Idle Hands

On April 23, he faced Jackson County Circuit Judge William Mauer for sentencing.

State prosecutors Kenneth Garrett and Robert Sanders asked Mauer to impose the fullest possible sentence — 10 years — because Bradford had been a "prior and persistent felon."

Munday protested, "The punishment should fit the crime. This was a setup. There was no loss." He asked Mauer to "send a message" that the bait-car stings were unfair by letting Bradford off with time served — the 57 days he'd already spent in county jail.

Because a jury had already convicted Bradford of the crime, Mauer said, he refused to make a judgment on whether the sting was fair.

He noted that Bradford had completed probation after serving five years at various state prisons and had kept his record clean since then.

Mauer sentenced Bradford to four years in prison but suspended the sentence by imposing five years' probation. Bradford was free to go. If he violates his probation, he will have to serve the four years.

Detectives who had come to watch the sentencing were not pleased. "Homicide, kidnapping, almost every burglary is aided with the use of a stolen car," one said. "Hopefully we won't see a trend in judges letting burglars off."

But Mauer had made it clear that his decision had nothing to do with Munday's arguments against the fairness of kill-switch operations. "Remember, Munday," Mauer said, "I was not swayed by the sting-operation part of this thing."

Witnesses to dramatic scenes involving abandoned, idling cars should consider themselves warned. Lockhart says police don't plan to stop using the bait cars any time soon.