Posted on 04/28/2005 6:34:17 PM PDT by SmithL
SAN FRANCISCO - A man who became notorious for serving only 6 1/2 years for setting his son on fire two decades ago will not be sentenced to life in prison on a handgun charge under California's tough three-strikes law, a judge ruled Thursday.
Charley Charles, known as Charles Rothenberg when he burned his 6-year-old son in 1983, was convicted in February of illegally possessing a handgun that he said he needed as protection from vigilantes bent on retaliation for the crime against the boy.
San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Lee indicated she was reluctantly not counting Charles' arson conviction as a prior strike. She went to great lengths to explain that she felt the heinousness of what he did to his now severely disfigured son, coupled with a lengthy criminal history, made him just the sort of criminal the three-strikes law was designed to punish.
"That pervasive malignancy puts him squarely within the spirit and the letter of the three-strikes law," Lee said.
But the judge said she was compelled to count his handgun conviction as only a second strike because of a 2004 California Supreme Court ruling that said if two previous convictions stemmed from the same act, it could only count as one strike.
Charles, 64, will be sentenced Friday for being a felon possessing a handgun and ammunition. He would ordinarily face a prison term of 16 months to three years, but the terms are doubled because it's his second strike.
In 1983, Charles took his son, David, to a motel in the Southern California suburb of Buena Park and gave the boy a sleeping pill. He then doused him with kerosene, set him afire and left the room.
He said then that he was distraught over losing the boy to his estranged wife in a custody battle. The boy survived, suffering third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body.
He was convicted of attempted murder, arson and other charges. He received a 13-year prison sentence, the maximum penalty at the time, but was released for good behavior after serving 6 1/2 years. Sentencing guidelines were later increased.
His attorney, Gabriel Bassan, told jurors that his client needed a weapon because had "no reasonable, legal alternative to protect himself." He said Charles was despised by a public that could not forgive his past and was labeled a "baby burner."
Neither did his son
But letting him out after serving only half of his sentence (which wasn't half long enough), was entirely optional. I hope he rots.
Scum of the earth.
Just like California. They worry about a criminal protecting himself from law abiding citizens but do not allow citizens to protect themselves agains criminals.
He's definitely earned his reservation in hell.
"... 2004 California Supreme Court ruling that said if two previous convictions stemmed from the same act, it could only count as one strike."
I did not realize this.
A handgun is no match for a high-powered rifle......discharged from some distance.
Surely he's not surprised by either of these two facts.
He's not even getting life, and he should get death.
OMG. The convicted criminal is portrayed as a victim of a hateful, mean spirited public by the lawyer. I really detest lawyers.
A spineless sub-human. I'm surprised the inmates didn't cut his life short.
I don't have words.....
Why expect prison inmates to do what you consider justice?
Always vote NO on every judicial retention for the next 10 years.
Personally, I did not say that I considered it to be justice. If that were the case, the California judicial system should have put him to death. That would've been justice.
As you know, when an inmate commits a crime against children, they are targets in prison. Given the heinous nature of his crime, I would've expected the inmates would surely kill this creature.
and judge cyndy lee tooo...
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
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