Posted on 08/06/2006 5:25:59 AM PDT by radar101
Superior Court Judge James Warren has taken a lot of criticism for reducing the sentence of a Lake Elsinore woman who killed a man while driving drunk. But a closer look at similar cases reveals that the sentence isn't that uncommon.
The family of Kerry Suglia, who was killed in the June 4, 2005, crash, says it made no sense to cut Sherri Smith's original sentence of two years in prison in half ---- to a year in county jail and probation. The prosecutor argued strongly against Warren's decision and the Riverside County district attorney's office now says it may seek to disqualify Warren from hearing future vehicular manslaughter cases, saying he is sending the wrong message.
According to Warren, however, that would be missing the point.
"It's not my job to be sending a message," Warren said earlier this week. "I'm here to treat each individual on an individual basis. That's what (judicial) discretion is about."
In vehicular manslaughter cases, such as Smith's, judges have a significant amount of discretion in the sentences they render.
An examination by The Californian of recent cases shows that the sentence rendered by Warren doesn't appear to be all that unusual for first-time offenders who plead guilty to a charge of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence ---- the crime Smith pleaded guilty to committing.
California law allows for a sentence ranging from probation to a year in county jail or a prison term of 16 months, two years or four years. Since it is not considered a violent felony, the most someone with good behavior in prison will serve is half of the maximum term, or two years in prison.
"Because judges have wide discretion in sentences, you can have some very different sentencing outcomes," says Jody David Armour, a professor at the University of Southern California's School of Law.
That certainly seems to be the case in sentences given out by judges in Riverside County over the last two years.
Range of sentences
At Southwest Justice Center, the 65-year-old Warren takes most of the guilty pleas in a variety of criminal cases. Consequently, he is the judge that renders the sentences in those cases.
In the last two years, Warren has sentenced a dozen people in cases of driving under the influence leading to a charge of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. Nine of those people ---- including Smith ---- received a year or less in county jail and probation. Three were sentenced to state prison.
To reach the level of gross negligence in vehicular homicide cases, the driver often has prior DUI offenses or their driving at the time of the fatal crash was found to be purposefully reckless.
In cases without gross negligence, such as Smith's, there usually are not prior DUI offenses and prosecutors are not alleging extreme recklessness.
Since his resentencing of Smith, Warren says he's "being characterized as a bleeding-heart liberal." But Warren, who says he will be retiring in two years after serving 30 years as a Superior Court judge, characterizes himself as being more conservative and middle-of-the-road.
"I have no problem sending someone to state prison for the maximum allowable time," when such a sentence is justified, he said. "That doesn't trouble me in the least."
He declined to comment specifically on his resentencing of Smith, saying he can't talk about individual cases.
In the three vehicular manslaughter cases that led to a prison sentence from Warren, one involved multiple deaths, one driver had a previous DUI conviction and the third fled the scene of a fatal crash and tried to disguise himself to avoid arrest.
Other judges throughout the county sentenced a total of five other defendants in 2005 and 2006 to state prison for vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence.
So far this year, seven people who pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence received sentences of a year in county jail ---- or less. Five of those cases were at Southwest Justice Center, and one each in Riverside and Indio.
Much discretion
The Indio case in particular shows the tremendous discretion judges have.
Jessica Vey was arrested after a Palm Springs crash the day after Christmas 2005 in which her 2-year-old son was thrown from her car and killed.
Nine months earlier, Vey was ticketed for speeding and a month later for driving without a child properly restrained in her car. In 2002, she had been cited for a hit-and-run in which property was damaged.
According to court documents, officers say Vey had methamphetamine in her system when she crashed and her son died.
On June 15, she pleaded guilty not only to vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, but also to three misdemeanor counts of willful child cruelty.
Even after deeming Vey a habitual traffic offender under the state's Vehicle Code, Judge Charles Stafford sentenced her to 48 months' probation and credit for the 18 days she already served in county jail, so she served no further jail time for the death.
'Moral assessments'
Armour, the USC law professor, said judges have to make "moral assessments" when deciding on a sentence.
"These are usually very character-driven," he said. "The judge must decide whether the act is an aberration from a person's typical behavior ... whether this is just a bad act by an otherwise good person."
By what Warren has said relating to his decision to resentence Sherri Smith, it appears the longtime judge believes hers was a case of a bad act by an otherwise good person.
The day of the June 4 crash, the 43-year-old Smith had been drinking at the Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival before heading up the Ortega Highway, authorities said. Smith's Chevrolet Blazer crossed into oncoming traffic, hitting a Harley-Davidson motorcycle head-on. The crash killed the motorcyclist, 52-year-old Suglia of Lake Elsinore. His wife, Sheryl, who was also on the bike, lost her left leg.
Smith's blood-alcohol level two hours after the crash was 0.11 percent, above the state's legal limit of 0.08 percent, authorities said. She admitted to officers that she had been drinking.
Warren said on the court record when he ordered Smith brought back for resentencing that he made a mistake with the initial two-year sentence. When he resentenced Smith on July 19, Warren said he believed she was remorseful.
Disrupting a bargain?
Smith's case, like most of those involving the same charge in Riverside County, resulted in a plea agreement between the defendant and the prosecutor.
"You have a kind of bargain struck between the two sides," Armour said.
"One of the primary functions of a judge is to not just rubber stamp it, but to closely look at the agreement," the professor said. "Compassion and mercy have to be mixed with justice."
