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 veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 6,100
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 Pot grower gets hefty term tossed [NJ]
#4772059 - 10/08/05 04:52 AM (3 years, 4 days ago) |
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Pot grower gets hefty term tossed
October 8, 2005 - nj.com
50-year sentence is ruled an 'unjust result'
Reversing what he said was an "unjust result," a Superior Court judge in Monmouth County yesterday ordered a new trial for a former Bradley Beach man serving a 50-year prison term for growing marijuana in his apartment.
The ruling gives new life to William Allegro's case, which has wound its way through several courts since authorities found 19 pounds of marijuana growing at his garage-apartment during a 1999 fire.
In his decision yesterday, Judge Paul Chaiet, sitting in Freehold, said he did not want to impose the hefty penalty in 2001, but was bound by sentencing guidelines after the prosecution asked him to apply an extended prison term.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said it will appeal and asked the judge to hold off on any action on Allegro's case until a Nov. 18 scheduling conference.
Allegro's attorney, Kelly Smith, said she will move to have him released on bail at that time.
"It's the right result, and I'm extremely pleased that Judge Chaiet was able to separate the wheat from the chaff and reach justice," Smith said outside the courtroom.
Allegro, 37, is in the fifth year of what Smith called an "egregious" sentence that she contended was imposed because of an incompetent trial attorney and an overzealous prosecutor's office.
After Allegro's Aug. 9, 2000, conviction and before his March 8, 2001, sentencing, Allegro's original attorney, Gilbert Farr, was disbarred for drug use, among other problems.
While preparing for Allegro's trial, which lasted two days, Farr never interviewed any witnesses to help his defense, Smith said. Those witnesses would have said Allegro did not live in the apartment at the time of the fire. But the jury only heard a prosecution witness testify that Allegro's name was still on the lease, and he had been seen coming and going from the apartment.
Additionally Farr did not explain to Allegro the consequences of turning down a plea deal, she said. After the deadline for plea deals passed, then-Monmouth County Prosecutor John Kaye took a hard-line approach that he would push for an extended prison term if Allegro was convicted, she said.
An extended terms subjects certain defendants to much harsher penalties if they fall within a certain age range, if their crime falls into a certain category and if they have a previous conviction.
Allegro met those criteria. He was convicted in 1992 of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school. In this new case, a jury found him guilty of maintaining a drug production facility and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, a crime that qualifies for an extended term. He becomes eligible for parole after serving 16 years of his sentence.
Without an extended term, he would have faced between 10 and 20 years in prison and would have been required to serve about one-third of that time before becoming eligible for parole.
"In Monmouth County, if you exercise your right to go to trial, you're punished," Smith said outside of court.
Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis Valentin disputed that claim.
"We do not utilize the criminal justice system to punish individuals who exercise their constitutional right to proceed to trial," he said. "We followed the law, and the court ruled accordingly in connection with our application and the motions."
Yesterday, Chaiet said the jury should have been allowed to hear the disputed testimony about Allegro's living arrangements and come to its own decision.
Farr's lack of preparation, he said, "undermines this court's confidence in the ultimate outcome of this case."
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Androctonus
 
Registered: 09/17/05
Posts: 1,436
Loc: L.I.S.
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Re: Pot grower gets hefty term tossed [NJ] [Re: veggie]
#4772692 - 10/08/05 11:41 AM (3 years, 3 days ago) |
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Quote:
veggie said:
In Monmouth County, if you exercise your right to go to trial, you're punished," Smith said outside of court.
This is true for all courts!!!!!!!
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The red grass, up to my knees
An aura comes towards me
Someone's changed the formula
Un-chaining another law
The structures, the colors
Uniform chaos is alternating
The nature of things
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