NEW ORLEANS — The survivor of a carjacking said she hasn't been contacted by the Mayor to explain why she was at the sentencing hearing of her attacker.
Eyewitness News introduced you to Madison Bergeron last week. She reacted to the silence from City Hall, after Mayor Cantrell was seen in court supporting a juvenile suspect's family.
“It re-victimizes you, makes you think that what happened was just, wasn’t anything to you, like you didn’t care, because if you did, you would’ve reached to us in the first place," Bergeron said.
Bergeron wanted to know why the Mayor was there. Eyewitness News contacted the Mayor’s office four times asking this question and haven’t heard back.
“She hasn’t contacted us at all…. She didn’t even listen to my victim impact statement,” she said.
Monday night, members of the justice system gathered at the St. Roc Community Church, to educate the community on how the criminal justice system works and why. District C Councilman Freddie King hosted the event.
"So hopefully this can fill some of those gaps and understand why some of those were done how it was done," King said.
From his seat on the bench, Judge Marcus DeLarge is responsible for handing down sentences.
He did not preside over Bergeron’s case, but wanted to tell people how he arrives at the sentences he hands down.
“There’s a big old book. It's called the code of criminal procedure and those guidelines are spelled out in that book," DeLarge said.
Judge DeLarge said he considers a number of factors before sentencing.
“I look at the age of the defendant, I also look at the educational status or background of the defendant, I look at if this is his or her first offense,” DeLarge said.
The community is upset over lesser sentences being handed down, and Bergeron is one of them.
“It's upsetting as well. He says it's for the best interest of the Juvenile, for the community. What about the best interest of the victims? What about us?”
“Those decisions are not taken lightly. Obviously, they’re really important for not just that individual as the defendant but the victim and also the community,” DeLarge said.
We asked Judge DeLarge if a public figure’s presence at sentencing can sway a judge’s ruling.
“The jury and maybe a judge should not be swayed by public opinion, by passion, or by bias. So my answer to that is I hope not," DeLarge said.