DRUGS AND DEALS

A Convicted Felon Escapes Prison, And That Puts The System In The Spotlight

If state lawmakers need more evidence for reforming the Rockefeller drug
laws, they need look no farther than North Swan Street in Albany. The story
of Mark Robinson, who police say once openly sold marijuana on this
drug-infested block, is a textbook case for change.

In October of 1999, Albany authorities had an opportunity to send Mr.
Robinson to jail on three felony drug charges. He had been charged on
numerous occasions before, but only for misdemeanors, and he was soon back
on the street. Now it was different. He had pleaded guilty to the felony
charges. And yet he did not spend a day in jail. Instead, he paid a $2,000
fine and walked, apparently in exchange for helping Albany detectives hunt
down a suspect in the shooting of two officers on North Swan Street in
November 1999.

These developments, outlined in an article last Sunday by our police
reporter, Brendan Lyons, are troubling for several reasons. One, of course,
is the contrast between the treatment of Mark Robinson, whose lenient
sentence was approved by County Court Judge Thomas Breslin, and the fate of
other first-time, nonviolent offenders who have the misfortune of being
prosecuted under the Draconian Rockefeller drug laws.

Those statutes, which state lawmakers might reform this year, call for long
sentences for selling or possessing small amounts of narcotics. And the
judge who must sentence those convicted under these drug laws has little
latitude with which to tailor punishment to fit the crime.

By contrast, prosecutors have wide latitude, as the Robinson case shows
anew. They can decide whom to pursue and when. They can strike deals with
defendants who provide them with useful information. Instead of justice
being dispensed by a judge and jury, it can be meted out in the district
attorney's office according to the prosecutor's agenda. That is on its face
a double standard.

There are other troubling aspects about this case. One way that Mark
Robinson assisted authorities in their search for Tracy Grady, the man
accused of shooting the two Albany officers on North Swan Street, was to
accompany Renee Lumpkin, a witness and former girlfriend, to the police
station, where she gave a statement. But now she is poised to recant and
accuses police of refusing to allow her to tell all of what she saw that night.

Finally, the deal struck with Mark Robinson is only now coming to light,
despite formal requests from the Grady defense at pretrial hearings over
the past year. Clearly, the system is broken, and state lawmakers need to
fix it by placing justice where it belongs -- in the courtroom, and only
the courtroom.