Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Arizona finally about to use Three Strikes You're Out law

You know you're not living in Massachusetts when your state has a law like this. Considering the majority of criminals are more likely to commit another crime than not after being released from prison, it makes sense to keep them in prison.

County Attorney Seeks Life Sentence under New “Three-Strikes” Law
First Use of Arizona Law Targets Violent Career Criminal

Using Arizona’s new “three strikes and you’re out” law, the County Attorney’s Office is seeking a life sentence for Robert Hill (DOB 11/19/70) for a Valley crime spree that went on for three days. Hill is the first defendant in Maricopa County and apparently the first in Arizona (no other such cases have been reported in the media) to face a possible life term under the new state law mandating that certain violent repeat offenders be incarcerated for life upon their conviction of a third violent offense.

In November 2004, Hill stole a car in Scottsdale, pointed a gun at a random driver on the 101 freeway, led police on a chase and tried to ram a police cruiser. Then, while hiding out in a vacant home that was for sale, he tried to rape a 65-year-old woman. He was captured a day later in Casa Grande. Hill is now awaiting trial on a 13-count criminal indictment. If convicted, Hill would be put away for life without the possibility of parole.

County Attorney Andrew Thomas described Hill as a “prime example of why Arizona’s new three-strikes law was passed.” He was convicted in 1987 of attempted armed robbery and served five years in the Arizona Department of Corrections. In 1993, he was convicted of armed robbery and served ten more years in an Arizona prison. He got out in 2003, and a year later went on his latest alleged crime spree.

Senate Bill 1444 was signed into law in 2006. It does the following:
Requires a person who has been convicted of committing, attempting or conspiring to commit three violent or aggravated felonies on separate occasions to be imprisoned for life.
Applies to persons who have been convicted of similar violent offenses in another state.
Stipulates that the person sentenced to life imprisonment is not eligible for suspension of sentence, probation, pardon or release, except for commutation.
Prohibits commutation until felon has served 35 years.

“Arizona’s three-strikes law was created to go after the worst of the worst,” said Thomas. “We hope to use this new statute to lock up these violent career criminals once and for all.”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

3 strike laws are a danger to law enforcement officers. If a person has already been convicted of 2 crimes he has nothing left to lose by shooting