Shawn Custis, Alleged Millburn Home Invader: Lengthy Criminal Record

Interesting article by Star Ledger on Custis. Begs the question, why are felons who have been convicted multiple times still on the street. The SL article is reprinted below.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/07/long_rap_sheet_of_millburn_home_invasion_suspect_shawn_custis.html
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Shawn Custis, the suspect charged in the brutal home invasion and beating of a Millburn woman — a crime that sent shock waves through the quiet Essex County community — is no stranger to the criminal justice system.

Records show a career criminal who has avoided the toughest penalties most of his life by sticking mostly to home burglaries that carry little prison exposure — crimes that kept him never far from a favorable deal when caught, regardless of how often he was locked up.

Here's a detailed look at the long history of criminal charges faced by this repeat offender:

SHAWN CUSTIS' CRIMINAL RECORD

These are the dates attached to Shawn Custis' criminal file, the counties where the alleged crimes took place, the disposition and the term imposed.

Dec. 9, 1988*: Burlington - Burglary (4 years' probation)

Feb. 15, 1991*: Burlington - Unlawful possession of a handgun (5 years' probation)

Dec. 18, 1992*: Camden - Burglary (4 years' probation)

Jan. 15, 1993*: Burlington - Robbery and assault (10 years in jail)

Feb. 10, 1998: Paroled

April 22, 1998: Violated parole, returned to prison

Aug. 28, 1998: Released from jail

Jan. 14, 2000*: Camden - Resisting arrest/eluding police (9 years in jail)

April 14, 2000*: Burlington - Theft (5 years in jail)

May 14, 2000*: Gloucester - Burglary (5 years in jail)

Jan. 30, 2003: Paroled

July. 8, 2003: Violated parole and is sent back to prison

Feb. 27, 2004: Paroled

Sept. 22, 2004: Violated parole, sent to county jail

Aug. 26, 2005*: Union - Forgery (4 years in jail)

April 26, 2006: Sent to halfway house

July 10, 2006: Escaped from halfway house

Aug. 8, 2006: Union: Returned to prison

March 31, 2008: Released from prison

June 14, 2010*: Essex - Burglary (5 years' probation)

June 18, 2010*: Union - Burglary (5 years' probation)

April 1, 2011*: Burlington, Essex, Mercer, Middlesex - Burglary (3 years in jail)

Dec. 22, 2012: Released from prison

June 21, 2013: Essex - Charged in Millburn home invasion; incident captured on nanny cam

* These entries reflect dates that cases were adjudicated.

NOTE: Records include information from the Administrative Office of the Court, the New Jersey Department of Corrections and county charges. They do not include any crimes, if any, committed as a juvenile.

That's 23 years probation, and 36 years in jail. He's 42. I'm not going to look at the dates to see how much of that was actually served, I might throw up on my keyboard.

Overcrowded prisons and mandatory sentences for minor offenses which further overcrowd them are factors which require releasing dangerous repeat offenders.

Well, his last offense was certainly NOT minor, so here's hoping they keep him in long enough to protect others. I'd really like to see some sort of rehabilitation, but given this record, I'm not very optimistic.

The chances of rehab for this chronic sadistic offender are extremely poor. I hope he's safely behind bars until his mid-eighties.

I remember seeing this when it was originally published. It disgusted me--still does.

cody said:

Well, his last offense was certainly NOT minor, so here's hoping they keep him in long enough to protect others. I'd really like to see some sort of rehabilitation, but given this record, I'm not very optimistic.


Sadly the offense in 1993 was basically the same thing he did in Millburn. He was out in 5 years.

Jasmo said:

The chances of rehab for this chronic sadistic offender are extremely poor. I hope he's safely behind bars until his mid-eighties.


I kind of hope I don't have to pay for him to be jailed for that long.


fabulouswalls said:

Jasmo said:

The chances of rehab for this chronic sadistic offender are extremely poor. I hope he's safely behind bars until his mid-eighties.


I kind of hope I don't have to pay for him to be jailed for that long.

On two separate occasions he broke into a home, savagely beat the occupant, and then threw them down the stairs. Do you think he should be allowed on the street again anytime soon?

IIRC in the first incident he also threw a young child down the stairs.


I doubt he got caught every time. I'm conjecturing there were other people hurt through the years.

Tom_Reingold said:

What are our choices?


He could find a gun in his cell and commit suicide by shooting himself in the head two or three times. Oops. Wrong country.

Our prison system is so messed up and our justice system allows these people to walk the streets and keep committing crimes. The cost to keep these people in prison is enormous and they have better living conditions and benefits than some of our poorest.

norman said:

Tom_Reingold said:

What are our choices?


