Offending Three Strikes

In attempting to defend the misguided three-strikes law, Richard Murphy (letter, Aug. 31) asserts that the infamous pizza theft was a robbery. The facts are to the contrary. As reported in The Times (Jan. 21, 1995), Jerry Williams was convicted of petty theft, not robbery. That offense, usually a misdemeanor, was a felony only because Williams had prior theft convictions.

In fact, under former Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, nonviolent offenders were routinely subjected to life terms. The election of the more reasonable Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and the enactment of treatment instead of imprisonment for nonviolent drug users, who might otherwise be locked up for life, plainly show that the electorate has turned against the foolish and expensive three-strikes law.

John Hamilton Scott

Sherman Oaks