you were here before, you were sworn in by the [clears throat] clerk and asked you some very specific questions about uh your plea and whether or not you were doing it freely and voluntarily, uh whether or not uh you did it because you actually did what they charged you with. Um obviously you know that I sat through the trial of your brother. So, I've seen all of the evidence um against you uh that would be presented at trial.

[00:02:10]Um the videos, all of the things. And so, I guess I'm not inclined to let you uh withdraw your plea. I want to know though quickly what why you think you want to.

[00:02:22]>> The only reason I done my plea cuz I was >> [snorts] >> the attorney uh I found out that I can't get probation on this than I thought I could.

[00:02:31]>> And that's not correct, Your Honor. He is eligible for probation.

[00:02:34]>> You are eligible for probation.

[00:02:36]>> And the time of the finding of the weapon, I can give it.

[00:02:40]>> What?

[00:02:41]>> The time of the finding of the weapon, I can give it.

[00:02:44]>> If I make that finding, I can give you anything right now from a deferred probation up to 30 years in prison. That's the range of punishment.

[00:02:53]So, I I you are eligible for probation.

[00:02:57]Um that is an option that I have. So, that's a mis- some whoever has told you that you're misinformed. It that is an option.

[00:03:07]All right? So, I am not going to allow you to withdraw your plea. Um we're going to go forward with sentencing. Mr. Nix, you may proceed.

[00:03:14]>> Thank you, Your Honor.

[00:03:16]Your Honor, in reviewing the PSR, obviously the court's seen some of the evidence.

[00:03:21]It's not good evidence.

[00:03:23]But the one thing that I think needs to go in Mr. McGee's favor, obviously, is that he did take responsibility. He did plead. Obviously, he's gotten some some bad uh legal information in the jail since we were last here at court. But that shouldn't change the fact that Mr. McGee has had no criminal history other than some traffic citations and a few failures to appear on those traffic citations before this. He's never been in our system. Uh he's never been on probation before.

[00:03:52]Never been sentenced to prison before because he has no criminal history.

[00:03:56]Uh Mr. McGee did not live the same life that many of us have lived.

[00:04:03]One of the letters that I received from a close friend, they've known Devon since 2017, so approximately 6 years.

[00:04:10]Uh not only did they speak very highly about how Devon typically put himself before [clears throat] others and he had a very rough childhood. His mother passed away in front of him at the age of 27. They had no father figure. They were tossed and moved around with their three aunts from 2007 to 2017. They both suffered physical, mental, and verbal abuse from two of their aunts.

[00:04:34]Uh Mr. McGee also has a 3-year-old child.

[00:04:39]He's never really stood much of a chance. He's never had a positive male figure in his life and that's not my words. Those are the words of close friends and family members that have kind of written on his behalf.

[00:04:52]Uh they were completely shocked and said that this was out of character for him to partake in this crime. Uh they believe that he was following his brother. Uh they said that this is not who Devon is.

[00:05:08]Obviously, the court has just what it has in front of them, which is the evidence from that case and if you just look at the evidence in that case, obviously, it's going to give you pause because of the nature of and the violence that took place in the offense.

[00:05:21]Uh well, my client understands the law parties and he knows that he's just as responsible for whatever his brother did that day.

[00:05:29]I will say that he was not the aggressor or the main aggressor in the situation.

[00:05:34]Uh the crime that they committed was despicable and he would agree with that.

[00:05:38]Uh he thought that he was going over there to retrieve stolen property. He did not know that his brother was going to start shooting. Uh and in visiting with Mr. McGee, I believe he was also a little afraid and didn't know what to do in the situation once it started going further and beyond what he thought it was going to be.

[00:05:58]Further, Mr. McGee has told me that he has found religion.

[00:06:05]He has uh, one of his write-ups has been because they did not warn the jailer when they were going to pray.

[00:06:14]Uh, so that was a one of the write-ups that he had. He also had a jumper malfunction with his buttons.

[00:06:20]Uh, but yeah, he says that his new found religion has given him discipline and peace in his life. He has a son now.

[00:06:29]He apparently did not know about that. I believe he became aware of that while he was incarcerated. The child is 3 years old.

[00:06:35]>> [clears throat] >> Uh, and he would like to have some sort of a life with his son.

[00:06:41]I would suggest that he get 10 years deferred adjudication probation. And if he messes up even one iota, uh, he's got the full range to deal [snorts] with. So, uh, I would I would suggest that he get 10 years deferred probation, be put on uh, intensive supervision, zero tolerance, and actually be given a chance because based on his criminal history, this is not who he is.

[00:07:07]Uh, this is this is not And and I hope the court doesn't take into account the fact that he tried to withdraw his plea today. I I think [clears throat] he got some bad information.

[00:07:17]>> worried about that.

[00:07:18]>> Yeah, he got some bad information in the jail, but he is eligible for probation.

