The Target: Repeat Offenders : Washington state voters pioneered the three-strikes idea, but a $151 robbery case may test if they got the law they wanted.

So how is “three strikes and you’re out” faring in the state that pioneered the idea?

One way to judge is the case of Larry Fisher, a meat cutter, construction worker and small-time thug.

A few days after the sentencing law--which was approved by 75% of the voters--took effect in January, Fisher was arrested in the town of Everett, Wash. Police said he stole $151 from a sandwich store by pointing his finger inside his coat pocket and pretending he had a gun.

In Washington, convictions in robberies like this usually carry a prison sentence of 33 months to 43 months, with time off for good behavior.

But in 1986, Fisher was convicted of pushing his elderly grandfather to the ground and stealing $390. Strike 1. In 1988, he used the finger-in-the-coat hoax to steal $100 from a pizza parlor. Strike 2.

On April 11, Fisher goes on trial for what could be Strike 3, reportedly shocked to find himself facing life in prison without the possibility of parole--as the law now mandates for three-time offenders. Prosecutors say there are eyewitnesses to the crime. His public defender says it will be a straightforward trial that will probably last just two days.

If convicted Fisher, 35, will not be the first person sentenced under the law. But he would likely be the first to test its limits--in court and in the public conscience.

“I don’t think this is the kind of person voters were thinking of,” said Bill Jaquette, Fisher’s attorney. “The law specifies ‘the most serious offenses,’ and I think most people envision things like murder and rape where people are injured.”

Even the prosecutor’s office is a little squeamish about the case, and officials say they wonder how higher courts will react on appeal.

“No one sheds a tear for three-time murderers,” said Michael Magee, an assistant prosecutor in Snohomish County. “But (Fisher) has never hurt anybody. I can hear the appeals court saying (that) to equate this with aggravated murder, which before now was the only other crime to carry life without parole, is fundamentally unfair.”

But supporters of the law say the civic terror created by the likes of Fisher is exactly what voters want to rid their streets of. The man has been in and out of trouble his entire adult life. His rap sheet also shows convictions for three burglaries, which are not counted as “strikes” under the statute, and 10 misdemeanors.

“I don’t feel sorry for a guy who has had 15 bites out of the apple,” Pierce County prosecutor John Ladenburg said.

So far, 30 other states are following Washington’s lead in one form or another. And Congress is moving ahead to add a three-strikes provision to federal law.

Prosecutors, defense attorneys and police in Washington state have been besieged with calls from colleagues nationwide who wonder how the law is working here.

While it is too early to draw firm conclusions, lawyers and law enforcement officials say there are some anecdotal indications:

* Police in the Seattle area say that some felons are resisting arrest with greater force, fearing the effects of the law.

* Prosecutors say that while plea-bargaining is much reduced in repeat felony cases, the court backlogs so far are not measurably worse. Only about a dozen three-strikes cases are pending statewide, but the effects on other felony cases are not yet known.

* So far the case of Fisher seems to be the exception. Most of the other criminals facing three-strikes convictions are unlikely to generate much sympathy--men with histories of violence who have been convicted of such crimes as raping a girl in front of her mother, stabbing a couple with an ice pick and beating robbery victims senseless.

And one more thing: Those looking for trends should be aware that the three-strikes law is viewed among backers here as merely a step in their anti-crime crusade. Petitions already are circulating for their next initiative: “hard time for armed crime.” It promises a year in prison for stealing guns and an extra five years for using one in a crime.

Times researchers Doug Conner and D’Jamila Salem contributed to this story.

States Get Tough

States that have approved some form of “three strikes” law: Alaska California Connecticut Delaware Georgia Massachusetts Missouri New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio Oklahoma Rhode Island Virginia Washington Wisconsin *

PUBLIC SUPPORT

A Times Poll national survey found strong support for such measures. Favor “three strikes” no matter the costs: 58% Favor depending on cost: 21% Oppose: 17% Don’t know: 4% Source: Los Angeles Times Poll taken in January of 1,516 adults nationwide.