The WATCH Chronicle – July 2016
1
The WATCH Chronicle
WATCH is a court monitoring and judicial policy non profit located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. WATCH works
to make the justice system more responsive to crimes of
violence against women and children, f ocusing on
greater safety for victims of violence and greater
accountability for violent offenders.
July 2016 Volume 2, Issue 7
OFFENDER CHROLONOGY:
Antoine Lashawn Matthews
Antoine Lashawn Matthews, 28, came to WATCH’s attention in July 2015 when
he was charged with promoting the prostitution of a minor. After pleading
guilty to that charge as part of a plea agreement, he was charged with stalking
the mother of his child over a two-week period. He has a long criminal history,
including two previous domestic violence charges that were ultimately
dismissed.
Matthews began his criminal history at the age of 15 with petty crimes, such as
disorderly conduct, trespassing, underage drinking and minor narcotics
violations. He was also charged numerous times with driving with a revoked
license.
In 2006, Matthews was charged with misdemeanor credit card fraud, receiving
a stayed sentence. His first felony arrest, at age 20, resulted in a guilty plea to
possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree and attempted sale of
a controlled substance in the third degree. He was sentenced to 60 days in the
public workhouse.
Antoine Lashawn Matthews
On June 9, 2009, Matthews was charged in Hennepin County with domestic
assault-bodily harm, and domestic assault-fear. Six months later, both charges
were dismissed.
In January 2012, Matthews was charged in Hennepin County with one
misdeameanor account of assault – intentionally inflicting or attempting to
inflict bodily harm, as well as one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.
The offense allegedly took place on Nov. 11, 2011, when a Plymouth police
officer reported that she responded to a report of domestic assault outside a
Walgreen’s store. There, Matthews’ girlfriend told the officer that during an
argument outside Walgreen’s, Matthews slapped his girlfriend with an open
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The WATCH Chronicle – July 2016
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hand, then got in his car and drove away. According to the complaint, the
police officer observed red marks on the woman’s face.
Mathews pleaded not guilty to both charges. On July 19, 2012, the case was
continued for one-year-probation with conditions including no same or similar
offense, and on December 14, 2013, the charges were dismissed.
In October 2014, Matthews was back in a Hennepin County courtroom after
being charged with a misdemeanor count of theft. He was sentenced to 90
days in the Hennepin County workhouse; all but four of those days were
stayed for one year.
On July 28, 2015, Matthews faced a felony charge in Hennepin County of
promoting prostitution of an individual under 18 years old. According to a
criminal complaint, officers a week earlier had arrived at an apartment building
in Minneapolis in search of a runaway 16-year-old girl. They found her in an
apartment, along with Matthews. The victim later reported that she had run
away from a group home, and Matthews had forced her engage in prostitution
after meeting some people who had brought her to him. The victim said
Matthews took photos of her to place in ads posted on the internet, then
moved her to different Minneapolis apartments where she had sex with
various men for money. She stated that Matthews made her give him the
money she received. When she once said she wanted to leave, he allegedly
told her she was his “bitch now.” At the time police found the victim, she said
she had been with Matthews for two weeks.
According to the complaint, authorities later found text messages on
Matthews’ phone linking him to the victim, as well as several backpage.com
ads involving the victim that used an IP address linked to Matthews’ phone.
The victim said
Matthews took
photos of her to
place in ads posted
on the internet,
then moved her to
different
Minneapolis
apartments where
she had sex with
various men for
money.
On March 18, 2016, Matthews pleaded guilty to the felony charge as part of a
plea agreement. The following month, on April 28, Matthews was taken into
custody and charged with one felony count of engaging in a pattern of stalking
in connection with incidents that took place beginning April 11. According to a
criminal complaint, a woman, identified as S.M., said she was the mother of
Matthews’s one-year-old child and told officers she had obtained an order of
protection against him in November 2015. S.M. told officers Matthews had
called her several times in violation of the order, and on April 11, called and
threatened to kill her and then himself, saying he would go to her workplace.
The following day, Matthews allegedly sent her a video of himself holding a
semi-automatic pistol in which he warned her not to make her mad, and called
her again on April 16.
S.M. told officers that Matthews had previously assaulted her, including one
incident in which he pushed her downstairs when she was seven months’
pregnant.
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On May 10, Matthews was sentenced on the charge of promoting prostitution
of a minor. His attorney argued that he was a product of his family history; his
mother was a prostitute, and he had no father. The attorney also argued that
he accepted responsibility for his actions and was “very remorseful.” The
prosecutor argued for a 150-month commitment, saying he couldn’t support
probation in light of the recent stalking charge. In the end, Judge Toddrick
Barnette sentenced Matthews to 365 days in the workhouse, and stayed a
180-month prison sentence for five years. This was a dispositional departure
from sentencing guidelines; in his report to the Minnesota Sentencing
Guidelines Commission, Judge Barnette cited Matthews’s remorse for his
actions as a reason for his departure.
On May 18, Matthews was back in court for his sentencing hearing on the
stalking charge, to which he had pleaded guilty on May 10. In another
dispositional departure, Judge Barnette imposed a five-year stay of execution
for a prison term of 18 months, consecutive to his previous sentence.
According to his lawyer, Matthews again took responsibility for his actions.
His attorney argued
that he was a
product of his family
history; his mother
was a prostitute,
and he had no
father.
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