|
|
| Plan to deter prison crime hits a snag |
| By triplicate.com - Anthony Skeens, The Triplicate |
| Published: 11/29/2011 |
|
Judge says no to high fine for lifer District Attorney Jon Alexander hit a snag last week in his campaign to seek fines to deter criminal activity by inmates serving long sentences at Pelican Bay State Prison. During the sentencing hearing of inmate Oscar Corona on Nov. 17, Judge Robert Weir denied the prosecution’s attempt to seek a high amount of restitution for his conviction of possessing a weapon. Alexander wants to emphasize fines in the prosecution of inmates in the hopes of limiting their ability to purchase from the canteen. Corona’s case was recently taken to trial, lasting two days, after he refused to plead guilty to a deal that included exacting restitution. He was willing to plead if the fines weren’t imposed, said deputy District Attorney Lisa Specchio, who was the lead prosecutor in the case. “It is important to (inmates),” Specchio said. Judge Weir shared a differing opinion during the sentencing, shooting down the attempt at denying any of Corona’s commissary funds before an amount could be argued. “I’m going to follow the practices I’ve followed since the prison got here over 20 years ago and fine it according to what appears to be as what’s required,” said Weir. “Even though we’ve now gone through the jury trial, I don’t want to encourage more trials of this sort with the hope of getting these fines, because, frankly, the tens of thousand of dollars that it cost to put on this extravaganza for the jury, it just isn’t worth it.” “It gets down really to the point of flyspecking,” said Weir. Weir reasoned his decision by pointing out that Corona is still paying restitution for his past crimes and the prospect of paying additional fines is slim. He opined that taking away a person’s canteen privileges should be imposed administratively by the prison rather then going through the judicial system. If a state prison inmate is found guilty of a rules violation within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation system their canteen privileges can be revoked on a temporary basis: 30 days for the first offense, 60 for the second and 90 for the third. Specchio argued that for inmates serving longer prison sentences — in Corona’s case six life terms — there is no other deterrent against committing offenses than the fines. Corona is serving his sentences for convictions of second degree murder, four counts of attempted murder and shooting at a person from a vehicle. He has had past prison violations, including murder, but they were never prosecuted, Specchio said. “The bottom line is when they do something and get a slap on the hand it doesn’t affect them,” said Specchio. Alexander also spoke at the hearing to try to sway Weir, who had already indicated he wasn’t going to impose anything higher than the mandatory minimum fine of $200. Alexander used an assault on three correctional officers who were sent to the hospital last January as an example that the county needs to send a message to the inmates. “I have to believe the reason why they did what they did is because they believed they had nothing to lose,” said Alexander. Weir disagreed that fining an inmate already indebted would provide any protection to correctional officers, though he is in support of keeping them safe. Every CDCR inmate has a private bank account set up in their name that allows family and friends to deposit money. If an inmate owes fines for a conviction, up to 50 percent from each deposit can be collected by CDCR. Ultimately, Weir gave Corona a 25 years to life sentence and $480 in fines. His public defender fees were waived. After the hearing, Alexander said his office would not be thrown off by Weir’s decision and will continue to seek fines and go to trial if necessary. Read More. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think