House Judiciary Committee
101 House Office Building
Annapolis, MD 21401 - 1912

Title: House Bill 87 (Criminal Procedure - No Good Time for Gun Crime)
        
POSTION:  SUPPORT

Good afternoon Chairman Vallario and Members of the House Judiciary Committee:
  
I am Patricia Jessamy, State’s Attorney for Baltimore City, and I am pleased to testify in support of House Bill 87.  Today you will hear from elected officials and several panels of experts and law enforcement officials urging you to pass reforms to end a provision in our law that allows convicted gun felons to accumulate good time credits at a faster rate than offenders sentenced for crimes of violence.   Statistics prepared by my office show that this policy provides accelerated early release dates for about 100 convicted felony gun offenders in Baltimore every year.  Offenders can maximize their good time credits, and in optimum cases credits can be redeemed to reduce a 5-year no parole sentence to a 3-year sentence.  This bill is about our desire to see “truth in sentencing” for gun cases.  There should be no good time for gun crime.

 I join Mayor Dixon and my fellow State’s Attorneys, Police Chiefs and many other public safety officials urging you to end this practice.  Our recommendations on behalf of the citizens of Maryland include support for this legislation to improve public safety and protect our citizens. The importance of our team effort cannot be understated. 

Before I begin, I would like to take a moment to thank Mayor Sheila Dixon for her relentless efforts to reduce gun crime in Baltimore.  Her initiative on this bill demonstrates a commitment that is supported by a conscientious strategy aimed at reducing gun violence on our streets.   This is one tool in our toolbox.  This bill will make a difference!

I also want to thank Delegate Anderson for sponsoring this bill on behalf of Baltimore City.  As you know, I have testified many times on gun bills, and I urge your careful consideration of this bill that would allow “truth in sentencing” for prohibited felons who are arrested and convicted for possession of a regulated firearm.

For more than a decade as Baltimore City State’s Attorney, I have worked and promoted law enforcement policies to identify and prosecute violent repeat offenders and to make sure they remain in prison for as long as possible.  House Bill 87 is smart, strategic and supports efforts to target violent gun crime in Baltimore City and Maryland, and to maximize punishment and prison time for violent offenders and prohibited offenders caught with guns.

As I testified last year, the Maryland General Assembly took a major step forward in gun safety reforms by passing the Responsible Gun Safety Act of 2000.  That bill, which I supported, was the first of its kind in the nation, and created a mandatory 5-year no parole sentence for persons who were previously convicted of a crime of violence or felony narcotics offense, and then found guilty of a new charge of possession of a regulated firearm.  This is a lethal mix – a deadly cocktail that leads to violence on our streets.

Over the past decade, I have prosecuted hundreds of offenders using this statute resulting in over 520 5-year no-parole sentences. At least that is what we thought, until prosecutors learned that offenders are allowed to earn “good time” credits at a rate that allows some offenders to earn parole about 3 years into a 5-year no parole sentence. An example of this is in your packet highlighting the case of Robert Looney.

Over my years as State’s Attorney, I have taken steps to generate sentencing momentum as a result of the Responsible Gun Safety Act of 2000.  As you can see from the enclosed timeline, the Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City (OSA) has initiated violence reduction partnerships with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and other law enforcement agencies and the community.  I supported a re-energized EXILE program in 2006.  This initiative requires an Assistant State’s Attorney to quickly identify firearm related cases, based on particular criteria, and expedite these cases to federal authorities for review and possible federal prosecution.  In some cases, we have used and developed a FLIP (Federal Letter of Intent to Prosecute) that can lead to a guilty plea in State court.  This year 27 FLIP letters were presented in Circuit Court resulting in 27 guilty pleas for felony possession of a firearm, yielding 5-year no parole sentences.

At this time, I would like to introduce Division Chief for the F.I.V.E. Division (Firearms Investigation /Violence Enforcement) (for 2008), Douglas Ludwig.  The F.I.V.E unit was a created to support vigorous vertical prosecution of prohibited possession and non-fatal shooting cases in Baltimore and was bolstered with additional funding as a result of the Responsible Gun Safety Act of 2000.  It continues to have primary responsibility for prosecuting firearms offenses and non-fatal shooting cases at the Circuit Court level and reviewing cases for federal prosecution under Project Exile. Mr. Ludwig is testifying as part of another panel and is available to answer any questions you might have regarding gun prosecution in Baltimore.

In addition to prosecution, the OSA also participates in GunStat.  This initiative, which was created by Mayor Dixon, involves local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.  This coordinated partnership meets bi-weekly to identify offenders who use illegal guns and chronicle the criminal case from start to finish.  The main goal is to focus attention on individuals who have used guns in crimes and to help partner agencies prosecute violent repeat offenders and keep them off the streets for as long as possible.

Although the passage of the Responsible Gun Safety Act of 2000 and initiatives like GunStat have afforded my office additional tools to effectively prosecute gun crime in the City of Baltimore, loopholes in the law still exist.   Unfortunately, prosecutors have complained to me that the 5-year, no parole statute lacks “truth in sentencing”.  Because the technical offense for which a defendant receives the 5-year, no parole sentence is not classified as a crime of violence, offenders sentenced under this statute may still earn “good time credits” at a higher rate than offenders convicted of a crime of violence.

  I do not believe that convicted felons who are prohibited from legally possessing a regulated firearm because of a previous conviction for a crime of violence or a felony narcotics conviction and then sentenced to a mandatory 5-year no parole sentence should earn an earlier accelerated prison release date due to a technicality.  We must put an end to this early release practice.

Please note House Bill 87 does not restrict law-abiding citizens from legally purchasing and/or possessing certain types of firearms and does not apply to offenders who are caught the first time with an illegal firearm.  This bill aims to ensure that prohibited persons who cannot legally possess a regulated firearm because they are convicted felons, and who are arrested and convicted as a result of a new gun charge, remain incarcerated for as long as possible.

In closing, I want to thank you for your favorable consideration last year, and again urge your favorable report of House Bill 87.

Sincerely,

Patricia C. Jessamy
State’s Attorney for Baltimore City