Pubdate: Wed, 13 Aug 2003 Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY) Copyright: 2003 Lexington Herald-Leader Contact: http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/240 Author: Bill Estep Note: Linda Minch contributed to this article. STUMBO TACKLES SHOCK PROBATION Draft Of Bill To Limit Jail Release Requested A candidate for attorney general plans to seek new limits on shock probation after hearing a complaint about a judge cutting sentences for drug offenders. State Rep. Greg Stumbo, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, said he has asked legislative staffers to draft a bill to limit which offenders are eligible for the special early-release program and require judges to state specific reasons for granting it. The bill would also create an opportunity for prosecutors to appeal shock-probation decisions, Stumbo said. In seeking shock probation, offenders argue that a stint behind bars -- as little as 30 days on a felony -- has shocked them into changing their behavior. However, Stumbo said the law should limit shock probation to the kind of people that, in theory, it is designed to help -- non-violent offenders with otherwise clean records. Stumbo said he decided to propose changes after talking with Beattyville Mayor Charles Beach III, who expressed concerns over a judge who cut sentences for several people arrested in a drug roundup in Lee County. After a lengthy undercover investigation by Beattyville police, 49 people were charged with drug crimes in December 2001. The Herald-Leader featured that roundup this year in its "Prescription for Pain" series on prescription-drug abuse in Eastern Kentucky. As those cases have slowly made their way through the court system, Circuit Judge William W. Trude Jr. has reduced the recommended sentences that several people faced as part of their agreement to plead guilty. In 10 cases, Trude either sentenced defendants to less time than was outlined in their plea deal with Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Hall, or placed people on probation although the plea agreement called for sentences of up to five years, court records show. Trude also sentenced two women to five years in prison as outlined in their plea deals, but then gave them shock probation after they had served about 90 days. Neither woman had a prior felony conviction, though each had at least one previous felony arrest. The sentences, while within the judge's discretion, frustrated many people in Lee County who favor stiff penalties in hopes of making a dent in a serious drug problem. "I think the majority of Lee County is disappointed," Beach said. Hall, the prosecutor, has opposed probation or shock probation in cases from the drug roundup, arguing that such sentences depreciate the seriousness of the local drug problem. Stumbo, who has made fighting drugs a central focus of his campaign, said he disagreed with granting shock probation to people who had agreed to serve a prison term as part of a plea deal. "They knew what they were getting," he said. Trude could not be reached yesterday. He has denied probation and shock probation in other cases from the 2001 drug roundup. But he has also been criticized in Estill County this year for granting shock probation to two men who earlier served prison sentences for robbery. One, Harold Durham Jr., had several other arrests on his record. "If ever a defendant was not a candidate for shock probation, it's Durham," the Citizen Voice & Times newspaper in Irvine said in an editorial. Trude granted shock probation to Durham, 36, on two drug cases in May. Then the judge issued an arrest warrant for Durham in July after a probation officer said he had failed a drug test for marijuana and been charged in Shelby County with felony theft, according to court records. Impact Of Changes In Law The use of shock probation has gone up significantly in recent years, driven in part by changes in the law that push judges to consider alternatives to prison. One reason is to keep cells available, because lawmakers also approved tougher penalties for some crimes and longer sentences for violent offenders. In the 4,077 shock-probation cases disposed of in fiscal 2002, judges granted the early release 37 percent of the time, according to the state Administrative Office of the Courts. Several prosecutors and judges said shock probation is a legitimate way to help some people. It is a "rare exception" when a judge abuses shock probation, said George Moore, former head of the state commonwealth's attorneys association. However, Moore said, there are abuses. The legislature has already barred probation and shock probation in a number of cases, including some sex offenses and violent crimes and those involving people convicted of being persistent felons. "It's already fairly limited," said Circuit Judge Robert McGinnis of Cynthiana. Most first-time, non-violent offenders are likely to get straight probation, as opposed to serving at least some jail time before being shock probated, he said. Probation Not Easiest McGinnis said probation is not an easy sentence, despite public perception. People who are on probation are under supervision and as a result have to stay clean longer in many instances than people who serve out a jail sentence, he said. The public usually only hears about shock probation in high-profile cases. For instance, Circuit Judge James G. Weddle granted shock probation to a woman who had pleaded guilty to facilitating the murder of Fred Capps, a state prosecutor in southern Kentucky. Patricia Vaughn, the wife of killer Eddie Vaughn, had served one year and five months of a four-year sentence when Weddle granted her release in October 2001. Though prosecutors complained, Weddle agreed with an argument that Vaughn drove her husband to the prosecutor's house only because of years of abuse. Stumbo said that if he wins the attorney general's race over Republican nominee Jack Wood and independent candidate Gatewood Galbraith -- and as a result is not in the legislature -- House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, has agreed to sponsor the bill. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk