‘Three-Time Loser’ Bid Backed by Lungren : Crime: Attorney general supports initiative. Proposal would require anyone convicted of a third felony to face at least 25 years in prison.

Reacting to the arrest of a suspect in the Polly Klaas murder, Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren and several prosecutors and sheriffs announced their support Monday for an initiative proposed for November that would send so-called three-time losers to prison for life.

The main proponent of the proposed “Three Strikes and You’re Out” initiative is Mike Reynolds, whose 18-year-old daughter was shot to death outside a restaurant in Fresno in June by a man who was a career criminal and would have been in prison if the initiative were in effect.

“For the worst repeat offenders, it’s time to seal shut the revolving door in our criminal justice system,” Lungren said.

The initiative would require that anyone convicted of a third felony, whether a crime of violence or not, would face a sentence of at least 25 years to life in prison.

It also would limit plea bargaining for second offenders, double prison terms for people convicted of a second serious or violent felony, remove judges’ authority to give probation to those with two convictions and require second offenders to serve a minimum of 80% of their sentence.

The suspect in the Polly Klaas killing, Richard Allen Davis, 39, a burglar and twice-convicted kidnaper with an 11-page rap sheet, would have been in prison under the initiative, said Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Idhe. His department helped investigate Polly’s abduction from her Petaluma home two months ago.

Pointing out that Davis had been arrested repeatedly, Idhe called him a “law enforcement success,” but “a system failure” because he had been paroled.

Gov. Pete Wilson said he supports the “three strikes” concept, adding that he may endorse the measure after he reads it.

“The only thing we can do as a fit memorial for Polly Klaas is to see that she is the last child to suffer this,” Wilson said. “The only way you can do that is to really put behind bars for life people who are dangerous.”

The initiative--tougher than one of the same name approved by Washington state voters last month--is in the signature gathering phase. It needs the signatures of 385,000 registered voters to qualify for the November, 1994, ballot.

Reynolds, a professional photographer from Fresno, said he hopes to tap into the “energy and momentum” of the volunteers who undertook the extraordinary search for Polly.

His crusade began in June, 1992, when two men on a motorcycle sped up to his daughter, Kimber, 18, and tried to steal her purse. When she struggled, one man shot her in the head.

The shooter, a parolee, died in a gunfight when police tried to arrest him. His accomplice was arrested and sentenced to less than 10 years as a result of a plea bargain.

“I made a promise to Kimber and to myself that I was going after these guys--and in a big way,” Reynolds said. “It wasn’t an idle promise.”

Reynolds said he has received $40,000 from the National Rifle Assn., $50,000 from the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., plus a direct mail effort from the Christian Coalition, television evangelist Pat Robertson’s organization.

The initiative specifies a lengthy list of violent and serious felonies, such as burglary of a home, arson, robbery, rape, some types of drug offenses, child molestation, attempted murder and murder.

The initiative says an adult who commits a crime could be considered a two- or three-time loser if he or she had criminal convictions for serious or violent felonies as a juvenile.

State law says habitual criminals convicted of a felony that causes great bodily injury must receive a mandatory sentence of 20 years to life. On a fourth offense that causes great bodily injury, the criminal is sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The state legislative analyst estimates that the initiative would cost billions of dollars in prison construction and the costs of housing what likely would be an increased number of prisoners.