He could find a gun in his cell and commit suicide by shooting himself in the head two or three times. Oops. Wrong country.


I was thinking more along the lines of taking up a collection to pay "Alice Baker" whatever the going price is for a contract hit these days.

Convicted and facing life

http://villagegreennj.com/police-and-fire/man-convicted-millburn-attack-captured-nanny-cam/


Hmm, and its almost time for me to be called for jury duty. Seriously, I hope tragedies like this make people realize how important jury duty is . My last service was grand jury and I was saddened as one by one people struggled to get out of serving. One of the folks that did serve reluctantly had to be woken up several times.


Morganna said:

 My last service was grand jury and I was saddened as one by one people struggled to get out of serving.

Many people aren't reimbursed for jury duty and it can be a hardship.  My husband is only reimbursed for 2/3 of his time at jury duty.  When he served as a petit juror he had to dip into his vacation time to make up the difference so his paycheck wouldn't be short, but it was only a few days, right?  Some people don't even have that option. Then he was informed that instead of the expected 2-3 days it was going to be a week or more, which would have eaten up more vacation time and also would have made him have to miss his second job which he had just gotten hired for.  For someone living paycheck to paycheck, for a single working parent, or many other circumstances serving on a jury is a very real hardship.  Not everyone who seeks to be excused does so because it is boring.


The last time I was called, I didn't get reimbursed, one thin dime. Judge comes out and announces what a privilege this was to be here and even he has to serve when his name is called.

Well, whoop-de-do, and he gets full salary for the performance.


spontaneous said:
Morganna said:

 My last service was grand jury and I was saddened as one by one people struggled to get out of serving.

Many people aren't reimbursed for jury duty and it can be a hardship.  My husband is only reimbursed for 2/3 of his time at jury duty.  When he served as a petit juror he had to dip into his vacation time to make up the difference so his paycheck wouldn't be short, but it was only a few days, right?  Some people don't even have that option. Then he was informed that instead of the expected 2-3 days it was going to be a week or more, which would have eaten up more vacation time and also would have made him have to miss his second job which he had just gotten hired for.  For someone living paycheck to paycheck, for a single working parent, or many other circumstances serving on a jury is a very real hardship.  Not everyone who seeks to be excused does so because it is boring.

I was never reimbursed for jury duty. If I was teaching I did my service in the summer when I was supposed to be on vacation. I didn't take off during the school year as my student's would suffer.

One job I had before that required working till 4 AM, and I had to show up for jury duty in the morning and it was in NYC so it was for a full 2 weeks for petit.

And I'm sure we all know people who just don't want to serve.


Morganna said:
spontaneous said:
Morganna said:

 My last service was grand jury and I was saddened as one by one people struggled to get out of serving.

Many people aren't reimbursed for jury duty and it can be a hardship.  My husband is only reimbursed for 2/3 of his time at jury duty.  When he served as a petit juror he had to dip into his vacation time to make up the difference so his paycheck wouldn't be short, but it was only a few days, right?  Some people don't even have that option. Then he was informed that instead of the expected 2-3 days it was going to be a week or more, which would have eaten up more vacation time and also would have made him have to miss his second job which he had just gotten hired for.  For someone living paycheck to paycheck, for a single working parent, or many other circumstances serving on a jury is a very real hardship.  Not everyone who seeks to be excused does so because it is boring.

I was never reimbursed for jury duty. If I was teaching I did my service in the summer when I was supposed to be on vacation. I didn't take off during the school year as my student's would suffer.

One job I had before that required working till 4 AM, and I had to show up for jury duty in the morning and it was in NYC so it was for a full 2 weeks for petit.

And I'm sure we all know people who just don't want to serve.

The summer?  My husband doesn't have the summer off, he gets very limited vacation time (equal to about 3 weeks a year) and has a very physically demanding job.  He's already had two surgeries from on the job injuries and is currently out again injured, they are sending him to PT and giving him cortisone shots in the hopes of avoiding surgery for this most recent injury.  Using his vacation time to recuperate from the physical and emotional stress of his job (a stressful day at work for him usually involves severely injured or dead children and infants, unfortunately dead adults are all too common in his line of work and he no longer has the luxury of being overcome by that) so yes, it does piss me off when jury duty eats up his vacation time.

But hey, doing CPR on an infant you know you can't save, but that your heart just won't let you give up on, is what he signed up for so I guess it's all on him and he really just wants to get out of jury duty because it's a drag, right?


