By Cindy Chen
SANTA CLARA, CA — Judge Robert Hawk last week, at a recent sentencing hearing at Santa Clara Superior Court, overruled Deputy District Attorney Steven Fein and reduced the sentence for a 25-year-old man facing drug-related charges, despite the prosecutor’s request for a three-year prison sentence.
Judge Hawk made it a point to note the felonies were nonviolent and nonserious, and considered the accused’s young age at the time of the offenses.
The accused received his first strike at 19 and was charged again at 24 for smoking marijuana in a car with a minor. He had received a prior warning for the same offense just a month before.
Judge Hawk, who struck his previous strike, acknowledged the accused had accepted responsibility for his actions and participated in significant rehabilitation programs while in custody.
“I believe his future prospects are positive. Of course, it’s up to him whether or not those positive prospects come to fruition, but he has done significant programming while he’s been in custody. He had a job at the time that he committed this offense, so I hope that the young man will take advantage of an opportunity instead of going to state prison,” stated Judge Hawk.
The judge also emphasized the case was “outside of the spirit of the three-strikes law” because of the accused’s age and the non-serious nature of the crime. He decided to strike the prior strike, preventing it from counting under the three-strikes law, and imposed a two-year (jail) sentence with additional credits for community service.
DDA Fein argued, “The charges the defendant pleaded to, the legislature did not make them misdemeanors… they made it a 3-4-5 offense which signifies the seriousness with which the legislature takes this.”
The prosecutor added the accused had been previously warned about smoking with a minor and was found with a weapon in the car, which the probation report did not highlight. Additionally, the DDA alleged the accused had been associating with gang-affiliated individuals, violating his probation terms.
In response, Judge Hawk explained that although there was “no doubt it was a crime,” he stood by his decision, clarifying that the two-year sentence was based on his own judgment, not the probation report.
“I don’t want to minimize the conduct that occurred in this case. It was wrong, it was unlawful, and as the DA has pointed out, there were warnings about it,” Judge Hawk acknowledged.
However, he concluded a state prison sentence would not necessarily help the accused distance himself from gang life. “I have decided that rather than sending him back to state prison… it is my judgment and I believe (this) is fair punishment.”
Judge Hawk’s sentence was set despite the prosecution’s request, and the accused was sentenced to two concurrent—not consecutive—years in county jail, with community service credits.
