California has a 3 strikes law, 3rd felony, you're put away for life, pretty much. This guy had 2 strikes already, and for whatever reason, robbed again. However, in this robbery, one of the things he got was a box full of photographs. These photographs showed pictures of the guy that lived in the apartment molesting a toddler.
Talk about a dilemma: if he turns in the pictures, he risks going to jail for life for the robbery where he got them. If he doesn't, he risks letting the guy he robbed from continue molesting. Ultimately, he did the right thing, and turned the pictures over to the cops, who arrested the guy that molested the toddler, and recently convicted him and sentanced him to 30 years. (not harsh enough for molesting a toddler, imho). Now, after turning the pictures in, this guy is being brought up for trial and is facing his 3rd strike.
There is a growing pile of books in Matthew Hahn's cell at Elmwood Correctional complex in Milpitas. Among Plato dialogues, the Tao Te Ching and ``Law for Dummies'' is a paperback titled ``Martyrs'' -- a collection of stories about Christians who sacrificed their lives for their faith.
It was a present from the mother of a young girl, in gratitude for helping bring the girl's molester to justice.
Last year, Hahn, a 26-year-old Los Gatos felon with a rap sheet full of residential burglaries, anonymously sent police some stolen photographs -- photos that showed a man molesting a toddler. Using the photographs, police found and arrested John Robertson ``Robbie'' Aitken. Last month, Aitken pleaded no contest to molestation charges and received a 30-year sentence.
But Hahn, who was later arrested for a burglary spree after he turned in the photos, is facing a prison term that could be longer than Aitken's. The latest series of burglaries was Hahn's ``third strike,'' and prosecutors have decided to seek a life sentence. His trial could begin this month.
The conundrum of weighing Hahn's crimes against his good deed has people across the country debating whether he deserves leniency. There have been blog polls, raving CNN hosts, e-mails from Sweden, editorials in Jackson, Miss., radio shows in Canada, and three petition drives calling for leniency.
``Matt is not a career criminal,'' said Allen Schwartz, Hahn's attorney. ``He has a terrible, terrible record. He is a thief and he is a drug addict. All of his previous crimes were from one crime spree. And after he went through the drug rehab, he got caught up again and he is doing it again. What will it take to get this guy's attention? I don't know. But I don't think we should throw this guy on the garbage pile of life.''
Assistant District Attorney Dave Tomkins is the senior member of the panel that decides how to charge potential three strikes cases.
He said when the panel made the decision on Hahn's burglary case, it knew about his pivotal role in Aitken's arrest. That, Tomkins said, was one of the reasons he didn't charge Hahn with the specific burglary of the safe that contained the damning photographs.
But they also saw a record of crimes that, while not violent, had the potential to be if anyone caught him in the act.
``We see someone with a bunch of residential burglaries and his current case is a bunch of residential burglaries,'' Tomkins said. ``This guy is a career burglar. In my experience, if you take residential burglars off the street, you are cutting the crime rate dramatically.
``But this isn't science. We try to consider everything.''
Hahn's supporters say the district attorney's office should be more lenient.
Both the mother of the victim and Aitken's prosecutor Dana Overstreet -- a deputy district attorney in Santa Clara County -- have said they would be willing to testify on Hanh's behalf.
Hahn is also receiving help from people he's never met.
Ginger Davis, a 45-year-old Los Gatos woman who said she was molested as a child, started a petition drive, gathered 100 signatures and sent it to Hahn's lawyer.
``He has so many priors,'' Davis said. ``But I'm not sure how they would put someone behind bars for life when you think of that little girl. I think he saved her life.''
Hahn himself is conflicted about what punishment he should receive.
``I sit in my cell and think about the fact that I've hurt people with my crimes,'' Hahn said. ``And I've thought about forgiveness. But finally, I am trying to let go of it, that question. It's in God's hands.''
Now the former star student at De Anza College reads philosophy and teaches math to inmates at Elmwood. He said he got high fives and handshakes when they found out what he did. But his record only shows a drug-abusing repeat felon.
In fall 1998, Hahn went on a four-month methamphetamine-fueled spree of burglarizing garages, cars and houses in Saratoga, according to court records.
When he was caught, he pointed out the places he had burglarized. In one instance, he took guns, ammunition and a safe with $20,000 worth of jewelry and cash from his former Little League coach, Keith Barna, who was away on vacation.
After Hahn was arrested, Barna found his rifles stashed in the closet of Hahn's mortified mother, a Stanford-educated tech engineer.
``He's done a lot of reckless things and it's time for him to be spanked pretty badly,'' Barna said. ``But life? I've got a lot of issues with the overcrowding in our jail system for non-violent offenders.''
Los Gatos Police Sgt. Mike Barbieri, who was involved in Hahn's and Aitken's arrests, sees both sides.
``You gotta give the guy some credit. He got someone off the street who is pretty bad,'' he said. ``But he's also a pretty prolific thief. It's an interesting question: Does he deserve a break? But I don't think so.''
The district attorney's office has indicated that Hahn's help in convicting Aitken may be a mitigating factor in his case and has asked his lawyer to submit it for consideration.
In San Mateo County, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said he asks lawyers for ``mitigation packages'' -- documented information of good deeds by suspects facing three strikes. He recalled declining to charge three strikes for a suspect who discovered a fire in a jail cell.
Hahn's case comes when there are renewed efforts in the state to reform the three strikes sentencing law that began 12 years ago. For example, two ballot initiatives from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office aim to give judges more flexibility when giving three strikes sentences in non-violent, less serious crimes.
Said Franklin E. Zimring, a professor of law at the University of California-Berkeley: ``He's not violent, yet not inactive either. The question is how to balance these two. My tendency is to give him a break. If I ran for district attorney and all the people who worry about child sex abuse voted for me and all the people who worry about burglary didn't, I think I would get re-elected.'
-Arlos
