District Attorney John Sarsfield wishes he could offer two
options to every suspect charged with committing serious violent
crimes: Plead guilty or go to trial.
Hollister – District Attorney John Sarsfield wishes he could offer two options to every suspect charged with committing serious violent crimes: Plead guilty or go to trial.
Instead, the local District Attorney’s Office negotiates plea bargains a lot more often – including to suspects of violent crimes – than even Sarsfield believes the prosecution should.
That, prosecutors and defense attorneys say, has resulted in a staggering trend. Criminals in San Benito County are receiving more lenient charges – and therefore more lenient prison sentences – than they should be.
Of nearly 1,500 cases filed so far in 2004, 98 percent ended before court trials, according to documents provided by the District Attorney’s Office. Of more than 2,500 cases filed in 2003, 99 percent never reached trials.
For a case to end before trial, one of three things must happen: Prosecutors negotiate plea bargains; the suspects enter guilty pleas; or cases are dismissed.
There are no official statistics kept on the number of negotiated plea bargains, according to Sarsfield and Court Executive Officer Alex Calvo. But Sarsfield acknowledges that the figure has escalated since his tenure began in January 2003. He estimated that his office negotiates plea bargains on 90-95 percent of all cases – maybe even more.
Some of the most prominent recent cases to be negotiated include last year’s murder of 73-year-old Ralph Santos and the February stabbing attack on 19-year-old Sinuhue Zuniga, who nearly died but survived after a month-long coma.
The District Attorney’s Office currently is considering a plea-bargained, lesser charge for one of two defendants in the Santos case. And Zuniga’s confessed attacker, whose attorney had sought an insanity plea, got an attempted murder charge reduced to assault with a deadly weapon. That man, Robert Bravo, got a prison sentence of eight years and four months.
Sarsfield says his office, however, is not to blame for the high number of plea bargains.
In recent interviews with the Free Lance, he criticized the San Benito County Board of Supervisors – which allocates the district attorney’s budget – for leaving the office’s staffing levels stagnant for nearly two decades.
Currently, there are three deputy attorneys working for the office – the same number of prosecutors employed in the mid-1980s, according to Sarsfield’s office manager, Nancy Leon.
Furthermore, since Sarsfield took office, an increased caseload has compounded the problem, he said. He also reiterated his stance that his predecessor, Harry Damkar, left him a backlog of cases that took months to purge in early 2003. Damkar has denied that charge.
“I have gone to the board of supervisors again and again and again to ask for resources to do my job,” Sarsfield said. “I would love to take a position – we will not plea bargain crimes of violence.”
When the county planned the most recent budget earlier this year, Sarsfield requested a nearly $400,000 increase in salaries compared with last year. He got $100,000 more.
Supervisor Reb Monaco said the board’s funding of Sarsfield’s office was fair – considering the county had to cut $4 million from all department heads’ recommendations to balance the budget.
“Under the circumstances, I think we did (treat him fairly),” Monaco said of the 2004-05 fiscal year. “A lot of people took a lot of hits.”
Some California counties have policies forbidding all types of plea bargaining, Sarsfield said. For San Benito County to do so, he thinks he would need many more deputy attorneys.
“The reason why plea bargaining exists is because we can’t have 2,400 trials,” said Sarsfield, referring to the number of cases he expects his office to charge this year. “We would need 50 attorneys to have a ‘no plea bargaining’ policy.”
Sarsfield said he needs three to seven more deputy attorneys – or at least double the current staffing level – to run the office the way he sees fit.
“That would be a huge help,” Sarsfield said. “Because we could say, ‘On these types of cases, you’re just going to have to plead to the sheet or go to trial.'”
He pointed out that among California counties of similar populations, San Benito County – with a population of 57,000 people – employs the fewest number of deputy attorneys.
As a comparison, Amador County has a population of 36,000 people and its District Attorney’s Office employs nine attorneys. Tuolumne County has a population of 55,000 and its office employs seven attorneys. Lake County has a population of 59,000 and its office employs 13.5 attorneys, according to statistics compiled by San Benito County.
The county’s lone public defender Greg LaForge, who estimated he handles 85 percent of local defendants, shot back at Sarsfield on the issue of lacking resources.
“Does that mean the board’s going to give me seven to 10 attorneys?” LaForge said.
Sarsfield also has received criticism – particularly from a group trying to recall him and local defense attorneys – for not personally handling cases in court.
Former District Attorney Damkar, in a recent interview, said he personally prosecuted almost all homicides during his 20-year tenure. Plus, while negotiation of plea bargains was common in misdemeanor cases, he rarely negotiated with suspects who were charged with violent crimes. Damkar, now a defense attorney, never once negotiated a charge in a murder case.
“We tried to charge what was appropriate and then we would go all the way to trial,” Damkar said.
Sarsfield, though, said his primary duties, which include reviewing up to 3,000 cases a year while managing the office, keep him plenty busy.
He believes his system – which includes Sarsfield making all decisions on charges and his attorneys handling all courtroom prosecution – is the most efficient way of operating with current staffing levels. Under Damkar, each case was handled in its entirety by one attorney – who charged suspects and followed through as the case’s prosecutor.
Sarsfield’s offered a simple reason for having a more flexible plea bargaining policy than Damkar did.
“He (Damkar) didn’t have nearly the number of cases I’ve got,” Sarsfield said.
If the county’s caseload keeps increasing dramatically in the coming years, and the board doesn’t provide him with more resources, Sarsfield’s not sure how the office will keep up.
“I don’t have a particular number of cases where we would have to put in any drastic measures,” he said. “One of the nice things about having competitive elections, at least people know there are issues out there besides growth.”
Part of the problem, he said, is that local officials are resistant to change. He also mentioned the Sheriff’s Department recently getting a $500,000 grant from the state to fund the hiring of three new deputies.
“The sheriff can go out and arrest everybody to his heart’s content. But if we don’t have attorneys standing there in court to push cases through, after 48 hours it doesn’t make a difference,” said Sarsfield, referring to a law that gives prosecutors two days from the time of arrest to press charges.
Kollin Kosmicki is a Free Lance staff writer. E-mail him at
kk*******@fr***********.com
or call (831) 637-5566, ext. 331.
