Quick Change : Hours After High Court’s ‘3 Strikes’ Decision, Man With a Long Record Benefits

Introducing Johnny Houston Holman--robber, burglar, drug user and perhaps the most immediate beneficiary of the state Supreme Court’s decision granting judges leeway in sentencing “three strikes” defendants.

Holman, 52, previously convicted of two robberies, assault, burglary and a variety of other charges, faced a sentence of 29 years to life after pleading guilty Thursday morning to possession of six rocks of crack cocaine.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gregory C. O’Brien Jr., however, sentenced him to 10 years--opting to disregard one of Holman’s prior convictions, precisely as the Supreme Court said that he, and all other trial judges, have the power to do.

The opinion was a couple hours old when the sentence was imposed. The sentence is believed to be the first handed down in the Los Angeles courts in the wake of the high court ruling.

Imposed over the objection of prosecutors, the 10-year term underscores the tremendous leeway and authority the high court gave back to trial judges.

It also promises to fuel the debate over when, and under what circumstances, the exercise of that discretion is appropriate, for Holman’s break highlights the issues at the core of the debate over the “three strikes” law:

Is it justice to sentence a man to life in prison for six rocks of crack? Then again, isn’t it fair to make him pay for a lifetime of crime?

“After several prison commitments, we did not feel leniency was appropriate,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Delaney, who supervised prosecution of the case, said Friday. “We are disappointed.”

Defense attorney Franklin Peters Jr. retorted: “What we have here is a man 52 years of age. If he gets 29 to life, he basically dies in prison. He dies in prison because he had [six] rocks of cocaine. Is that right?”

Holman, who lives in South-Central Los Angeles, has used 11 aliases, admits to using cocaine and has a spotty work record, according to court files.

A probation report calls him a “career criminal” who has been a “probation and parole failure.”

His rap sheet dates to 1970. It includes convictions for assault, forgery, drunk driving, possession of drugs, burglary and two robberies, one in 1980, the other in 1985.

After being paroled for the second robbery, Holman was convicted of burglary in 1991 and selling drugs in 1993, according to the probation report.

Under the “three strikes” law, the first two strikes must be “serious” or “violent.” The two robberies counted as Holman’s two strikes.

The law says that any felony, however, can serve as a third strike.

On June 8, 1995, Holman was arrested in the 500 block of West 68th Street by officers who saw him drop six rocks of crack. Prosecutors charged him with possession of cocaine.

Appearing Thursday in court, Holman pleaded guilty to the sole felony count--a charge that, standing alone, would subject him to a maximum of three years in prison.

Prosecutors, however, wanted 29 to life. Aside from the usual term of 25 to life for a third strike, prosecutors were seeking four one-year add-ons for prior crimes.

Before sentencing began, O’Brien learned that the Supreme Court had just authorized judges to exercise discretion in sentencing.

A veteran judge, O’Brien--a literate sort who has written a novella as well as articles for law reviews and even the National Review--recently wrote a column for a judges’ newsletter in which he made plain his distaste for what he saw as sentencing inequities under the “three strikes” law.

“We are shocked that in Singapore a relative youth is to be caned about a matter that here might draw a short jail sentence,” he wrote, referring to Ohio teenager Michael Fay, who was caned in the Asian country in 1994 for vandalism.

“Yet in my own court, another relative youth awaits the prospect of a life locked up for sneaking off with two rump roasts, a life to be lived among some of the sickest, cruelest and most vicious representatives of our species ever produced. Shades of Jean Valjean,” he said in a reference to the central character of Victor Hugo’s novel “Les Miserables,” who was sentenced to five years for stealing bread and ended up serving 19.

After taking the bench, O’Brien noted that Holman’s record was lengthy and severe. But the judge then chose to disregard one of the prior robberies--a move that freed Holman from the mandatory sentence of at least 25 years to life, and made the cocaine possession his second strike, not third.

The judge justified his move on these grounds: Holman is already 52. The 1985 robbery--the more recent of the two strikes--was 11 years ago. And possession of six rocks of crack is a nonviolent crime.

O’Brien then sentenced Holman to the 10-year term--twice the three-year maximum for cocaine possession plus the four one-year add-ons. The “three strikes” law doubles the usual sentence for a second strike. “You’re too old to be doing this,” O’Brien told Holman.

The judge was appointed to the Municipal Court bench in 1984 and the Superior Court in 1987. He declined Friday to comment on the sentence, saying the rules of judicial ethics forbid him from discussing cases.

But he said in an interview in his courtroom: “Clearly, aside and apart from this case, the mechanical imposition of sentencing--without regard to any review of the underlying facts or equities--is inherently unjust.”