However, Armour said it is understandable that the prosecution would feel it is unfair when the sentence ends up being less than they agreed to.
"The judge is disturbing that bargain and the state is saying, 'Wait a minute. If we had known (the sentence would be so light), we may not have struck this deal and would have just gone to trial,'" Armour said.
A push for prison
Riverside County Chief Deputy District Attorney Cregor Datig has prosecuted and reviewed vehicular homicide cases for more than 20 years. He teaches police officers and prosecutors across the country about the topic.
He says that, as a matter of policy, the Riverside County district attorney's office does not offer probation when working on plea agreements with defense attorneys on these types of cases.
"We insist on state prison," he said. "Riverside County takes one of the most aggressive stances in the country on this."
But often, the defendant will enter an open plea to the court, Datig said. With such a guilty plea, the prosecution will argue to a judge that the person should go to prison while the defense attorney will seek a lesser sentence, such as probation, with the judge ultimately deciding the sentence.
Plea agreements between the prosecution and defense will sometimes include a stipulated sentence or can include a "top" or a "lid," which is the maximum that both sides agree a judge can sentence the defendant to, for example 16 months in prison.
"If they plead to a straight 16 months, I stick to that," Warren said. "If it's a 16 months-top, then I can decide a sentence from nothing to 16 months. It depends on the nature of the plea.
'Homicide waiting to happen'
Datig said it is frustrating to him personally and to the district attorney's office to see someone not receive a prison sentence after killing someone while driving under the influence.
Some of that frustration, he says, is seeing what prosecutors believe should be an exception become the rule.
He cites the Smith case as an example of when prison was warranted.
"She had been drinking, then she gets behind the wheel and is driving to a bar to meet her boyfriend" when the fatal crash happened, Datig said.
"I don't see how that's an unusual case" justifying county jail and probation, he added.
Datig, however, doesn't think discretion on the part of judges should be taken away or pared back.
"The concept of judicial independence is fundamental to our Constitution and (the district attorney's) office certainly recognizes that," he said.
"But anytime someone or some group is given discretion, it has to be tempered with recognition that it is open to abuse," Datig added. "When that discretion is abused, it leads us to consider what we can do."
That's why the district attorney's office said it would be reviewing past vehicular homicide cases heard by Warren and why prosecutors may seek to disqualify him from hearing such cases.
A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said last week that the review is still under way.
While authorities say Smith had no previous record of driving under the influence, Datig says that is rare.
"To me, driving under the influence is just a homicide waiting to happen," Datig said.
"Sure, you can have a situation where a person has never driven tipsy a day in their life, then does and someone is killed," he said. "But after 20 years of doing this, I can tell you that is an extremely rare exception. In a vast majority of cases, the person has driven under the influence multiple times," Datig said.
Datig and others who prosecute vehicular homicide cases say there needs to be a change in the perception of such cases ---- even in the law itself.
While noting there are rare cases where probation could be justified, Datig says that judges should hand down more stringent sentences ---- meaning prison ---- in the more typical cases.
"As long as we view vehicular homicide as a lesser form of homicide, there will be the tendency to diminish the loss to the victim's family," Datig said.
Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or jhall@californian.com.
A look at some of the sentences across the county in cases of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. They are listed by year, by sentence length ---- shortest to longest.
2005
Defendant Other notable charges Judge, court Sentence
Richard Gallegos DUI causing injury James Warren, Southwest 180 days county jail, 36 months probation
Samuel Alvarado DUI causing injury James Warren, Southwest 364 days county jail, 60 months probation
Jessica Palmer DUI causing injury James Warren, Southwest 365 days county jail, 36 months probation
Aaron Miller DUI causing injury James Warren, Southwest 365 days county jail, 60 months probation
Annamaria Estrada none Gordon Burkhart, Riverside two years state prison
Nancy Siegel none Charles Stafford, Indio two years state prison
Salvador Hill none Gordon Burkhart, Riverside four years state prison
Luis Carrillo 2 counts vehicular manslaughter Charles Stafford, Indio four years, eight months state prison
Jose Romero-Ortega DUI causing injury James Warren, Southwest five years state prison
2006
Defendant Other notable charges Judge, court Sentence
Jessica Vey 3 counts child endangerment Charles Stafford, Indio time served of 18 days in county jail, 48 months probation
Kevin Beier DUI causing injury Albert Wojcik, Southwest 120 days county jail, 36 months probation
Matthew Borrell DUI causing injury James Warren, Southwest 240 days county jail, 36 months probation
Dennis Arechiga multiple victims Janice McIntyre, Riverside 365 days county jail, 36 months probation
Danny Sanchez DUI causing injury James Warren, Southwest 365 days county jail, 60 months probation
Michael Hart none James Warren, Southwest 365 days county jail, 60 months probation
***Sherri Smith DUI causing injury James Warren, Southwest 365 days county jail, 60 months probation
James Carothers DUI causing injury and felony hit and run James Warren, Southwest 365 days county jail, 60 months probation
Jose Juarez DUI causing injury and a prior misdemeanor DUI James Warren, Southwest two years state prison
Saulo Serrano multiple victims Gordon Burkhart, Riverside four years, four months state prison
Rafael Flores felony hit and run James Warren, Southwest 11 years, four months state prison
*** Sherri Smith initially received a two-year prison sentence from Warren, who brought her back to reduce the previous sentence
Source: The Riverside County district attorney's office and Riverside County Superior Court records
Judicial discretion used to be a good thing in the days when judges had sense.
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