Jan 28, 2010
Brotha Workitout
I’ve seen some strange case captions in my almost three years here at The Daily Record (especially in federal forfeiture actions), but a rearraignment scheduled for tomorrow morning in U.S. District Court in Baltimore might set a new bar.
Take
a look at Judge J. Frederick Motz’s 10:30 a.m. engagement.
That’s right, a bank fraud and identity theft defendant named Brotha Workitout is finally pleading guilty (to a misdemeanor related to using fraudulent identification documents).
“That is actually his name,” confirmed Assistant Federal Public Defender Brendan A. Hurson, who is representing Workitout. “He had some mental health issues and he changed his name.”
Workitout, whose given name is James Weldon Hunter Jr., has been receiving treatment since around the time of his not-guilty plea three years ago, and his deal with the government envisions more of the same.
“Things are better,” Hurson said, noting Workitout hasn’t had “a single brush with the law” since his indictment in 2006 . “But unfortunately the name remains.”
It is unclear what name Workitout, who is also identified in court papers as Hesman Wisteria Tall, will go by during his probation, but regardless, I’m glad to hear it’s all … working out.
…gee, the gentleman “had some mental issues” and, well, the Brotha wanted to WorkItOut. makes perfect sense to me. No, really folks, this appears to be another instance of the court system acting as a surrogate mental health care system – the court system as a substitute for the ineffectual (or non-existent in some places) mental health system.
‘Tis a pity the gentleman was a victim of the Baltimore Public school system which failed to convey to him the importance, and even majesty, of his given name. His name sake, James Weldon Johnson was one of the great figures of the Reconstruction Era, of African-American history and American history in general. JWJ served as the United States’ Consul General to both Venezuela and Nicaragua, an attorney and a college professor and the composer of the little-sung, little-remembered “Negro National Anthem” a musically avant garde composition that captured the sentiment of an oppressed and newly-freed peoples and the idiosyncratic classical musical renditions of the late 19th-century.
According to his case docket, Mr. Workitout’s rearraignment has been “postponed until further notice.” I’ll let everyone know if/when it eventually…(groan)…works out.