A DRUG HABIT WAS AT FAULT

Jury Opts For Probation, Gives A Robber A Second Chance.

Only a criminal court jury that has heard all the evidence in a case is the
best judge of the facts. Yet, without diminishing respect for citizens
doing their duty, the decision by a local jury last week to give probation
to a defendant convicted of holding up eight local businesses at knifepoint
was something of an eyebrow-raiser.

From June 1 to June 8, 1998, John DeLeon, 42, robbed the businesses,
including a restaurant, a shoe store, a grocery store, and a school supply
house. The defense argued that the former youth baseball coach was a good
man pushed into a life of crime because of an insatiable drug habit. Less
compelling, apparently, was testimony from holdup witnesses who said they
feared for their lives during the robberies. The jury assessed DeLeon 10
years' probation and a $10,000 fine; he could have received a life sentence.

Drug addicts need treatment rather than imprisonment. But criminals who put
people's lives in peril need to be deterred, too.

His defense attorney said DeLeon has shed his cocaine habit and is getting
his life in order. DeLeon would be wise to take full advantage of the
second chance he has been given; another jury might not be so forgiving.