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Plea-Bargain Ban Has Perils : Policy Can Produce Lighter Sentences

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Unhappy with some of the sentences imposed by Orange County judges, the district attorney’s office more than a decade ago banned its felony prosecutors from engaging in plea-bargaining--the widespread practice of offering reduced charges or lighter punishments in exchange for guilty pleas by criminal defendants.

If prosecutors couldn’t get the sentences they wanted, the current and former district attorneys declared they didn’t want any part of the process. More recently, deputy district attorneys were instructed to determine an appropriate sentence for the crime in question, note it in their case file and stick to it.

But the politically popular ban has effectively left only judges and defense attorneys as full parties to the continuing negotiations (more than 90% of the felony convictions are resolved through guilty pleas), while the prosecutors’ role is limited by policy to lobbying for greater punishment from the sidelines.

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Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi says that the ban leads to more and longer prison commitments, but others say it often brings about the opposite result.

Consider the case of Gary Thomas Finley, who faced a possible nine-year state prison term for clubbing a high school friend with a baseball bat and robbing him of $52.

Finley, then 19, and Frederick Overman, then 18, were walking home when Finley scaled a wall, returned with the bat and attacked Overman. Dazed and bleeding, the Los Amigos High School student staggered to a 7-Eleven store, where someone called for an ambulance.

Overman suffered a mild concussion and required 31 stitches to close the gash in his scalp.

Prosecutors filed felony charges against Finley, who faced five years for second-degree robbery, three years for inflicting great bodily injury in the commission of a felony, and one year for using a deadly or dangerous weapon.

During court proceedings, Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald Barner insisted that Finley serve at least two years in state prison and, following policy, refused to plea-bargain.

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That left the decision almost solely in the hands of Superior Court Judge Luis A. Cardenas, whose sentences have drawn more protests from prosecutors than those of perhaps any other judge.

Finley agreed to plead guilty after Cardenas offered a sentence of six months in County Jail. Just seven weeks after Finley’s sentencing, he was released from jail.

Over the past several years, the district attorney’s office has repeatedly filed formal appeals challenging Cardenas’ sentences. The judge has opposed those appeals.

In their court pleadings, prosecutors contend that Cardenas reneges on sentences set and agreed upon by the district attorney during plea discussions, and fails to follow state laws requiring more prison time for habitual criminals and those who use firearms.

The clubbing victim’s father, Larry Overman, a computer consultant who lives in Westminster, was never told what happened in the case. He learned about Finley’s six-month sentence from a friend who knew Finley’s family.

“When I heard he was going to do six months, I thought, ‘What a crock,’ ” Larry Overman said recently.

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Finley, he said, “should have gotten nine years and done the whole time. The guy stole $52 from my son and he’s the kind of kid that if you wanted the money, he would have given it to you if you just asked.”

Overman said he had difficulty putting any faith in a criminal justice system that would allow Finley to serve so little time.

“My son had his head cracked and had a minor concussion,” Overman said. “He could have been killed. I think the way this was handled was a big joke.”

Times staff writer Dan Weikel contributed to this report.

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