CAPELESS' ODD PRIORITIES

The decision by District Attorney David Capeless not to pursue charges
against a man who confessed to stabbing another because it wasn't the
stabbing that killed him is an odd one. Anthony Carnute stabbed Gerald
Adornetto seven months ago, but happily for Mr. Carnute, Mr. Adornetto,
whose body was found in a van on the city's West Side, died of a heart
attack due to acute cocaine ingestion, not the stabbing.

Mr. Carnute may or may not have acted in self-defense, but he did
acknowledge stabbing Mr. Adornetto and he admitted to selling drugs to him
in the past, yet he faces no charges.

This generosity on the part of the district attorney contrasts dramatically
with his pursuit of alleged marijuana dealers in Great Barrington who did
not engage in any violence, are being tried under the tenets of
a school-zone law that shouldn't apply, and who face a mandatory sentence
that doesn't fit the crime.

Mr. Capeless' priorities and judgment are debatable here.