National Roundup

California
State ends mandatory minimum drug sentence rules
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom ended mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug crimes in the nation’s most populous state on Tuesday, giving judges more discretion to impose alternative sentences.

The mandatory sentencing law Newsom signed Tuesday grew out of what Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco called a failed war on drugs that disproportionately incarcerated people who are Black or Latino.

Wiener said the bill Newsom signed is important particularly for those suffering from drug addiction.

“Our prisons and jails are filled with people — particularly from communities of color — who have committed low-level, nonviolent drug offenses and who would be much better served by non-carceral options like probation, rehabilitation and treatment,” he said in a statement. “It’s an important measure that will help end California’s system of mass incarceration.”

But the California Association of Highway Patrolmen said the penalties “work as a deterrent or a reason for individuals to get the treatment they need to turn their lives around.” It predicted that allowing probation will increase the selling and use of drugs and other crimes.

Current law bars probation or suspended sentences for first-time offenders convicted of certain drug offenses including selling or possessing for sale more than a half-ounce (14 grams) of heroin or the hallucinogenic drug commonly known as PCP or angel dust.

It also bars probation for repeat offenders convicted of crimes including possessing or agreeing to sell or transport opiates or cannabis or forging prescriptions.

The mandatory sentences can range from two to seven or more years, depending on the offense.

The California Police Chiefs Association said Wiener’s bill “sets a dangerous precedent ... and would jeopardize the health and safety of the communities we are sworn to protect.”

Newsom also signed legislation expanding on a 2019 law that limited the use of the felony murder rule, which previously allowed accomplices in felonies to be convicted of murder if someone died. Two years ago, California restricted its application only to people who intended to kill, directly participated or acted with “reckless indifference to human life.”

The new law explicitly also includes voluntary manslaughter and attempted murder convictions as eligible for resentencing. The California Public Defenders Association said it could affect hundreds of inmates who were excluded by an appeals court decision as well as thousands of others who hadn’t applied because of the court’s narrow interpretation.

The bill that takes affect in January “closes an unjust loophole and brings greater fairness to our criminal justice system,” Democratic Sen. Josh Becker said.

A third law signed by the governor creates the presumption that those arrested on allegations of violating their probation be freed on their own recognizance pending a hearing, unless a judge deems them to be a public safety or flight risk.

Arizona
Ruling: Victims can’t refuse pretrial talk with prosecution
PHOENIX (AP) — An appellate court decision says Arizona’s state constitutional protections for crime victims don’t prevent prosecutors from conducting pretrial interviews of defendants who object.

The Court of Appeals’ ruling  Tuesday said the Constitution’s Victim’s Bill of Rights  allows victims to refuse pretrial interviews with defendants or defense lawyers, but the court said that right of refusal does not extend to interviews or depositions with the prosecution.

The court issued its ruling in a Yavapai County case involving a woman who is awaiting trial on a charge of luring a minor for sexual exploitation after allegedly sending a “suggestive photo” to a boy who was 14 years old at the time.

The boy initially told prosecutors that he and the woman exchanged sexually explicit texts and photos, but he later declined to meet with prosecutors to prepare for his trial testimony. According to the ruling, the boy also said through his attorney that he would characterize certain evidence in a way more favorable to the woman than previously reported.

Florida
Police: Man killed fiancée, left body in Walmart parking lot
SEBASTIAN, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man told investigators that he killed his 67-year-old fiancée and then drove her body to a Walmart parking lot and left it in his truck.

People who saw the woman inside the truck on Tuesday morning called 911. Sebastian police officers found the body of Jeanine Bishop and later questioned Michael Despres, 56, about her whereabouts.

Despres made “cryptic” comments about Bishop’s whereabouts while speaking to officers, according to a news release.

As detectives questioned Despres, he confessed to killing Bishop and then “staging” her body in the truck, the release said.

He was booked into the Indian River County Jail on Tuesday evening and is facing a premeditated first-degree murder charge, records show. Records did not list a lawyer who could speak on behalf of Despres.


Wisconsin
Ex-corrections officer sentenced for skimming inmate fees
RACINE, Wis. (AP) — A former corrections officer with the Racine County Sheriff’s Office was sentenced Tuesday to eight months in the county jail for stealing more than $11,000 in fees she collected from inmates.

Barbara Teeling, 40, was charged with two counts of theft in a business setting and attempted misconduct while in office. A plea deal reduced the charges from felonies to misdemeanors, the Kenosha News reported.

“Honestly, ma’am, if you had pled to a felony I would have sent you to prison,” Judge Robert Repischak told Teeling during the sentencing hearing. Teeling will be allowed to leave the jail to go to work.

Teeling was head of a day release program that required, among other things, inmates to pay a weekly fee of $105. Teeling on multiple occasions collected and kept the money, rather than putting it in the safe, according to the criminal complaint.

Teeling allegedly stole $11,458, which she paid back prior to sentencing. Repischak said she also took the public trust, which she cannot repay.

“This country and society is going to hell in a handbasket,” Repischak said. “And you know why? Because people do not trust government institutions, and we have whole swaths of the community that don’t trust law enforcement.”

The judge added that people who were “ripping off the taxpayers” made things worse — especially for those still employed in law enforcement.