Prosecutors Assail Furlough Sentences for Drunk Drivers

In a court case that could affect the ability of judges to sentence convicts to private work furlough facilities, the county district attorney’s office Wednesday argued that two convicted East County drunk drivers were improperly sent to private centers instead of jail.

Attorneys for Brian Mark Worley of Escondido and Duane Eugene Snipes of El Cajon told Superior Court Judge Robert E. May Wednesday that the sentences, both in March, were proper under a 1991 state law that says private work furlough can be substituted for jail time.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dana C. Greisen, who has challenged the placements, said the law is designed to allow a defendant credit toward mandatory jail time by residing in a private work furlough center, but cannot be substituted outright for time in County Jail.

May said he would rule on the case next week. Both defendants will remain free until a ruling is made, May said.

The district attorney’s office has long opposed the placement of convicts to private work furlough not under contract to the county, arguing that a 1990 state attorney general’s opinion makes it illegal. None of the county’s five private work furlough centers, in which convicts pay for their stay while maintaining employment, are under contract to the county.

Worley and Snipes were both sentenced to 60 days in private work furlough, despite being sentenced to mandatory jail time for driving under the influence and being in excess of the posted speed limit. Greisen said the law clearly does not allow their entry into work furlough.

The district attorney’s office is appealing a second case in which an El Cajon man convicted of marijuana possession for sale was sent to a private work furlough center for 200 days. The 4th District Court of Appeal is weighing the matter.