[00:07:22]I would ask that he get probation. And I'd give Mr. McGee a chance to address the court and explain why he should get probation.

[00:07:30]>> I would love to hear this.

[00:07:33]>> Um, I just want to let you know I apologize to the victims of my case.

[00:07:38]I didn't know like I just heard my lawyer say I "I know that my brother was going to [clears throat] do that because he told me >> Hang on a second, Devin.

[00:07:47]Just stop. All right. Y'all went over there with a gun.

[00:07:51]Hang on. Hang on. I have watched the video.

[00:07:55]And you were the one who egged your brother on the entire time.

[00:08:05]I'm not even sure that your brother would have done what he did had you not been there.

[00:08:12]Just in his face, do it, do it, do it.

[00:08:16]I've seen it. Hang on.

[00:08:18]I've seen it. There's probably nothing you can say right now that's going to help anything because all you're doing is trying to not take responsibility instead of taking responsibility. Mr. Martino.

[00:08:32]>> Thank you, Judge. Um You just took the words right out of my mouth.

[00:08:36]>> Sorry. [clears throat and laughter] >> Having no criminal history, saw him go from zero to a hundred in a matter of two hours.

[00:08:45]On behalf of Judge Family, we appreciate the court taking the time when we address Kevin's case to carefully consider all of that evidence.

[00:08:54]This is a unique situation where I don't even feel like I need to argue with the PSI. You have everything in front of you. I know you recall it. I know you remember it. I know you know the violence there and he was he was responsible for those actions. He needs to be held responsible. I appreciate Mr. Nick's argument. I respect him immensely as a professional.

[00:09:13]He's just doing his job. The words probation are just absolutely ludicrous for this case.

[00:09:20]I think Jason said it best when he told you, "This is not a gift to Devin. This is a gift to them to let this be over, to stop the nightmare.

[00:09:30]They deserve to have some peace from this.

[00:09:34]Your brother's gone for the the of his life.

[00:09:36]You better be glad that your exposure is 30 years, and that's not a gift to you.

[00:09:39]That's by the graciousness of this family.

[00:09:42]The judge on their behalf I would respectfully ask 30 years of imprisonment. I object, Your Honor.

[00:09:46]>> [snorts] >> Your Honor, I object to the two letters.

[00:10:02]>> So, I mean, I appreciate Mr. Nix's argument. I appreciate these letters. The problem with these letters is I don't know I I wish if they hadn't seen that the people who are saying what a good person you are and how much remorse you supposedly have and that you've taken responsibility saw the video of what happened that night.

[00:10:24]Um there's not a whole lot of times here in court that with cases we have the opportunity to have pretty much every single part of an offense on video, right? And that makes this unique. Uh it's unfortunate probably in some cases that we don't because probably other people who've done similar things get maybe some breaks that they shouldn't because we don't have all of that. What you and your brother put that family through that night is the stuff that I think I've said this before, the family's probably heard me, I know tell your brother this. This is the stuff out of a movie.

[00:11:00]This is what makes people have nightmares at night. And you instigated it. You walked with your brother with that assault gun however far y'all had to walk knowing you weren't just going to get property holding a gun.

[00:11:17]>> to this.

[00:11:17]>> Well, you can object whatever you want, but I know what I saw.

[00:11:21]I know that you instigated him to keep doing it. You showed him how to take the safety off the gun.

[00:11:32]I remember all of that. So, at this time I'm going to find that you entered a plea of guilty freely and voluntarily.

[00:11:37]Going to find sufficient evidence to find you guilty and at this time I'm going to find you guilty of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit aggravated assault. Going to sentence you to a term of 30 years in the institutional division of the Texas Department of Corrections.

[00:11:51]>> Here's the moment everything changes.

[00:11:53]The judge accepts the plea deal.

[00:11:55]But then adds two extra years of probation anyway.

[00:11:59]That's a courtroom power move.

[00:12:01]Legally, judges often control probation length even when both sides agree on a recommendation.

[00:12:07]And in this case she's making one thing crystal clear.

[00:12:11]Getting another DWI just 4 days after probation ended completely destroyed his credibility.

[00:12:18]Question for you guys. Should repeat offenders get longer supervision or does extending probation just delay the inevitable?

[00:12:26]>> Um I am making an affirmative finding of a deadly weapon. You will receive credit on that sentence for any time that you've been in custody that the law gives you the right to receive. I'm handing you the trial court certification, Mr. Nix, that shows this was an agreement. So, you have waived any right to appeal. You've also been handed a written admonishment regarding your ineligibility to possess a firearm or ammunition. You should thank Mr. Nix.

[00:12:50]He did an excellent job for you limiting your exposure and on behalf of the family to give you that opportunity to have it limited at 30 years. You're very lucky and I hope you take advantage of this. When you get out, you're still going to be young and have an opportunity to live a life and you can