Clemency recommended for 3-strikes offenders

OLYMPIA — One spoke simply, the other eloquently, but both delivered the same message: They are different men from the drug-addicted criminals they were 15 years ago, when they were among the state's first three-strikes offenders sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole — each for attempting to steal a wallet.

Speaking by telephone from different prisons miles from a packed hearing room on the state's Capitol Campus, Michael Bridges and later, Al-Kareem Shadeed, spoke of faith, remorse and personal transformation. Their voices filtered through a sound system as they addressed the state's four-member Pardons and Clemency Board.

Thursday morning, board members unanimously agreed to recommend that Gov. Chris Gregoire grant conditional clemency to Bridges. Thursday afternoon, they unanimously agreed to do the same for Shadeed.

After each vote, the room — filled with the men's family members and friends — erupted into cheers and spontaneous applause.

There is no deadline for Gregoire to complete her review of the two cases and make a decision about clemency. If released, both Bridges and Shadeed would be under community supervision and subject to a variety of conditions.

King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg was among the men's strongest supporters Thursday, saying their life sentences were disproportionately harsh, given the nature of the crimes they'd committed and given their model behavior while behind bars.

Neither inmate has been cited for breaking prison rules in years and both have battled their addictions, held down full-time prison jobs and mentored younger inmates.

"It's easy to forget all these men we gave life sentences to, but it's not the right thing to do," Satterberg said. "I think it's in the interest of justice to go back and look at these cases. I think forever is too much" for Bridges and Shadeed.

First to be released

In December, Satterberg testified on behalf of Stevan Dozier, the state's first three-strikes offender to regain his freedom after Gregoire granted him conditional clemency. Dozier was released from the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe last month and is now living with his wife in Seattle.

Like Bridges and Shadeed, Dozier, a former drug addict, spent 15 years in prison after being convicted of his third-strike offense: a second-degree-robbery charge for stealing an elderly woman's purse. None of the three men used weapons or caused serious injury to their victims.

On Thursday, Satterberg said he plans to bring additional three-strikes cases to the board over the next six to eight months — and he has talked to prosecutors in other counties about reviewing their three-strikes cases involving inmates convicted of second-degree robbery, the least serious of all three-strike offenses.

Board Chairwoman Margaret Smith told Satterberg: "It is the right thing to do in the interest of fairness and justice, and I hope your example will influence prosecutors around the state. I think other prosecutors could learn from you."

Under the 1993 Persistent Offender Accountability Act, second-degree robbery is one of many third-strike offenses. Since the mid-1990s, the King County Prosecutor's Office has shifted the way it treats such cases, and prosecutors across the state are increasingly exercising discretion in which crimes they charge as a third strike. In the early days of the law, prosecutors didn't realize how much discretion they had, Satterberg told The Seattle Times last month.

Today, a defendant convicted of second-degree robbery would likely face an average sentence of three years and a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, according to testimony presented to the board. On average, it costs the state more than $31,000 a year to house a single inmate.

Undergone treatment

Bridges, now 47, was an alcoholic and cocaine addict in 1994 when he tried, unsuccessfully, to steal a man's wallet that would have netted him $48, said his attorney, Sheryl Gordon McCloud.

Bridges had been convicted of second-degree robbery in 1987 and 1989. Since being sentenced to life in prison, Bridges has undergone drug and alcohol treatment, become a Christian and worked to be a good father to his now-16-year-old son, she said.

He gained control over his anger and now embodies "a calm, reassuring sense of self." "This ... is what redemption looks like," McCloud said.

If freed, Bridges will live with his parents in Federal Way and he hopes to find construction work with the help of his brother.

"I believe I'm a new man now, not the man I was. I can promise you I won't let you down," he told the board from the state prison in Walla Walla.

Shadeed, now 39, was 24 when he was sentenced to life in prison after trying, and failing, to steal a wallet belonging to Craig MacGowan, a Garfield High School teacher who told Shadeed's trial judge in 1994 that a life sentence was a waste of the young man's life, said Shadeed's attorney, Seattle University law professor Paul Holland.

Shadeed took his victim's words to heart and earned his high-school diploma within his first year behind bars. He took classes in writing and business, "engaged in discussions with spiritual leaders of all faiths," consistently attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings and participated in a series of programs that brings victims and offenders together.

"I am deeply ashamed of all the things I did. ... I am deeply sorry for the fear and insecurity my previous behavior brought to our community," Shadeed told the board from the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe.

"This situation has humbled me and ... I've learned to be grateful for what little I have.

"My life is worth salvaging. I am redeemable."

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com