Posted on 06/19/2006 7:20:18 PM PDT by Graybeard58
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- There is a growing pile of books in Matthew Hahn's cell at Elmwood Correctional complex in Milpitas, Calif. Among Plato dialogues, the Tao Te Ching and "Law for Dummies" is a paperback titled "Martyrs" -- a collection of stories about Christians who sacrificed their lives for their faith.
It was a present from the mother of a young girl, in gratitude for helping bring the girl's molester to justice.
Last year, Hahn, a 26-year-old Los Gatos, Calif., felon with a rap sheet full of residential burglaries, anonymously sent police some stolen photographs -- photos that showed a man molesting a toddler. Using the photographs, police found and arrested John Robertson "Robbie" Aitken. In May, Aitken pleaded no contest to molestation charges and received a 30-year sentence.
But Hahn, who was later arrested for a burglary spree after he turned in the photos, is facing a prison term that could be longer than Aitken's. The latest series of burglaries was Hahn's "third strike," and prosecutors have decided to seek a life sentence. His trial could begin this month.
The conundrum of weighing Hahn's crimes against his good deed has people across the U.S. debating whether he deserves leniency. There have been blog polls, raving CNN hosts, e-mails from Sweden, editorials in Jackson, Miss., radio shows in Canada, and three petition drives calling for leniency.
"Matt is not a career criminal," said Allen Schwartz, Hahn's attorney. "He has a terrible, terrible record. He is a thief and he is a drug addict. All of his previous crimes were from one crime spree. And after he went through the drug rehab, he got caught up again and he is doing it again. What will it take to get this guy's attention? I don't know. But I don't think we should throw this guy on the garbage pile of life."
Assistant District Attorney Dave Tomkins is the senior member of the panel that decides how to charge potential three strikes cases.
He said when the panel made the decision on Hahn's burglary case, it knew about his pivotal role in Aitken's arrest. That, Tomkins said, was one of the reasons he didn't charge Hahn with the specific burglary of the safe that contained the damning photographs.
But they also saw a record of crimes that, while not violent, had the potential to be.
"We see someone with a bunch of residential burglaries and his current case is a bunch of residential burglaries," Tomkins said. "This guy is a career burglar. In my experience, if you take residential burglars off the street, you are cutting the crime rate dramatically.
"But this isn't science. We try to consider everything."
Hahn's supporters say the district attorney's office should be more lenient.
Both the mother of the victim and Aitken's prosecutor Dana Overstreet -- a deputy district attorney in Santa Clara County -- have said they would be willing to testify on Hahn's behalf.
Hahn is also receiving help from people he's never met.
Ginger Davis, a 45-year-old Los Gatos woman who said she was molested as a child, started a petition drive, gathered 100 signatures and sent it to Hahn's lawyer.
"He has so many priors," Davis said. "But I'm not sure how they would put someone behind bars for life when you think of that little girl. I think he saved her life."
Hahn himself is conflicted about what punishment he should receive.
"I sit in my cell and think about the fact that I've hurt people with my crimes," Hahn said. "And I've thought about forgiveness. But finally, I am trying to let go of it, that question. It's in God's hands."
Now the former star student at De Anza College reads philosophy and teaches math to inmates at Elmwood. He said he got high fives and handshakes when they found out what he did. But his record only shows a drug-abusing repeat felon.
In fall 1998, Hahn went on a four-month methamphetamine-fueled spree of burglarizing garages, cars and houses in Saratoga, Calif., according to court records.
When he was caught, he pointed out the places he had burglarized. In one instance, he took guns, ammunition and a safe with $20,000 worth of jewelry and cash from his former Little League coach, Keith Barna, who was away on vacation.
After Hahn was arrested, Barna found his rifles stashed in the closet of Hahn's mortified mother, a Stanford-educated tech engineer.
"He's done a lot of reckless things and it's time for him to be spanked pretty badly," Barna said. "But life? I've got a lot of issues with the overcrowding in our jail system for non-violent offenders."
Los Gatos Police Sgt. Mike Barbieri, who was involved in Hahn and Aitken's arrests, sees both sides.
"You gotta give the guy some credit. He got someone off the street who is pretty bad," he said. "But he's also a pretty prolific thief. It's an interesting question: Does he deserve a break? But I don't think so."
The district attorney's office has indicated that Hahn's help in convicting Aitken may be a mitigating factor in his case and has asked his lawyer to submit it for consideration.
In San Mateo County, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said he asks lawyers for "mitigation packages" -- documented information of good deeds by suspects facing three strikes. He recalled declining to charge three strikes for a suspect who discovered a fire in a jail cell.
Hahn's case comes when there are renewed efforts in the state to reform the three strikes sentencing law that began 12 years ago. For example, two ballot initiatives from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office aim to give judges more flexibility when giving three strikes sentences in nonviolent, less serious crimes.
Said Franklin E. Zimring, a professor of law at the University of California-Berkeley: "He's not violent, yet not inactive either. The question is how to balance these two. My tendency is to give him a break. If I ran for district attorney and all the people who worry about child sex abuse voted for me and all the people who worry about burglary didn't, I think I would get re-elected."
I'd say that if anyone deserves a break from the three-strikes rule, it is this guy. Give him a few years in jail for the burglaries, then put him through rehab. But make sure he knows that this is a one-time offer and that if he messes up again, he is going away for life.
Simple solution: give him life.
The Governor can pardon him if the guy's a saint.
I'd want to cut him a one-time break. He gave up a truly heinous monster.
He is a career criminal, who knew the rules and broke them anyway. Burglaries cost us millions each year and we all pay for it through higher premiums. People are not all good or all bad. Good people do some bad things, bad people do some good things. It doesn't mean we should not be held accountable. If this guy gets a pardon, should any criminal who does something good, like turning in other bad criminals get a pardon too? Three strikes means he should go to jail for life. I am very glad he turned the guy in, but he should still be accountable for his crimes.
Some people shouldn't reproduce. Just MHO.
Hard call, with burglary and drugs there is always a serious possibility someone could die, and he can't control himself. He did protect a child, maybe 5 years of mandatory rehab and vocational training. Must complete, have job and be clean to be considered for parole. Must stay that way forever.
I agree.
Burglary is a serious crime. It damages peoples lives for a very long time even if they weren't physically injured.
And sooner or later somebody will be home, or come home while he's doing his thing. What then?
His "good deed" was good, but cost him nothing other than a stamp to perform.
Give him donuts or a personal TV for his life term as a reward... But give him life nevertheless. Three felonies (and countless robberies) is a high enough price for society to pay. He knew the stakes when he continued what he was doing. The rest of us deserve no less of the justice system for our own security and well being.
I say turn the third-strike into a "foul ball".
Not a get-out-of-jail-free card, but definitely give some incentive for someone to assist in such a manner on future similar instances... Lighter sentence perhaps, with the understanding that an additional infraction is an automatic "out".
Its interesting to me how the drug legalization folks go on and on about there being no correlation between drug use and crime, but then we get the sob story, "He's clean now." What difference should that make if drugs aren't a causal factor?
This man didn't do a good deed, he did a normal deed. What's the next "good deed" slowing down in a school zone?
So what is the problem? It is that Aitken will see the light of day again. Pedophiles should get life.
Ping
I'd give him another chance.
Thank you. It was a turning point for me.
I ended up doing 7.
I appreciate your kind words. I paroled over a year ago, and am doing well. I will be graduating from college this year, and I am clean, sober, and productive. This case was a major turning point in my life.
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