2 Third-Strike Felons Get Break in Prosecution

Los Angeles County prosecutors will not treat a defendant who received two bottles of stolen ArmorAll and another defendant charged with possessing a small amount of cocaine as third-strike felons facing 25 years to life in prison.

Prosecutors said Thursday that the decision came after defense attorneys in the two cases complained publicly that newly elected Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley was not keeping his campaign promise to treat only the most severe criminals, those whose crimes involve violence or a large quantity of drugs, as third-strike felons.

After the complaints, the district attorney’s office reevaluated the cases and decided to disregard strikes for each of the defendants.

Now both defendants, Joey Morgan, who was convicted Jan. 10 of receiving two bottles of stolen ArmorAll auto body treatment, and Willis Vaughn, whose trial on charges that he possessed a tenth of a gram of cocaine began Wednesday, are considered second-strike felons.

Cooley, who took office two months ago, promised to change the policy regarding the implementation of California’s three-strikes law. He criticized the previous administration’s handling of third-strike cases as unjust.

In one highly publicized case, a man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for stealing a piece of pepperoni pizza. The sentence was later reduced by a judge. Cooley issued a new policy on the three-strikes law less than two weeks after taking office.

Cases Waited for Cooley

But public defenders Haydeh Tagasuki and Lauri Brenner became concerned last month when the district attorney’s office refused to handle their clients as second-strike felons. Both attorneys had delayed their cases until Cooley took office Dec. 4 in hopes of winning lighter sentences, should their clients be convicted.

Last week, the district attorney’s office informed Tagasuki that it had changed its decision and would “strike a strike” for her client, Vaughn. His trial started Thursday. If convicted, he now faces a nine-year sentence instead of 25 years.

In the ArmorAll case, Morgan was convicted Jan. 10 of receiving stolen property. He was acquitted of a second charge of petty theft.

Until Thursday, the prosecutor’s office had insisted on pursuing the case as a third-strike case because of Morgan’s extensive criminal record. Although his crimes have been nonviolent, involving mostly theft and burglary, he has been in and out of prison since 1972.

As a third-strike felon, Morgan was facing a 32-year sentence.

Superior Court Judge Mark Mooney, however, decided that such a sentence was excessive even before the district attorney’s office reevaluated the case.

Mooney said soon after Morgan’s conviction that he would likely sentence Morgan to eight years, according to Brenner.

On Thursday, Mooney did just that. The sentencing came after Deputy Dist. Atty. Frank Santoro announced in court that his office had reevaluated the case and decided that Morgan should be handled as a second-strike felon.

“They just took a second look and decided it would be fair to strike a strike,” Santoro said shortly after the hearing.

Jacquelyn Lacey, who is in charge of approving all third-strike cases for the district attorney’s office, said she also considered Morgan’s acquittal on the petty theft charge after a witness said he could not positively identify the defendant as the person who had stolen the ArmorAll.

“Those factors made the case less serious than what it was when I initially reviewed it,” Lacey said.