THE REDEMPTION OF DAVID ENGLAND

While sentencing David England, Polk County District Judge Douglas Staskal
took time to admonish the former Des Moines Area Community College
president. Giving England community service and a deferred judgment , he
said, shouldn't be viewed as "tolerance" for his actions.

Instead, Staskal insisted, he was treating England the way he'd treat
anyone. Staskal didn't make an example of England just because of the
high-profile nature of his case - a college president busted in a police
raid with 2 1/2 pounds of marijuana and 72 starter plants.

"David England was not the only drug case in Polk County this year,"
Staskal says. He's right. But England's stature made him an unwitting
celebrity endorser for deferred judgments. If England successfully
completes his probation, the conviction will be expunged from his record in
two years.

Deferred judgments are often given to first-time drug offenders in Polk
County District Court. According to the Iowa Justice Data Warehouse, 7,791
defendants received deferred judgments in the state of Iowa in 2002. The
number is hard to pin down because it drops with every expungement.

At England's sentencing, Staskal said he was tempted "to send a message
loud and clear that using marijuana, sharing marijuana, passing it along to
others, is wrong. It's wrong because marijuana is not harmless. I know that
based on just witnessing the seemingly endless parade of ruined lives that
come through this court daily, people whose lives have been taken over by
drug use and abuse. ."

The inclination to make examples of first-time offenders by branding them
with felony convictions is frequently outweighed by the hope that giving
them a shot at a clean record if they leave the drug culture behind will
lead to rehabilitiation, Staskal says. However, the deferred judgment
shouldn't be viewed as a handout.

"They wrote in the Register that getting a deferred judgment was routine,"
he says. "If they mean by routine that nobody really thinks about it and
just rubber-stamps giving deferred judgments, that's not accurate. If they
meant many people get chances through deferred judgments, that's entirely
accurate. But it's also accurate that people go to prison every day in this
courtroom - many people - and those are the people who have had chances and
have not taken advantage of it."

The court's decision to defer judgment often hinges on two questions: Does
this serve to rehabilitate the defendant and does this protect the
community from further offenses?

"If you say, no, he or she shouldn't go to prison, then you have sentencing
options," says Bob Rigg, director of the criminal defense program at the
Drake University Law School. "You want to encourage compliant behavior with
the law, and the deferred judgment certainly gives the defendant an
incentive - a huge incentive - to comply."

The court has the ability to defer judgment on "the vast majority of
criminal offenses," Rigg says. Forcible felonies with mandatory sentences
are the exception.

In determining a sentence, the court looks at a number of factors in its
pre-sentence investigation, including the nature of the offense and the
defendant's background, criminal history, education and family, Rigg says.
The court also considers the recommendations made by the prosecution and
the defense as well as the victim and the defendant.

Based on all of the information provided, the court makes a decision.

"If the court decides to defer judgment, it doesn't mean you're off the
hook," Rigg says. "It just means that judgment has been deferred for a
period of time. You've been placed on probation."

There is no difference between the type and length of probation given for a
suspended sentence and a deferred judgment.

"The only difference between the two is if the person who has the deferred
judgment completes probation successfully, that person will not have a
felony conviction on their record," Staskal says.

A deferred judgment doesn't mean the person doesn't have a criminal record,
Rigg says. It means the state will wipe the record clean if the individual
sticks to the terms of the probation. If a person completes his or her
probation without incident, the conviction will be expunged from the
person' s record.

However, the record of the arrest, which is a public record, remains.

"I have to say that can have just as much negative impact on a person's
life as the conviction would have," says District Associate Judge Joe
Smith, who handles misdemeanor possession cases. "There are employers out
there who when they find that arrest record simply refuse to look any further."

Probation usually comes with conditions, which if violated, could lead to
the probation being revoked and receiving the original sentence, Rigg says.

"I believe most of the people who receive the deferred judgments
successfully complete their probation, and that results in expungement of
the record," Smith says. "Most of them, but I wouldn't want to put a
percentage to it."

People who receive deferred judgments and violate their probation don't
just get a conviction on their record. Some go to prison, Saskal says.

"At least the Legislature recognizes temptation, human frailty and those
sorts of things and they trust the courts to weed out those people who
deserve that kind of treatment," says England's attorney, William Kutmus.

The Iowa Code allows a person two deferred judgments in a lifetime. Not all
judges are thrilled with the prospect of giving two deferred judgments.

"My inclination is not to give a second one unless the first one was a
simple misdemeanor," Smith says. "If you haven't learned that we expect
obedience to the law the first time, why should I give you any favors the
second time?

"I don't mean to be harsh, and I don't think I am particularly, but I think
it's important that people understand that criminal conduct has
consequences. That's not to say you don't have a consequence even with a
deferred judgment."

Staskal agrees. "My policy in sentencing is I'll give you a chance," he
says. "Everybody gets a chance, but listen to me carefully: This is your
chance. You come back here, don't be asking for another chance. You got
your chance."

Polk County Attorney John Sarcone says when his office offers a deferred
judgment or refuses to resist one, it means the prosecution believes the
defendant can make a positive change. However, offenders who end up in
prison for drug possession in Polk County have earned their way. That goes
for felonies, too. The person has committed a forcible felony or failed to
meet the terms of his or her probation.

"If you get sent to prison for possession, you've really failed everything
that we have here in this community, because that is not the standard,"
Sarcone says. "That is a rare exception."

Deferred judgment breakdown

Here's a sample glance at statewide deferred judgments given out in 2002.

Offense and number of offenders

OWI 1,940

Drug possession 1,679

Drug trafficking 302

Other drug (tax stamp, etc.) 118

Source: The Iowa Justice Data Warehouse