Head Prosecutor Seeks Harsher Drug Sentences : Legal system: But Van Nuys judges may not readily go along with a policy of doubling the penalty for a second offense.

Following the lead of prosecutors in San Fernando, the head prosecutor in the Van Nuys Courthouse has instituted a new policy that seeks sentences twice as long as those routinely offered repeat drug-dealers in plea bargains.

But unlike the San Fernando Courthouse, which just began dealing with large numbers of drug cases in January and which has a longstanding reputation for handing out harsher sentences, it may be more difficult to persuade judges in Van Nuys to change old habits and go along with the new policy.

In courthouses throughout Los Angeles County, second-time drug sellers are typically offered three-year sentences in plea bargains, allowing them to avoid facing a maximum of six years in jail if the case goes to trial. Under the new policy, prosecutors in San Fernando and Van Nuys are instructed to seek six-year sentences.

There are no indications that the policy will be adopted by other prosecutors in the county. Each head deputy district attorney can seek plea bargains he or she deems appropriate.

Van Nuys Supervising Judge Alan B. Haber was not available for comment Friday, and acting Supervising Judge Robert M. Letteau declined to comment on the change in policy, as did other judges and some defense attorneys.

But privately, some of the people involved in such cases say getting judges--who have the final say in any plea agreement--to go along with increasing sentences from three years to six years is not likely.

“I just don’t see them doing it,” said one defense attorney who asked that his name not be used.

Although judges say they treat each sentencing on an individual basis, many have indicated in the past that, in general, a six-year sentence for someone caught a second time selling a $20 rock of cocaine, for example, is too harsh.

Some defense attorneys questioned whether Van Nuys Head Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald N. Eastman will doggedly pursue the harsher sentences, and suggested that he is simply under pressure to appear tougher on criminals.

In an interview, Eastman admitted that he may not always obtain harsher sentences, but said he at least wants to prepare his prosecutors “to ask judges to impose the maximum sentences.”

Eastman said he has not pushed for harsher sentences in the past because he feared it would clog the Van Nuys Courthouse by having more cases go to trial. However, he said that now with many drug cases being heard in San Fernando, he feels the time is right.

“This will not bring down the Van Nuys Courthouse,” he said.

Eastman said that seeking the harsher sentences for repeat drug dealers is simply “reinvigorating” a December, 1985, directive issued by then Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Gilbert Garcetti, who currently is head deputy in the Torrance bureau and is challenging Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner in a runoff election in November.

In the memo, Garcetti reminded prosecutors that a new law was about to take effect that would allow for an additional three years in prison for repeat drug dealers.

“Effective January 1, 1986, these enhancements shall be pleaded in all appropriate cases,” the memo said. “All deputies shall aggressively prosecute these allegations and shall not dismiss or fail to prove these allegations without the prior written approval of the appropriate Head Deputy.”

However, the policy was rarely followed because of another office policy encouraging prosecutors to dispose of as many cases as possible before trial by negotiating plea bargains. In a plea bargain, a defendant is offered a sentence lesser than he or she could have faced if convicted in a trial.

Bill Weiss, head deputy public defender in San Fernando, said he now expects more drug dealing cases to go to trial in his courthouse, after losing a legal challenge against the harsher sentences.

Last week, San Fernando Superior Court Judge Malcolm Mackey upheld the policy when he denied a motion by Weiss to remove the district attorney’s office from prosecuting cases there. Weiss argued that the district attorney’s office was “abusing its discretion” by refusing to consider anything less than six-year sentences for repeat drug offenders.

Weiss, who had hoped that the state attorney general’s office would take over such cases, said he will not appeal the decision, although he still believes the policy is an inequitable enforcement of the law.

Billy Webb, head deputy district attorney in San Fernando, issued a memo last month forbidding his prosecutors to accept the standard three-year sentence for repeat offenders in drug-selling cases.

Webb argued that the standard three-year sentence put too many drug dealers back on the street too quickly. He also noted that repeat offenders often are cited for violating probation rather than being tried for drug offenses because probation violations are easier to prosecute. As a result, the drug sellers escape having a second offense appear on their criminal records.

In January, San Fernando began handling large numbers of drug cases that had formerly been filed in Van Nuys, which handled nearly all drug cases Valleywide. Now, generally, all crimes committed north of Roscoe Boulevard are prosecuted in San Fernando, and those occurring south of the boulevard are handled in Van Nuys.