A Break for Drug Offenders

Giving a break to hundreds of drug defendants, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office will not seek jail time for people who were convicted but not sentenced before Proposition 36 took effect July 1.

The ballot measure, approved by voters last year, calls for drug treatment rather than incarceration for certain offenders. But in recent weeks, prosecutors and defense attorneys have battled in courtrooms over whether defendants convicted before July 1 could nonetheless be sentenced under Proposition 36.

Head Deputy Dist. Atty. Lawrence Mason said Tuesday that the office’s new policy will be in effect until appellate courts resolve the legal controversy over whether the new law applies only to people convicted after the effective date of Proposition 36.

Mason said the new policy will apply to anyone arrested and convicted between Nov. 7, when the proposition was approved, and July 1. He said he doesn’t know whether the appeals court will apply the law retroactively.

“There are good indications it will say they are entitled to the relief that is provided by Proposition 36,” Mason said.

But, because of the uncertainty, he predicted Los Angeles lawyers will rush to get their cases settled before the appeals court renders a decision.

The new law gives first- and second-time drug offenders convicted of possessing, using or transporting drugs for personal use the chance to receive probation and treatment rather than jail sentences.

In Los Angeles County, court officials estimate that Proposition 36 will apply to about 16,000 defendants annually.

Many defense lawyers for people arrested after the proposition was approved obtained repeated postponements of their trials so that their clients would not be subject to jail sentences.

Until this week’s policy was announced, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley interpreted the law to mean that it did not apply to anyone convicted before July 1. But judges in Los Angeles and across the state had differing views.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephen Marcus has let defendants convicted before July 1 take advantage of drug treatment. But another judge has not, and the 2nd Court of Appeals is now considering two of those cases.

Marcus praised Cooley’s action, calling it “a wise decision.”

“I think it will bring some stability to the criminal justice system,” he said.

Deputy Public Defender Alex Ricciardulli, who is handling one of the appeals court cases, said the new policy will benefit the “vast bulk” of the drug defendants arrested before July 1.