Another plea agreement from Jason Cooke has been rejected in Starke Circuit Court. He’s charged with the October 2015 robbery of Sescoe Wireman. Cooke is accused of hitting Wireman in the head, and taking money, prescription medication, an Indiana ID card, and multiple credit cards from him. Wireman died a few days later, but a murder count against Cooke was dropped last February.
An amended plea agreement was presented last week in Starke Circuit Court. It called for a sentence of 20 years in the Indiana Department of Correction.
But after reviewing the pre-sentence investigation, Judge Kim Hall rejected the plea agreement Monday. One of the reasons he gave was Cooke’s criminal history, which Hall said is a “significant aggravating factor.” Hall noted that Cooke’s involvement with the criminal justice system began when he was just 14. He’s also been arrested 25 times as an adult and sentenced to prison four different times.
In his order, Hall said, “The Defendant’s convictions for crimes of violence, dealing in illegal drugs, counterfeiting, burglarizing residences, resisting law enforcement, and violating terms of probation demonstrates his total lack of respect for individuals, their homes, the community, law enforcement officers, and the Court.” Judge Hall added that with Cooke’s criminal record, the prosecutor’s office could have sought to have him deemed a habitual offender, but has chosen not to do so.
Although the plea agreement called for a 20-year sentence, Hall pointed out that a Level 2 Felony carries a maximum sentence of 30 years. If Cooke were found to be a habitual offender, the sentence could be as high as 50 years.
Hall added that while it was up to the prosecutor to dismiss the charge of murder, he felt that doing so “infringed upon the right of a potential jury to determine the law and the facts.” The judge pointed out that the pathologist’s decision not to rule the death a homicide was a medical opinion based on the information that was available, not a legal one.
A status hearing for Jason Cooke was set for March 9 at 11:00 a.m.
