As I was being graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1977, I was seriously considering going to law school. I had totally destroyed the LSAT, and thought it would be a good fit for my obviously brilliant mind and quick thinking. But, alas!, law school was simply not something I could ever afford, and, as my career progressed, it has become more and more obvious that a career as an attorney would not have been a good fit for me. Nothing has made that more clear to me than the case of Brandon Dockery. As this site reported, in August of 2021, on the arrest of Brandon Dockery for the murder of Raymar Webb, I simply could not have put myself through what defense attorneys Cherish Derrickson and Caitlin Dunnington did to try to defend Mr Dockery.

That Mr Dockery shot and killed Mr Webb was not in dispute: the defendant admitted as much in his trial. But our adversarial system requires that the defendant be allowed to present a vigorous defense, and have a qualified and dedicated attorney to assist him. It was Misses Derrickson’s and Dunnington’s job to try to get the least onerous sentence for their client. They sought a conviction for manslaughter rather than murder. Under KRS §507.030, Manslaughter in the First Degree is a Class B Felony, and carries a sentence of ten to twenty years in prison. Murder, on the other hand, can get you locked up for the rest of your miserable life.

From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

“(Dockery) knows that he will go to prison,” Dunnington said. “Whether what he did was not OK is not the question. The question is: How did all of these things effect Brandon’s mental state?”

Another of Dockery’s attorneys, Cherish Derrickson, told jurors during opening statements that Dockery was jumped by two men at a bar in the area the night before the fatal shooting. Dockery did not know the men, and still does not to this day, but the one thing that stuck out in his mind was one attacker wearing a red shirt.

The next day, Dockery went out again because he was with friends. While in the same area as where the incident happened the night before, he feared that another altercation was going to unfold and tried to leave. While trying to flee, he saw Webb, who was wearing a red shirt, and he shot him. “This shooting doesn’t make sense any other way,” Dunnington said Wednesday.

“It comes down to fear, trauma and a red shirt that Brandon did not figure out in time.”

I’d say that this shooting didn’t make sense in any way. Our system of justice grants to Mr Dockery the right to make any excuses he can, but surely, surely! it must have pained Miss Dunnington to have made that argument. I know that I could not have done so, not with a straight face!

Mr Dockery had also made all of the typical excuses:

During his testimony, Dockery outlined years of extreme mental, emotional, physical and sexual abuse by family members and peers. Dockery told jurors that as a man who lost his own father to gun violence, he recognized the impact it would have on Webb’s children.

In the end, his pleas didn’t mean much, as he was convicted of murder, along with other charges. The jury are deliberating his sentence now, and as of 8:00 PM EDT on Friday, no sentence has been announced; the prosecution have asked for a life sentence.

But what would a life sentence mean? As we previously reported, Cody Alan Arnett received six consecutive life sentences, because the judge and jury wanted that monster put out of civilized society for all eternity.

The Commonwealth has a Kentucky Online Offender Lookup system, which includes date on an inmate and his crimes and sentence, including his potential parole date. It seems that the now 40-year-old offender has an initial parole eligibility date of September 23. 2038, just twelve years from now, twenty years to the day from when he was apprehended. The sentence handed down by the judge and jury is almost meaningless. If he is granted parole, he’ll be 52 years old, still at an age in which he might well be physically capable of going out and raping another young woman.

There is, of course, no guarantee that he will be granted parole, but he will undoubtedly do everything he can to persuade the parole board that he’s learned his lesson, and he’ll be a good, good boy once he’s set free.

The state legislature tightened up the parole laws in 2025, which had allowed parole eligibility following just 20% of a sentence being completed: Mr Arnett had gotten that benefit following robberies before he raped his victim. While the new parole laws require 85% of the sentence be completed before those convicted of violent crimes become eligible for parole consideration, Mr Dockery’s offense occurred in 2021, so whatever sentence he receives will have parole eligibility under the previous laws. Having already served five years, Mr Dockery, now 37-years-old, could be eligible for parole when he’s just 52.

That’s the kind of thing that, were I an attorney, would absolutely drive me up the wall. As Mr Bumble said, in Oliver Twist, “The law is an ass.”