Clients find holiday cheer and mercy in Gaston County’s Christmas Court

Marsha Bradley looked at the Superior Court judge and cried.

Bradley, 38, of Belmont, pleaded guilty to five charges, two of them felonies. That, and her history of previous convictions, would have been enough to send her to prison for nearly a decade.

Instead, she received a much shorter sentence, one that could have her out of prison in less than a year.

“To me, the spirit of Christmas is one where we receive a little mercy that maybe we didn’t deserve, and so when I look at Ms. Bradley’s record, I see 20 years of breaking the law,” District Attorney Travis Page said in court. “And so she doesn’t really deserve the sentence that she’s getting… However, just like me and everyone else in this courthouse is given an opportunity to have a new life, a better life, she’s being given one today, and I hope Ms. Bradley will take advantage of that.”

Bradley was arrested July 24 after someone called the police and reported that she was behaving strangely near a park in Mount Holly. When police arrived, they found her with several drugs, including cocaine and marijuana. She pleaded guilty Thursday to possession of a Schedule III controlled substance, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and resisting a public officer.

Senior Resident Superior Court Judge David Phillips sentenced Bradley to nine to 20 months in prison.

Bradley accepted the plea as part of Gaston County’s annual Christmas Court, the final court session of the year, in which prosecutors and defense attorneys work to bring inmates to court in hopes of sending them home for Christmas.

The inmates involved are typically people whose sentences would be either the time they’ve already spent in jail, or probation, but Bradley’s case was more unusual in that she received a reduced prison sentence in a case where she could have spent many more years incarcerated because of her previous criminal record.

“I hope that you will see this as an opportunity to change your life, just like all your lives were changed on Christmas day,” Page said.

Bradley wiped away tears.

Defense attorney Thomas Taylor said that Bradley, at the time of her arrest, had “reached the end of her rope.”

She’s now sober from drugs, Taylor added.

“She’s used her time well in the jail,” he said. “She is very grateful to the state. I would like to acknowledge that I believe Mr. Page did a deeper dive into this case than normally cases like this demand.”

“Thank y’all, and Merry Christmas,” Bradley said.

“Even though you’re going to prison, you could be going to prison for just about a decade, so Mr. Page, who is our DA, is showing you grace,” Phillips told Bradley.

Several other inmates pleaded guilty as part of Christmas Court and received probation instead of prison time.

Jonathan Mitchell, 38, of Gastonia, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon, a charge he received after police pulled him over in August and saw a rifle in his passenger seat, according to prosecutors.

Jonathan Mitchell speaks with his lawyer during Christmas Court held Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, at the Gaston County Courthouse.

Phillips sentenced him to two years of probation.

Judge David Phillips reads over the charges for a defendant during Christmas Court held Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, at the Gaston County Courthouse.

Marcus Phillips, 38, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon. Phillips was arrested twice, once in August and again in October. During his first arrest, police pulled him over and found a gun in his car, according to prosecutors. He was arrested again after employees from a local pawn shop called the police after he tried to pawn a stolen gun.

Marcus Phillips looks up at his lawyer during Christmas Court held Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, at the Gaston County Courthouse.

Phillips sentenced him to two years of probation.

Page said in an interview that the importance of the Christmas Court is “also really about the Christmas season.”

“For me, the Christmas season is, Christmas was a gift that humanity and myself, we didn’t really deserve, but we were still gifted anyways. Christmas is also a new beginning. It was a new beginning for the world. We hope it’s a new beginning for the folks that we’re showing mercy to,” he said. “We hope that’s the case for these folks that are receiving a second opportunity to reboot or restart their lives like we’re going to do in the upcoming new year.”

District Attorney Travis Page talks about the Christmas Court program Thursday morning, Dec. 14, 2023, at the Gaston County Courthouse.

He said that prosecutors work similarly to expedite cases like the ones on Thursday throughout the year.

“The only difference… that we do is we put the word ‘Christmas’ on this calendar,” he said.

Defense attorney Larry Hoyle said that when he goes to the jail to inform clients that they’ll be getting out in time for Christmas, “it’s normally just a big sigh of relief and tears.”

“They are so excited to have the opportunity to either spend time with their parents, or if they have children, to be there for their children Christmas morning,” he said.

He said that the vast majority of the people he works with “are good people.”

“It’s just a set of circumstances where maybe they had a bad reaction to an event, but most people I deal with have good hearts. They’re mostly kind people, and most of the time there’s a regret: ‘I shouldn’t have acted that way,'” he said.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Clients find holiday cheer and mercy in Gaston County’s Christmas Court