Formerlyjerseyjack said:

The last time I was called, I didn't get reimbursed, one thin dime. Judge comes out and announces what a privilege this was to be here and even he has to serve when his name is called.

Well, whoop-de-do, and he gets full salary for the performance.

You didn't get your $5 a day? 


Formerlyjerseyjack said:

The last time I was called, I didn't get reimbursed, one thin dime. Judge comes out and announces what a privilege this was to be here and even he has to serve when his name is called.

Well, whoop-de-do, and he gets full salary for the performance.

It an obligation of citizenship. Your part in helping to hold chaos at bay. People should be overjoyed that they have this opportunity.


As I municipal employee I do get paid for jury duty (have to surrender the $5 per diem but what the hay!)

I would do it every year if I could and they would let me . I feel so honored to be able to participate and fulfill my obligation to society. HOWEVER, if I didn't have my salary or had to use vacations days I would surely be pissed. Like my support for Election day being a national holiday so people can vote without worrying about work, I truly feel that employer SHOULD be required to pay our citizens to fulfill their duties. If you are self-employed you should be exempt but it should be mandatory to serve (and VOTE! even if for none of the above!)


bramzzoinks said:
Formerlyjerseyjack said:

The last time I was called, I didn't get reimbursed, one thin dime. Judge comes out and announces what a privilege this was to be here and even he has to serve when his name is called.

Well, whoop-de-do, and he gets full salary for the performance.

It an obligation of citizenship. Your part in helping to hold chaos at bay. People should be overjoyed that they have this opportunity.

Hello, landlord? I'd like to pay my rent with civic pride this month. What's that? Evicted? You only accept dollars? What an odd policy.


librarylady said:

Convicted and facing life

http://villagegreennj.com/police-and-fire/man-convicted-millburn-attack-captured-nanny-cam/

Thank God.  Hopefully he will be put away forever in a place where he can only hurt himself.  This man was a murder waiting to happen.


Klinker said:
librarylady said:

Convicted and facing life

http://villagegreennj.com/police-and-fire/man-convicted-millburn-attack-captured-nanny-cam/

Thank God.  Hopefully he will be put away forever in a place where he can only hurt himself.  This man was a murder waiting to happen.

He'll probably be put away in a prison with a bunch of other aggressive psychopaths who will all attempt to out-manipulate and terrorize each other.  It will be a challenge.


marylago said:
Formerlyjerseyjack said:

The last time I was called, I didn't get reimbursed, one thin dime. Judge comes out and announces what a privilege this was to be here and even he has to serve when his name is called.

Well, whoop-de-do, and he gets full salary for the performance.

You didn't get your $5 a day? 

That paid for lunch and gas. Big deal. My point was about Citizen Judge being proud to serve when it cost him nothing.


librarylady said:

As I municipal employee I do get paid for jury duty (have to surrender the $5 per diem but what the hay!)

I would do it every year if I could and they would let me . I feel so honored to be able to participate and fulfill my obligation to society. HOWEVER, if I didn't have my salary or had to use vacations days I would surely be pissed. Like my support for Election day being a national holiday so people can vote without worrying about work, I truly feel that employer SHOULD be required to pay our citizens to fulfill their duties. If you are self-employed you should be exempt but it should be mandatory to serve (and VOTE! even if for none of the above!)

And there could at least be some kind of tax break for self employed, as well as for the employers who do the right thing and provide full pay to their employees on jury duty. The more I hear people talk about ways to get out of jury duty, the more I hope never to be the defendant in a trial.


I last got called this past November. I started out, honest to God, thrilled to be there. It was a quiet time at work, and I work from home, so I'm happy to be out and have places to go and an excuse to "eat out," even if it's a food truck. And I've got that whole "civic responsibility" thing, too. 

I was even more excited when we got called to go to the historic courthouse, which I'd never been in before; it's been beautifully restored and was really impressive. I'd be happy to spend a few days on a case there, sure. 

But within half an hour of voir dire on what was apparently a slip & fall case, I wanted to smack all the attorneys in the head and was praying they wouldn't get to my name on the list. Massively annoying lawyers on both sides, an apparently infinite number of preemptory strikes that were only used after going waaaaaaaay down the huge questionaire with detailed questioning about every single yes answer ... why don't you just start off by having everyone who's ever suffered an injury or been in an accident or been involved in a lawsuit and leave and save us all a few hours, since you're obviously booting all those people? Maybe if the system wasn't such a mess you wouldn't need to exclude everyone who'd ever used it? Gah. I'm in no hurry to go back. 


I am more than willing to do my civic duty but, with multiple family members who have been victims of violent crime I am always the first prospective juror to be excused. 



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