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Teens get prison for stickup Measure 11 �safety valve� didn�t work for robbers By Chris Bristol Two 17-year-old boys were sentenced to almost six years in prison Monday for a home-invasion robbery in the Central Point area earlier this year, even though their victims argued for leniency on the grounds that new "safety valve" modifications to Measure 11 qualified the boys for a more lenient sentence. The case against Jeremy Nichols and Bobby Joe Pearson was a preview of the coming fight to repeal Measure 11, the controversial 1994 initiative that sets mandatory sentences for violent felons and juveniles age 15 and older. In the Nov. 7 election, Oregon voters will decide whether to repeal the law, which also prohibits early parole for any reason. Critics say Measure 11 gives prosecutors too much power to coerce plea bargains and fails to take into account a defendant�s criminal record. They also estimate a repeal would save taxpayers more than $600 million on the construction and operation of new prisons needed to house Measure 11 inmates. The state Legislature has quietly tinkered with the law several times since voters passed it. Last year, lawmakers added so-called "safety valve" modifications for certain felonies, and it was just such a modification that came into play Monday. The facts of the case were not in dispute. Wearing crude black masks fashioned from a torn-up T-shirt, Nichols and Pearson snuck into the Table Rock home of Norman and Norma Matteson one night last spring and stole their car. In the process, the boys confronted the Mattesons and their adult daughter, Elizabeth Matteson, and robbed them at gunpoint. What the Mattesons didn�t know at the time was that one of the intruders, Nichols, was their own grandson. They made the connection only after police captured the boys the next day near Yreka, Calif. In a deal with prosecutors, the boys pleaded guilty last week to a single charge of second-degree robbery. Under Measure 11, second-degree robbery carries a mandatory sentence of 70 months in prison. The Mattesons disagreed with the sentence. They complained at a hearing Thursday that even though the boys deserved to go to jail for as much as two or three years, 70 months (or five years and 10 months) was too much. "It�s not the crime that is traumatic to us," Norma Matteson, a retired Jackson County sheriff�s clerk, told the court. "What is traumatizing to us is the sentence." Until this year, their concerns would have gone unheeded by the court. But trial judge Dan Harris postponed sentencing until Monday so he could take a closer look at the "safety valve" modifications to Measure 11. Under the modifications, judges may reduce the standard Measure 11 sentence for certain second-degree crimes, including second-degree robbery, if a case meets certain criteria. Among them: whether the victim was "reasonably put ... in fear of imminent significant physical injury." The named victim in the lone charge to which the boys pleaded guilty was Elizabeth Matteson, Nichols� aunt. She wasn�t in court Thursday, so the judge postponed sentencing until he heard from her directly. As it turned out, the case was a no-brainer. Despite whatever qualms she may have had about testifying against her nephew, Matteson told the court Monday that the gun brandished by one of the intruders made her afraid, that she had nightmares for several nights after the incident and was afraid to go into the bathroom (where the boys had been hiding) for several weeks after that. "That (fear) gradually faded," Matteson told the court. "It doesn�t bother me anymore." Deputy District Attorney Beth Heckert argued the "safety valve" modification to Measure 11 did not apply, regardless of what the victims say about it now. "If you asked somebody on the street what they think should happen if someone comes in your home and points a gun at you, they�re going to think this is exactly what Measure 11 is for," Heckert said. Given the facts, Harris had no choice but to impose the now-standard sentence of 70 months. Under the terms of Measure 11, the defendants must serve the entire sentence and are not eligible for early release for any reason. They will serve time in a juvenile lockup until they are old enough for transfer to a penitentiary. The transfer presumably would occur sometime after their 18th birthdays. Afterwards, Heckert said she felt she was already cutting the defendants some slack by allowing them to plead down from first-degree robbery. "A prosecutor�s job isn�t simply to advocate for the victim," she said. "We�re supposed to protect the entire community, look out for the entire community�s interests. "Besides, to purposely victimize your grandparents to me shows something more going on psychologically than simply needing a car," she added. "I mean, picking on your grandparents..." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA