Three-Strikes Sentence Reversed

A Superior Court judge will reconsider the prison term of a man who stole some clothes from a department store and was sentenced to 25 years to life under the three-strikes law, the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled.

The decision, which affirmed the conviction of Reginald Lee Wilson but reversed his prison sentence, is based on a 1996 California Supreme Court ruling that gave judges the power to overlook prior convictions to avoid imposing lengthy sentences.

“The trial court denied defendant’s motion to strike his prior convictions, concluding it lacked the power to do so under the Three Strikes law,” Justice William F. Rylaarsdam wrote. “The Supreme Court has now made it clear trial courts may strike prior convictions even in cases involving the Three Strikes law.”

The theft occurred three years ago, when a security guard watched Wilson enter a dressing room with a shirt and a pair of shorts, undress and don the store’s merchandise. He then put his clothes on over the stolen items and walked out of the store, according to court papers.

Wilson had been convicted of robbery twice before, prosecutors said.

The case will be returned to Superior Court for sentencing, and a judge there will decide whether to disregard Wilson’s prior convictions. If at least one of the previous convictions is struck, Wilson then faces a maximum of eight years, defense attorney Jay Moller said.

“It seems to me that that’s a lot more appropriate than a 25-years-to-life sentence,” Moller said. “All he did was steal a pair of bluejean shorts and a black shirt.”

The prosecutor in the case could not be reached for comment.