3rd Strike: Failure to appear
Sentence: 25 years to life
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| resident Franciscan monks, and on occasion McCoy drove Taylor to South Central Los Angeles to see his mother, Lois Taylor. Just before dawn on July 11, 1997, two police officers on patrol caught Taylor allegedly trying to force open the church's kitchen door. Taylor told them he was trying to get something to eat. Taylor's trial attorney, public defender Graciella Martinez, argued that since the kitchen was where Taylor had been given food before, he believed he had permission to enter, making the crime nothing more than a simple misdemeanor trespassing. But based on Taylor's record-priors for purse snatching and attempted unarmed robbery-prosecutors filed the case as a third strike. The second conviction dates back to 1985, and he served two years for it. A jury found Taylor guilty of second-degree burglary, and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Dunn sentenced him to 25 years to life. People v Taylor (1999) 83 Cal Rptr 2d 919, review gr (July 21, 1999) No. S079437. |
| The Prosecution: Deputy District Attorney Dale Cutler points out that he wasn't the one who decided to file the case as a strike. But, he says, if he felt uncomfortable about the decision, he could have argued for reconsideration or refused to try it. He chose to do neither. "It's unrealistic to think he was trying to break in for food," says Cutler. "They'd helped him out in the past. If he couldn't wait for an hour until someone was up, he could have rung the buzzer and asked for food." Cutler believes Taylor was after something more valuable, like money from the alms box or the gilded icons and chalices. "It's just common sense," he says. "He'd been hanging around there for nine years. He knew when they were asleep and awake. He was familiar with the operation of the church. This guy has an extensive drug record," Cutler says, "he's got a big habit." The father that befriended him even drove him to see his mother, and he repays that kindness by trying to steal precious and sacred artifacts. That speaks to his character." |
| Michael Jerome Powell 3rd Strike: Failure to appear Sentence: 25 years to life |
| At age 20, Vallejo native Michael Powell was convicted of robbed for purse snatching and served several years m prison. Three years after his release he stole a bike and served seven more years for residential burglary Out on parole in 1994 he got into an argument in San Francisco's tough Tenderloin district with a gang member who was chased away by Powell's friend. A few nights later the gang member shot at the friend and killed a two-year-old girl. Powell wasn't there the night of the shooting but told his parole officer, and later the police, about the event that led up to it. When prosecutors asked him to testify at the gang member's trial, he agreed. Then Powell pleaded guilty to a drug charge under a plea bargain. While he was awaiting sentencing, the murder trial started, and Powell reported getting paged with threatening messages from gang members. He even claimed shots were fired at him while he was driving. Powell said he was afraid of serving time for the drug charge in the same facility as the gang member. Nevertheless, he did testify at the murder trial, and the gang member was convicted. When it came time for his own sentencing hearing, however, Powell skipped town. He was caught a year later after being stopped for a traffic violation. By this rime, the three strikes law was in place, and Powell got a third strike for failing to appear for his sentencing hearing. People v Powell (SF Super Ct) Cr No. SC086106A. |
| The Prosecution: At trial Powell's attorney tried to argue that his reason for not appearing should be considered. It wasn't his intent to evade the process of the court, said defense attorney Stephen Berlin, but the consequences he feared he would face in jail. But Mann County Superior Court Judge John S. Graham didn't allow the jury to hear that, saying such factors should be weighed at sentencing. Berlin argued that this essentially left Powell without a defense-a point that has led to a federal habeas corpus petition. But Main County Deputy District Attorney Kevin Jones says there is no need to consider Powell's alleged fear because his investigation has completely discredited it. The prosecutor had a prison gang specialist investigate the claim, and he found no evidence of a contract on Powell's life. "Powell made claims that people in unknown vehicles were shooting at him, hut there was no documentation," says Jones. And as for the altercation that led to the shooting, 'It wasn't just a fight, it was a drug turf war," says Jones. "Powell tried to paint himself' as a hero who performed a great service, but in fact he created problems that led to the baby's death." Jones adds that Powell did get some sentencing leniency in exchange for testifying at the murder trial. At the request of the San Francisco prosecutor who tried the murder case, Jones recommended that three years' worth of sentencing enhancements be stricken, and the judge agreed. Jones says he has no qualms about Powell's sentence. He points to the defendant's serious juvenile record and prior robbery strikes. He also says that Powell, during his 1996 incarceration, shouted racial slum at Latino inmates, called guards fags, and said he was going to kill the Solano sheriff. When a defendant has shown improvement, it may not be appropriate to give him a strike for a nonviolent offense, says Jones, "but this guy is not a wonderfully reformed individual." |
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